On Tuesday, February 25, Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, became law when it received royal assent. The new law, which brings Canada under the UPOV ’91 plant breeders’ rights regime, will come into force by Cabinet order. From now on, seed companies’ exclusive rights to control new varieties of seed have been expanded, they have gained new ways to collect royalty revenue from farmers and a longer, twenty-year royalty collection period (twenty-five years for tree and vine varieties).
