The American Soybean Association also participated in Friday’s panel discussion on the competitive dynamics of the seed industry. Earlier, ASA has expressed concerns arising from the approaching expiration of the first patents for agriculture biotechnology traits and the potential negative impact on soybean and soybean product exports in the event that foreign registrations of biotech traits are not maintained in countries that require them.

During the meeting, ASA Vice President Ray Gaesser, a soybean producer from Corning, Iowa, and a Director and Past President of the Iowa Soybean Association, told workshop attendees - there is uncertainty in the marketplace surrounding the process to ensure that foreign registrations for biotech traits are maintained once they go off-patent and become generic, uncertainty on access to data packages for stacks containing patented traits, and uncertainty on the terms of licensing agreements and potential restrictions contained within those agreements. He said - this uncertainty needs to be solved, or else soybean farmers fear that both innovation and competition may suffer.

ASA also supports enabling trait providers and seed companies to access and use, through agreements or other procedures, the data packages of a patented biotech trait for the purpose of preparing to register and commercialize seeds containing “stacks” of new biotech traits along with traits already commercialized. And finally, it must be ensured that provisions in license agreements do not inhibit competition and continued innovation.