Home > 105th Congressional Bills > H.R. 4694 (ih) For the relief of Suchada Kwong. ...H.R. 4694 (ih) For the relief of Suchada Kwong. ...
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4693
To require persons who seek to retain seed harvested from the planting
of patented seeds to register with the Secretary of Agriculture and pay
fees set by the Secretary for retaining such seed, and for other
purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 24, 2004
Ms. Kaptur introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
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A BILL
To require persons who seek to retain seed harvested from the planting
of patented seeds to register with the Secretary of Agriculture and pay
fees set by the Secretary for retaining such seed, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Seed Availability and Competition
Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. RETAINING PATENTED SEED.
(a) Registration.--Any person who plants patented seed or seed
derived from patented seed may retain seed from the harvest of the
planted seed for replanting by that person if that person--
(1) submits to the Secretary of Agriculture notice, in such
form as the Secretary may require, of the type and quantity of
seed to be retained and any other information the Secretary
determines to be appropriate; and
(2) pays the fee established by the Secretary pursuant to
subsection (b) for the type and quantity of seed retained.
(b) Fees.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a fee to be
paid by a person pursuant to subsection (a)(2) based on the type and
quantity of seed retained. The Secretary shall deposit amounts
collected pursuant to subsection (a)(2) in the Patented Seed Fund
established under subsection (e)(1).
(c) Refunds.--The Secretary of Agriculture may refund or make an
adjustment of the fee paid pursuant to subsection (a)(2) when the
person is unable to plant or harvest the retained seed as a result of a
natural disaster or related condition and under such other
circumstances as the Secretary considers such refund or adjustment
appropriate.
(d) Distributions.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall pay the
collected fees to the appropriate patent holders, at a frequency that
the Secretary determines is appropriate, from the Patented Seed Fund
established under subsection (e)(1), taking into consideration the
possibility of refunds pursuant to subsection (c).
(e) Patented Seed Fund.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of
the United States a fund to be known as the ``Patented Seed
Fund'', consisting of such amounts as may be received by the
Secretary and deposited into such Fund as provided in this
section.
(2) Administration.--The Fund shall be administered by the
Secretary of Agriculture and all moneys in the Fund shall be
distributed solely by the Secretary in accordance with this
section and shall not be distributed or appropriated for any
other purpose. Amounts in the Fund are available without
further appropriation and until expended to make payments to
patent holders.
(f) Inapplicability of Contracts and Patent Fees.--A person who
retains seed under subsection (a) from the harvest of patented seed or
seed derived from patented seed shall not be bound by any contractual
limitation on retaining such seed, or by any requirement to pay
royalties or licensing or other fees, by reason of the patent, for
retaining such seed.
(g) Definition.--In this section, the term ``patented seed'' means
seed for which a person holds a valid patent.
SEC. 3. TARIFF ON CERTAIN IMPORTED PRODUCTS.
(a) Tariff.--In any case in which--
(1) genetically modified seed on which royalties or
licensing or other fees are charged by the owner of a patent on
such seed to persons purchasing the seed in the United States
is exported, and
(2) no such fees, or a lesser amount of such fees, are
charged to purchasers of the exported seed in a foreign
country,
then there shall be imposed on any product of the exported seed from
that foreign country that enters the customs territory of the United
States a duty determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in addition
to any duty that otherwise applies, in an amount that recovers the
difference between the fees paid by purchasers of the seed in the
United States and purchasers of the exported seed in that country.
(b) Deposit of Duties.--There shall be deposited in the Patented
Seed Fund established by section 2(e)(1) the amount of all duties
collected under subsection (a) for distribution to the appropriate
patent holders in accordance with section 2(d).
(c) Definition.--In this section--
(1) the term ``genetically modified seed'' means any seed
that contains a genetically modified material, was produced
with a genetically modified material, or is descended from a
seed that contained a genetically modified material or was
produced with a genetically modified material; and
(2) the term ``genetically modified material'' means
material that has been altered at the molecular or cellular
level by means that are not possible under natural conditions
or processes (including recombinant DNA and RNA techniques,
cell fusion, microencapsulation, macroencapsulation, gene
deletion and doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing
the positions of genes), other than a means consisting
exclusively of breeding, conjugation, fermentation,
hybridization, in vitro fertilization, tissue culture, or
mutagenesis.
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