Hamburg, Germany
June 11, 2020

In the association’s first electronic elections, CIOPORA members confirm Steven Hutton, Ball FloraPlant/Star Roses & Plants (USA), as CIOPORA President, elect CIOPORA Board 2020 – 2023 with member representatives from seven countries, including two first-time electees.

CIOPORA held its first electronic President and Board elections by secret ballot as a part of the virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2020 on June 3-5. The new CIOPORA Board is comprised of ten individuals from breeding and licensing companies active in a broad range of horticultural cultivars:

• Steven Hutton Ball FloraPlant/Star Roses & Plants, USA – President
• Wendy Cashmore, Trajectory 762 Ltd./IPPartners, New Zealand – Co-Vice-President
• Dr Jan de Riek, ILVO Plant, Belgium – Co-Vice-President
• Dominique Thévenon, AIGN., France – Treasurer
• Michael Carriere, PhD, UC Davis Innovation Access, USA
• Bruno Etavard, Meilland International, France
• Maarten Leune, Royalty Administration International, The Netherlands
• Dean Rule, Conectiflor S.A./E.G. Hill, Ecuador
• Ingrid Slangen, Selecta one, Germany
• Peter van der Weijden, Florist Holland and HilverdaKooij, The Netherlands.

Andrea Mansuino, NIRP International S.A. (Italy), participates in the Board automatically as the CIOPORA immediate Past-President (2011 – 2017).

Steven Hutton has been reelected by the overwhelming majority for the second three-year term as CIOPORA President. Since his election at the AGM 2017 in Toronto, the third-generation nurseryman and the past President & CEO of the Conard-Pyle Company/Star Roses & Plants has been successfully working on expanding CIOPORA’s outreach, with a focus on the US, and representing breeders’ interests worldwide. Thanking CIOPORA members for their trust, Steven said: “Being President of CIOPORA is a culmination of the work I have done most of my professional life, bringing new plants to the world’s gardens and making sure they have robust Intellectual Property (IP) protection.”
 
The first-time Board electees, Ingrid Slangen, Head of IP & Legal Affairs at Selecta one (Germany), and Michael Carriere, PhD, Assistant Director at UC Davis Innovation Access (USA), bring years of experience in IP for plant innovations to their new positions. Ingrid Slangen has been chairing the CIOPORA Crop Section Cut Flowers since 2012 and has recently assumed the position of the CIOPORA’s representative at the EU/CPVO. Michael Carriere  has been representing UC Davis Innovation Access at CIOPORA since 2006 and brings the perspective of a world-leading public breeding institution to the table. 
 
Along with inaugurating the new Board, CIOPORA says farewell to three outgoing Board members. After years of contributing to CIOPORA’s work, Rafi Karniel, Grapa Varieties Ltd. (Israel), the CIOPORA past President Lars Henriksen, Floripartner A/S (Denmark), and the CIOPORA immediate past Co-Vice President Per Klemm, Selecta one (Germany), decided not to run for the reelection due to other professional commitments. CIOPORA thanks the outgoing Board members for years of service and thousands of pro bono hours put towards the breeder community’s goals.

Website: http://www.ciopora.org

Published: June 11, 2020