UE : REPONSE Question P-006943-17 de Giulia Moi (EFDD) - protection du blé sarde

Niveau juridique : Union européenne

Texte de la question :

« In June 2016, the Italian CREA had published a call for expressions of interest for the purchase of the exclusive rights for the propagation and marketing of a wheat variety called ‘Capelli’, a type of genetically-improved wheat which combines specific physiological and agronomic characteristics.

The Sardinian companies which work with ‘Cappelli’ wheat are in difficulty because the exclusivity contract has apparently been given to an Italian company which was awarded the CREA contract for 15 years.

The ‘Capelli’ variety has been grown in Sardinia on a continuous basis since 1920. Because of its qualities, this wheat is regularly used in the production of bread, pasta and local cereal-based products.

Does the Commission not agree that the granting of exclusive rights in connection with the CREA call can lead to a trade restriction and curb the development and growth of existing operators in the sector? »

Réponse donnée le 19/12/2017, par Mr Andriukaitis au nom de la Commission

« Pursuant to Directive 2002/53/EC1, a durum wheat variety “Cappelli” is included in the Common Catalogue of varieties of agricultural crops since 1977 and the Italian authorities appointed CREA (CRA-CER, “Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura”) as the maintainer of the variety. The Directive allows Member States to have one or more maintainers for a common variety and requires the Member States to notify them to the Commission.

The Commission has been informed by the Italian authorities that the maintainer of the variety decided to make a call for expression of interest to multiply and market seeds of the variety and one company was chosen for this purpose. It is up to the Italian authorities to assess any potential effects of this decision taking into account changes in prices and availability of seeds.

According to the information available to the Commission, the wheat variety “Cappelli” has not been granted the protection of a plant variety right pursuant to EU2 or national legislation. »

Lien vers la question ici