Seeds and Breeds for the Future Act

This bill would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use at least $75 million each year from certain existing research grant programs for competitive grants to develop public plant varieties and animal breeds. These are varieties and breeds that come from publicly funded breeding programs and are not protected by utility patents. Anyone holding a patent or variety protection on a breed or variety developed with these funds could grant exclusive rights only to people who agree to produce it mainly in the United States. The bill would also create a coordinator for this research within the Department, require the Department to carry out an existing national plan for plant seed and germplasm collections, and require it to develop a new plan for animal genetic collections. The Department would have to report to Congress each year.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Tammy Baldwin Democrat sponsor
• 4 cosponsors