2011 CIOPORA Chronicle - the 50th Anniversary Edition

RAI
are still on the 78 Act including
farmer’s privilege.”
Leune foresees that a new UPOV
convention will take a long while as
it will be time consuming to gather
all the member states.” Probably
the best alternative is focusing on
more national improvements in
legislation to reach a higher protection
level. However, the biggest
challenge to be overcome is to have
the ‘78’ members accepting the
91 Convention. That would be a
important step forward.”
Easier said than done
While the examinations and audits
are adversarial by nature, the RAI
team of experienced professionals
perform them in a discreet and
calm manner. “We always have
to be very careful. We are only
human, like anyone else and can
make mistakes but one of our top
priorities is to exclude them by a
well-prepared and structural approach”,
says Leune.
He continues, “We’re tracing back
in continuation asking ourselves
where the product is sourced from.
This is not an easy job since you
have to deal with mother stock
plants and cuttings without flowers.
When visiting the grower, we ask
him the name of his supplier. If he
is not willing to cooperate and gets
angry, the alarm bells start ringing.”
The transparency of the market
makes the job easier. “In Holland
it’s easy; if you want to know which
variety is grown by which grower
you just go to the auction and you’ll
have all the information. But in
countries such as Colombia, you
need other tools, more creativity
and a better network. In the end,
we always find a solution. “Like in
Colombia where we were denied access
to the greenhouse. We looked
for the final export destination
of the flowers which was Miami.
Having our own staff on both
continents, it was quite easy to go
to customs and to seize the counterfeited
flowers.”
Percentage of counterfeited
ornamental
It is often stated that around 5
to 9% of international trade is
accounted for by counterfeited
ornamentals (Source: FCI). “From
research two years ago in the
USA based on local company
visits, involving checks on the
correct naming of varieties, correct
labelling, illegal propagation and
underreporting, we were running
to 17 to 18% of our visits which
were incorrect,” speaks Leune from
his own experience. He adds, “This
percentage varies depending on
which countries and crops.”
When asked about the tools to avoid
‘green piracy’, Leune says he and his
team are rather determined in their
search for justice.”I agree, I never
heard from cases in which a grower
ended up in prison, though in some
cases this would be possible. Also
remind that the amount of piracy
money is impressive. As soon as we
find an infringement we get back to
the breeder to propose different steps
of action. This can be a personal
visit to confront the grower with the
situation followed by a legal letter.
An accountancy control, official
inspection, product seizure or court
case are also possible. When asked if
the RAI team enters the greenhouse
door without knocking, Leune said.
“We always stay friendly and explain
the situation and then it depends of
how the licensee reacts. If he kicks
us out, you can guarantee that we
will be back. Why should we use
any violence, if we can opt for legal
power instead. In that case we can
rely upon our international network
of lawyers.”
CIOPORA
Time now for a more festive mood
with CIOPORA celebrating its
golden jubilee this year. Leune offers
his congratulations, “CIOPO-
RA has meant a lot for the industry
as a whole. It’s a lobby organisation
approaching governmental
people all over the world. As soon
there is a renewal of national PBR
legislation, CIOPORA tries to
get involved and influence the law
text. CIOPORA was involved in
the first 1961 UPOV convention
bringing in big influence. At the
new conventions in 1978 and 1991
it was again CIOPORA which
strongly involved in observation,
changes and adjustments of the
law text.”
Leune describes CIOPORA as
a very active organisation. “It
has 123 members, however the
world is big with many countries
and many things occurring. This
makes it not always easy to fully
cover all events and activities. Lobbying
is very time consuming and
you always have to set priorities.
CIOPORA is always present at
UPOV meetings as an observer.
Throughout its network, members
are able to hear what are the latest
developments in legislation.”
More members
CIOPORA offers good value for
money, ensures Leune, “Lobby
work always remains difficult
to measure. The value of your
money is not only the pure lobbying,
CIOPORA is an important
platform for discussion and the
exchange of new ideas between
stakeholders. The next best opportunity
to meet industry professionals
is CIOPORA’s annual meeting
which is set to take place in Rome
in the beginning of April. People
should also know that CIOPORA
comprises different working groups
with focuses on biodiversity, PBR
matters (EDV’s, DUS, minimum
distances between varieties, technical
guidelines, DNA fingerprinting),
infringements and crop
sections. Personally I have been
involved in CIOPORA since 1996.
From 1999 to 2005, I was president
of CIOPORA.”
Leune concludes, “I wish that
CIOPORA had more members.
More breeders should realise the
good work this organisation has
done and is currently doing. The
more breeders, the stronger the
voice of the sector, the more we can
achieve.” |||
CIOPORA Chronicle April 2011 | www.CIOPORA.org 39