The Impact Of Importing Countries’ Protection Of New Plant Varieties On China’s Seed Exports

On September 22,2021,the CPC Central Committee and The State Council issued the Outline for Building China into an Intellectual Property Power(2021-2035),proposing to drive high-quality economic and social development through innovation and accelerate intellectual property reform and development.On 6 July 2021,Tang Renjian,Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,stressed: "Strengthening the protection of seed industry intellectual property rights is the greatest protection of the core interests of seed industry innovators and the greatest incentive for enhancing the competitiveness of Chinese seed industry." To fight well for the recovery of seed industry,the establishment and improvement of seed industry intellectual property rights protection system should be taken as the fundamental guarantee ".On this basis,the countermeasures to comprehensively promote the protection of seed industry intellectual property rights in the new era are put forward.As more and more countries around the world begin to pay attention to the conservation of biological genetic resources,the advantages of seeds become more and more obvious and become a driving force for agricultural trade.As an important part of the intellectual property rights of seed industry,the protection level of new plant varieties is of great significance to enhance the core competitiveness of the country and enterprises.Intellectual property protection has become the core of China’s seed trade and plays an important role in international trade.Therefore,it is necessary to study the influence of the protection of new plant varieties in importing countries on the seed export trade.In this paper,starting from the basic concept of new plant variety right,elaborated "variety" and "variety right" as the core intellectual property in agricultural field.Then,the mechanism of plant new variety protection affecting trade was analyzed theoretically,and a theoretical model was constructed based on the NorthSouth trade model and Cournot equilibrium model.It was found that the effect of plant new variety protection on trade was directly promoted through the "market expansion effect".But as time lags,the "market barrier effect" begins to act as a brake.Secondly,this paper analyzes the formation and evolution of plant new product protection system.The protection system of new varieties of plants has gone through the stage from the sporadic protection of plant breeding innovation to the relatively perfect stage in the traditional breeding era,to the gradual development stage of the global implementation of the UPOV1991 text,and finally to the global development stage of the establishment of substantial derivative varieties system.Then,this paper describes and analyzes the characteristic facts of two variables: seed rights and seed export trade.Regarding the variety right,it is analyzed from three aspects: the quantity of variety right,protection scope and development in UPOV.In terms of seed export trade,it describes statistical analysis from total volume,trade partners and trade structure.Finally,an empirical study is carried out around the hypothesis of theoretical analysis.Firstly,a comprehensive index was established to measure the protection level of new plant varieties in importing countries.Secondly,the direct impact of plant new variety protection on trade was studied and designed and the benchmark regression model was constructed.The results showed that(1)Under the direct effect of "market expansion effect",the protection level of plant new variety in importing country had a promoting effect on Chinese seed export trade.(2)The promotion effect will be different due to the economic development level of importing countries and whether they have joined the TRIPS agreement or not,and also due to the seed product types.Then,this paper conducted a regression on the delayed effects of plant new variety protection on trade.The results showed that with the time lag,the "market barrier effect" began to play a role,making the original "market expansion effect" weakened.The test of influence mechanism also shows that(1)the "expansion effect" does significantly promote the growth of export trade in the current period.(2)With time lag,"barrier effect" begins to play a role of inhibiting export through innovation.The further study in this paper found that the promotion effect of the protection of new plant varieties in the import market on the export trade of Chinese seeds would have a threshold effect with the trade openness of the import market,and the higher the trade openness,the greater the effect.According to the research results,the following four suggestions are put forward.(1)Formulate relevant laws and regulations in accordance with the text of UPOV1991,improve the system of substantive derivative varieties,and encourage original breeding innovation.(2)Expand the range of protection of variety rights.(3)Strengthen the non-resident application audit,promote the effective combination of "bringing in" and "going out",and expand the international influence of Chinese seed industry.(4)In international trade,establish a sound seed product intellectual property examination record system and early warning mechanism to ensure the sustainable development of seed industry.