The Nadorcott war escalates as UK markets are intimidated

The long-standing legal battle over the right to produce the much-loved Nardorcott mandarin is heating up, writes Lindi Botha.

The conflict over the right to produce and market the Nadorcott mandarin variety is heating up as supermarkets are being warned not to stock fruit that does not uphold licensing rights from the Nadorcott Protection Company (NCP).

NCP believes that varieties derived from the Nadorcott mandarin should be classified as essentially-derived varieties (EDV), meaning that royalties are payable to the company should the variety be planted and commercially exploited.

A long-standing legal battle has been continuing for years between NCP and companies that have developed their own Nadorcott varieties and brand names, like the Tango and Tang Gold fruit.

Last year, NCP took one more step towards victory after the international Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) published new explanatory notes on EDVs, stating that the Nadorcott variety of the fruit is the original from which the Tango/Tang Gold is essentially derived, and should therefore be treated as belonging to NCP.

This new development, however, is still far from concluding any legal debate over who should be paying royalties to whom, as a victory in court is still far off. The NCP has, however, sought to intimidate supermarkets in the UK by serving them with a second wave of letters warning retailers of the risks of selling Tango/Tang Gold mandarins. The supermarkets have not yet removed any fruit from their shelves.

Barbara Botes, business manager at Citrus Genesis, who licenses the Tango variety in South Africa, said that a lot of noise was currently being made, but that nothing had legally changed in terms of who can grow or market the Nadorcott variety.

The development has far-reaching consequences for South Africa’s citrus industry, since around 19% of the orchards are under the Nadorcott variety. This includes fruit sold under the Tango trademark, and ClemenGold. The latter is however owned by

Biogold, which has a licence from NCP to grow and market the fruit.

Dr Viresh Ramburan, managing director of Biogold, said that as a company which represents breeders and invests in breeding, they support the many years of effort that goes into breeding.

“The position of breeders must be strengthened to be able to protect their bred products.” Biogold has also engaged in legal action in South African courts to uphold the plant breeders rights. Ramburan said that the ruling by the UPOV would now serve to strengthen their case.

Botes, however, believes that farmers have little to fear with regards to Tango orchards currently in the ground.

“Worst-case scenario, there will likely be an agreement to pay royalties to NCP. It is unlikely to reach a point where farmers will need to remove trees,” she added.

The outcome of the court cases will have far-reaching consequences for plant breeders in general. Ramburan said that with the rise in new breeding techniques, the industry is likely to see more varieties developed based on existing successful commercial cultivars. “A ruling will go a long way to give confidence to the owners of parental varieties to assert their rights over EDVs,” he said.

‘A RULING WILL GO A LONG WAY TO (REASSURE) THE OWNERS OF THE PARENTAL VARIETY’

LINDI BOTHA The Nadorcott variety of mandarins is loved worldwide for its superior eating quality. A legal battle over the right to commercially exploit the variety has been ongoing for years and will have consequences for the ClemenGold and Tango brands.