Representatives included the SANSOR Board of Directors, the ARC Senior Management and Directors responsible for the relevant ARC institutes.

From the meeting it emanated that the ARC still considered SANSOR for the dissemination of their varieties, as well as collection of royalties on their behalf, as they did not have the capacity or infrastructure to do so. Certain institutes also indicated their satisfaction with current arrangements.

A draft proposal for a revised MOU, prepared by the ARC, was discussed. It was decided that the purpose of the MOU was only to outline the principles and clarify terminology. It should be broad enough to cover the generic requirements for all institutes concerned. However, specific arrangements were to be established with the individual institutes concerned, as each had different needs and requirements. The draft proposal was to be revised by the ARC prior to resubmission to SANSOR for consideration.

The royalties collected during the period under review displayed a decrease in comparison with the previous year, owing to production decreases after late rains during the relevant production season.

A sharp decrease in the area planted to groundnuts and dry beans were also recorded. It is expected that this trend would probably continue during the next season at least, owing to higher maize prizes discouraging producers to plant these particular crops. Since groundnuts and dry beans are two of the three main crops on which royalties are collected by SANSOR, this factor reflected negatively on the total amount collected. Most of the other crops concerned, however, showed an increase.

The implementation of a penalty by way of interest on late payments had a positive effect and generally resulted in royalties being paid over earlier than usual.