AMS No. 204-09

Joan Shaffer (202) 720-8998

Billy Cox (202) 720-8998

WASHINGTON, November 2, 2009 --The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of twenty-two varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include soybean and pepper.

The twenty-two certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection.

The twenty-two certificates are:

--the D5624834*, D5903654*, D5896414*, D5362795, D5916542, D5124759*, D5232589, D5086205, D5142326, D5231451, D5123854, A1007978*, D5032147* and D5703684* varieties of soybean, developed by Monsanto Technology, L.L.C., St. Louis, Mo;

--the RJS28001*, 90Y50*, 90Y42*, 91Y21*, 90Y80*, varieties of soybean, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa;

--the SD1161RR/SCN* variety soybean, developed by SD Agricultural Experiment Station, Brooking, S.D.;

--the TAM Mild Jalepeno II variety of pepper, developed by Texas AgriLife Research, College Station, Tex.; and

--the Tiger Paw-NR variety of pepper, developed by The U.S. Government as Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

* In the United States, seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time-limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/pvpo.