Cape ‘smuggler’ says US ruling is just sour grapes
Paarl farmer takes on seed giant in cuttings row
FRUITY BUSINESS: Jack Pandol with examples of the Sugar Crisp grapes produced by the US biotech firm A PROMINENT South African farmer is accused of having smuggled table grape cultivars from the US in his suitcase and growing them on his farm.
But Eddie Redelinghuys, who also has a huge compost business that processes most of Cape Town’s organic waste, is appealing against a ruling on the matter in a US court.
He claims he has been unfairly targeted by biotech firm International Fruit Genetics due to a contractual dispute it has with a consortium of South African producers using its products.
Redelinghuys has been caught up in a bitter legal spat with California-based IFG since 2014, when a US court ruled that he had illegally imported one of its new table grape varieties, Sugar Crisp, to grow in his Paarl vineyards.
The ruling was confirmed this week by IFG co-owner Jack Pandol, who said: “The court granted summary judgment in IFG’s favour, finding that Redelinghuys had in fact propagated IFG proprietary grape varieties in violation of the agreements and that Redelinghuys had illegally imported the Sugar Crisp variety into South Africa.
“The court also declared that IFG properly enforced its agreements with Redelinghuys and ordered Redelinghuys to remove and destroy all IFG proprietary plant material in his possession. Redelinghuys has lodged an appeal, which is now pending.”
Redelinghuys confirmed his appeal, but gave a different version of events, claiming he had obtained IFG’s permission to import Sugar Crisp in 2012.
“I collected the material on my yearly visit to IFG in California,” he said. “The following year [2013] this was further confirmed by an e-mail to IFG breeding assistant Pam Dykes and to the then new IFG international manager, Tersia Marcos, wherein I advised them that we would be increasing the vines from the four to 200-plus.”
It was only two years later, after a contractual dispute, that IFG alleged improper conduct, he said.
“So then in 2014, when IFG was looking for something to discredit me with, the focus shifted to Sugar Crisp. They also then tried to implicate further violations by fabricating that I had unknowingly planted other selections too, even though they . . . had accepted payment for the material and royalties too,” Redelinghuys said.
An informed source who requested anonymity due to possible legal recriminations said the matter appeared to relate to a personal fallout between Redelinghuys and Pandol, who have known each other for many years.
Redelinghuys had been instrumental in pioneering IFG products in South Africa, the source said, but had recently fallen out of favour after siding with a fellow South African producer in a commercial dispute.
IFG had agreed to Redelinghuys importing Sugar Crisp, he said, allegedly to circumvent South African regulations on plant material — plant imports are normally subject to a lengthy quarantine period.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries appeared to be unaware of the matter when contacted for comment this week. SQUEEZED: Eddie Redelinghuys claims he’s being targeted
IFG is a biotechnology company specialising in grapes and cherries. It collects, analyses and combines hundreds of fruit varieties from around the world to create new ones on 32ha of test fields and vineyards.
Pandol denied the company had known about the “illegal” imports. “Mr Redelinghuys has told varying stories in this regard to convince the courts that IFG somehow condoned his illegal activity and therefore cannot terminate his agreements for this conduct,” he said.
“However, both the court in the US and an arbitrator in South Africa have found these stories to be unfounded.”
His long personal relationship with Redelinghuys had made the dispute more difficult. “But the [IFG] board of directors ultimately found that termination was necessary to protect the integrity of IFG’s licensing programme,” Pandol said.
IFG fruit varieties are grafted onto South African root stock at Voor-Groenberg Nurseries in Wellington, then produced under licence by local farmers. A spokesman for the nursery confirmed it was aware of the case, but declined to comment.
Producer organisations were reluctant to speak about the case, and their association, the South African Table Grape Industry, could not be reached for comment.
Patents for new varieties was a complex environment, but industry bodies generally supported good governance “and respect for rights”, said one fruit industry representative.
“It’s a totally new ball game,” he said.
IFG was looking for something to discredit me with in 2014
Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za