https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Ag...4&pub_date=20220706090000&seq_num=14&si=44594
Shine Muscat grape smuggling to China costs Japan $70m a year
Farm ministry reckons losses as it seeks to better protect registered varieties
Tourists pick Shine Muscat grapes in the central Japanese city of Kofu. (Photo by Masayuki Kozono)
SATSUKI KANEKO, Nikkei staff writerJuly 6, 2022 02:00 JST
TOKYO -- Japan suffers more than 10 billion yen ($73.8 million) in lost earnings yearly from premium Shine Muscat grapes improperly brought to China, the Japanese farm ministry estimates in a new report.
Smuggling of the government-registered variety appears to have begun in 2016, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which estimates that China had 30 times more area under Shine Muscat cultivation than Japan in 2020.
The large white table grapes took 18 years to go from initial trials to a registered variety in 2006. A team of 13 researchers was involved in the effort. Japan sees such premium brands as crucial to its plan for increasing farm and fisheries exports.
Shine Muscat exports to China are blocked by quarantine rules. If Chinese growers had purchased seeds and seedlings through legitimate channels, they would be paying over 10 billion yen a year to stock their vineyards, the ministry estimates. More overseas farmers say they wish to purchase Japan's high-quality plant varieties through proper channels.
The ministry aims to create a body in 2023 for managing agricultural intellectual property (IP) on behalf of breeders. An expert panel commissioned in May will study ways to monitor for smuggling and provide support until varieties are registered. An interim report is due out this summer.
Grape smuggling is rampant for premium varieties like Shine Muscat, according to Japan's farm ministry. (Photo by Hideaki Naito)
A 2021 law allows breeders of plant varieties to designate export markets, and it provides for legal action when these choices are violated.
But in practice it is difficult for individuals and small businesses that developed plant varieties to bring their cases before the court, and monitoring for improper use of protected seeds and seedlings is challenging, experts say.
European countries provide models for Japan's effort to control agricultural IP risk. France's Sicasov, a cooperative company founded by plant breeders, collects tens of millions of euros a year in royalties. Belgium's AIB has protected seed IP since 2008.
Shine Muscat grape smuggling to China costs Japan $70m a year
Farm ministry reckons losses as it seeks to better protect registered varieties
Tourists pick Shine Muscat grapes in the central Japanese city of Kofu. (Photo by Masayuki Kozono)
SATSUKI KANEKO, Nikkei staff writerJuly 6, 2022 02:00 JST
TOKYO -- Japan suffers more than 10 billion yen ($73.8 million) in lost earnings yearly from premium Shine Muscat grapes improperly brought to China, the Japanese farm ministry estimates in a new report.
Smuggling of the government-registered variety appears to have begun in 2016, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which estimates that China had 30 times more area under Shine Muscat cultivation than Japan in 2020.
The large white table grapes took 18 years to go from initial trials to a registered variety in 2006. A team of 13 researchers was involved in the effort. Japan sees such premium brands as crucial to its plan for increasing farm and fisheries exports.
Shine Muscat exports to China are blocked by quarantine rules. If Chinese growers had purchased seeds and seedlings through legitimate channels, they would be paying over 10 billion yen a year to stock their vineyards, the ministry estimates. More overseas farmers say they wish to purchase Japan's high-quality plant varieties through proper channels.
The ministry aims to create a body in 2023 for managing agricultural intellectual property (IP) on behalf of breeders. An expert panel commissioned in May will study ways to monitor for smuggling and provide support until varieties are registered. An interim report is due out this summer.
Grape smuggling is rampant for premium varieties like Shine Muscat, according to Japan's farm ministry. (Photo by Hideaki Naito)
A 2021 law allows breeders of plant varieties to designate export markets, and it provides for legal action when these choices are violated.
But in practice it is difficult for individuals and small businesses that developed plant varieties to bring their cases before the court, and monitoring for improper use of protected seeds and seedlings is challenging, experts say.
European countries provide models for Japan's effort to control agricultural IP risk. France's Sicasov, a cooperative company founded by plant breeders, collects tens of millions of euros a year in royalties. Belgium's AIB has protected seed IP since 2008.
