ABOUT bipo
BIPO stands for Breeders’ Intellectual Property Office. It is an organisation set up by breeders to collect royalties from farmers for the use of their new varieties.
Signing up to BIPO is quick and easy and you only need to sign up once. Click below to check if you already have a BIPO number or see what is involved in signing up, or scroll down for a list of FAQs.
frequently asked questions - farmers
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The RAC is a license between BIPO and a farmer who wants to use a protected variety. By signing it the farmer agrees to pay royalties at an agreed rate.
Yes, all BIPO varieties are covered by one licence, and it remains valid until you stop using the varieties, when it can be cancelled.
Both are organisations that collect royalties from farmers for their use of protected varieties. They just do it differently, think of Netflix and Sky.
The main difference is that BIPO collects all FSS royalties directly from the farmer and payment is based on the area sown.
The RAC scheme encourages breeding activity within the UK, to produce new genetic traits on farm that benefit British growers.
Growers using farm-saved seed will pay the same royalty rate per hectare as those using certified seed. This ensures an equitable system where all users of a variety contribute fairly to the breeding of the genetics utilised on farm.
Certified seed of BIPO varieties will be cheaper as the royalty is averaged between certified and FSS.
There are lots of competitive varieties available through the BSPB scheme, you only need to sign the licence if you want to use a variety that is licenced by BIPO.
You need to fill in a declaration twice a year for the area sown with BIPO varieties. This can be done online. You will then receive an invoice from BIPO.
When the scheme was first launched, it was the responsibility of the farmer to pay the royalty on both certified & FFS areas sown. At harvest 2024, varieties were added to ‘Annex B’ – where certified seed is sold with the royalty attached, meaning the farmer only must declare the area sown on FFS. Certified seed cannot be supplied until the grower has an RAC agreement.
BIPO aims to work with growers and understands the challenges of farming. If seeds are planted out with regular growing seasons, please do not hesitate to get in contact with BIPO and we can arrange a late declaration to be made.
Plant breeding is a long-term, high-risk industry. Payment from successful varieties allows continued innovation of different species, to minimize the dependence of chemicals and provide resilience in a changing climate.
By providing a fair and transparent method of royalty collection, RAC ensures that breeders receive sustainable returns, enabling them to reinvest in research and development regardless on the grower’s source of seed. Breeders will be more likely to breed niche crops and use innovative technology such as gene editing if they can licence the new varieties through BIPO.
frequently asked questions - merchants
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To change the existing system – and make FFS and Certified Seed a level playing field.
Making certified seed more competitive adds a level playing field to the industry. Merchants can choose to be involved in the new technology or the old technology (Genserus & highest yielding) – BSPB varieties are still available.
The farmer only needs to sign the licence online once for all BIPO varieties and the licence continues in force until the farmer stops growing BIPO varieties. Once the merchant knows the number, this can be recorded in the customer details much like a postcode, and then it can be referenced when the sale is made. As more farmers join the scheme, and because of the 80-20 rule, very quickly most customers will have a number recorded against the sale. This information should be easy to export to an excel file and submitted to BIPO at the end of each season.
The merchants who have been involved in the scheme over the last few years are now at ease with the system.
The RAC agreement specifies that the farmer is happy for BIPO to collect information & that the merchant agreement allows BIPO to gain the information about the farmer to collect royalties. Due to the GDPR regulation surrounding IP we are legally allowed to have access to this information (legitimate interest clause).
It would not be in the interest of BIPO to pass on such information and details of the customer base, we will only utilize it to collect royalties.
Within the 1997 UK Plant varieties act and associated regulations, the farmer is liable to pay the holder of the rights (Breeder) for any material used if entered into a contractual agreement. BIPO has an agreement directly with the farmers that allows it to do this.
BIPO is taking multiple approaches to educating farmers on its new scheme, mainly through education of agronomists & greater visibility to farmers.
The BIPO RAC royalty circulation list will be used for informing existing growers about changes to the RAC system. All new registrations will get information upon signing up.
Webinars will be given to the trade, to highlight FAQs section and how to access any information farmers may require. Support documents will also be sent to merchants.
Breeders can choose to move the varieties across & send information to any existing grower about the changes. Or they can leave them be. From now on new varieties will only be put on BIPO+.
