Chile: Cripps Pink and Rosy Glow trees must be registered for export to Europe

The licensees of Cripps Pink and Rosy Glow have decided to give Chilean producers an opportunity to register all the trees they have of these varieties. Cripps Pink is protected by plant protection rights (TOV) in the European Union (EU) and it is licensed to the French company Star Fruits (SF). Rosy Glow is protected by plant variety rights in Chile, where it is licensed to Andes New Varieties Administration (ANA); in the EU the licensee is SF.

The fruit harvested from the Cripps Pink and Rosy Glow trees in Chile can only enter the European Union (EU) if the trees have been authorized by the respective licensees.

Producers in Chile will have until November 30, 2018 to register their Cripps Pink and Rosy Glow trees with DECOFRUT, a company that has been designated to manage the declaration process and to manage the tree authorization agreements for Cripps Pink producers on behalf of SF. Meanwhile, ANA will issue licenses for Rosy Glow trees that still don't have them.

Between December 2018 to March 2019, producers who have completed their declaration of Cripps Pink trees will receive a TANPA agreement from Star Fruits Chile (SFC), which establishes the obligations for both parties. Once the TANPA is signed, the producers will receive a Tree Authorization Notice (TAN) for the Cripps Pink trees that they have declared having.

The producers will provide the TAN document to their exporters to prove that their trees are authorized. 

In the same period, producers that have completed their declaration of Rosy Glow trees and that require regularization, will receive a production license for the variety from ANA. The producers of the plants legally acquired and the ones registered in this process will receive a Tree Authorization Notice (TAN) from Rosy Glow.

There will be a one-time fee of US $ 0.50 (EMN) plus VAT per Cripps Pink tree and a one-time fee of US $ 1.60 (EMN) plus VAT, per Rosy Glow trees that don't have a license. Cripps Pink trees that have been previously registered, either to Viveros Requinoa (VR) or to Global Licensing Association (GLA), won't have to pay this fees, so long as the producer can provide evidence that they registered them with the VR or GLA.

This opportunity is completely voluntary and producers can choose to participate or not. Producers whose Cripps Pink and Rosy Glow plants receive their respective TAN during this process will be immediately approved to market their fruit in the EU market. Non-participating producers should know that, starting May 2019, the fruit from their Cripps Pink trees won't be allowed to enter the EU.

Clarifications 

The Cripps Pink variety was developed during the 70's in Manjimup, Western Australia by the breeder John Cripps, as part of a breeding program of the Western Australia Department of Agriculture (WADA), since he was unable to register it in Chile, for a series of reasons, it became a free variety in this country. "Consequently, all the production carried out in Chile is carried out under a legal basis, and there is no need to pay Royalty charges. However, the owners of the patent licensed it Star Fruit in Europe, which enables it to prohibit the entry of fruit from trees that have not been authorized into the European market. Thus, if Chilean producers want to export these varieties of apples to the European Union, they have to register them and pay a royalty charge or show that they have already paid for it. If they can't demonstrate this payment, they will have to pay 50 cents per plant to be able to export to that market," stated Manuel Jose Alcaino, the President of Decofrut.

Alcalino said that in the past producers paid the Royalty for the Cripps Pink to Viveros Requinoa (VR), and then to the Global Licensing Association (GLA).

The President of Decofrut also said that this registration and payment only applied to exports to Europe, and not to shipments to other markets.

"DECOFRUT has the task of registering each one of the producers of Cripps Pink, which are estimated to be between 300 and 400 in Chile. They must complete a form, indicating information such as the number of plants, if they have made Royalty payments in the past or not, and if they have a new plantation, and its location. Once this background is collected, we'll send it to SF so that they can make a decision, according to each case. We will not be involved in the decision process, only in the registration and sending of the necessary information. In addition, we will audit the information that is provided to us. This audit will be random. The idea is to verify that what the people have declared is true, therefore, an auditor of DECOFRUT will be in the field counting the plants. We will also be monitoring each of the shipments that are made of these varieties, to verify that no fruit from producers who have not regularized their situation enters Europe," he said.

"We think there won't be many problems with Rosy Glow, but if there are producers who do not have the license, it is important that they regularize their situation to prevent their fruit from being denied entry into Europe. Ultimately, the idea is to invite them to deliver the information," he said.

Finally, Manuel Jose Alcalino said that those who market these varieties under the Pink Lady brand should continue paying for this right, as the registration and license payment was different than the payment for the use of the brand. 

For more information, please contact:

Local management: DECOFRUT. Andres Valenzuela / Tel: +56 22 658 7474e-mail: avalenzuela@fruitonline.com