On the other hand patents are only valid for 20 years in Japan. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestries is negotiating with the Patent Agency over the issue giving patent rights to new plant varieties. Under that treaty patent rights can not be given to new plants and Japan became a signatory nation 2 years ago. Protection is assailable under another law, which is less protective. This is the main trend in Europe where there is concern that their agriculture could come under control of foreign nations.
Japan has a very real case showing just such a problem.
In a recent article a bad dream was described for the Japanese. The US with its usual mammoth trade deficit with Japan says it wants to export seeds to Japan that have been Found to match the tastes of Japanese consumers. The response of the Japanese is that due to concern over disease contamination such imports are not permitted. The Japanese say testing will be required. The US says this is a non-tariff barrier.