When Sicasov was founded in 1948, the protection systems had not yet been put in place. However, Sicasov was already concluding private cooperation agreements with cooperatives wishing to improve the genetics necessary to revitalise post-war agriculture.
In 1961, the international UPOV Convention defined the legal basis for plant variety protection and the introduction of Plant Variety Certificates or PVCs.
Among the successive revisions of this convention, the 1991 amendment was very important since it introduced the farm-saved seed exemption; i.e. the authorisation given to a farmer to use his own seed from his crop, subject to the payment of a "fair remuneration" from which small farmers are exempt.
This exemption was incorporated into French law in 2011.
Before that date, the self-production of a variety protected by a French PVC was prohibited.
As early as 1994, varieties protected by a European PVC were covered by this exemption.
Sicasov has consequently had to adapt its management to these developments and for certain species, the collection of royalties has gradually been extended to all farmers.