Geneva, Switzerland
March 22, 2013
The Council of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) held its thirtieth extraordinary session on March 22, 2013.
Round-up of key developments:
New UPOV member: Serbia
Serbia deposited its instrument of accession to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention on December 5, 2012, and became the seventy-first member of the Union on January 5, 2013. A full list of the members of the Union can be consulted at http://www.upov.int/members/en/.
Positive decision on the Plant Breeders’ Bill for Zanzibar (United Republic of Tanzania)
The Council welcomed the adoption of the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act for Mainland Tanzania on November 5, 2012, for which there was a positive decision by the Council. The Council decided that the Plant Breeders’ Rights Bill for Zanzibar, subject to certain modifications, was in conformity with the provisions of the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention. The Council noted that, once the Draft Law for Zanzibar was adopted, breeders’ rights would cover the whole territory and the United Republic of Tanzania could become a UPOV member.
Adoption of documents
The Council adopted the revision of documents UPOV/INF/4 “Financial Regulations and Rules of UPOV” and UPOV/INF/15 “Guidance for Members of UPOV on Ongoing Obligations and Related Notifications and on the Provision of Information to Facilitate Cooperation”.
Seminar on essentially derived varieties (EDVs) on October 22, 2013
The Council endorsed the organization of a Seminar on EDVs, to be held in Geneva on October 22, 2013, to consider technical and legal views on EDVs and the possible impact on breeding and agriculture, existing experience in relation to EDVs, and the possible role of future UPOV guidance on EDVs in cases before the courts. The Seminar will be open to the public, with the presentations and discussions at the seminar being made available on the UPOV website after a suitable broadcast delay.
Contribution to the work of multi-stakeholder team on enhancing public-private partnerships in pre-breeding
Following a request from the Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and a number of other functional units, especially the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, UPOV members agreed to the UPOV Office working as part of a multi-stakeholder team on the “definition of mechanisms for enhancing public-private partnerships in pre-breeding”.
Gold Medal
Mr. Joël Guiard (France) was awarded a UPOV Gold Medal on completing his term as Chairman of the Technical Committee (TC) at its forty-ninth session, held in Geneva from March 18 to 20, 2013. Mr. Guiard, who will be retiring from his position in Group for Study and Control of Varieties and Seeds (GEVES) in 2013, was awarded a Gold Medal on the basis of his outstanding contribution to plant variety protection, which included the following notable contributions:
- Chairman of the Working Group on Article 1 “Definitions” at the Diplomatic Conference in March 1991
- Member of the UPOV Editorial Committee (31 years)
- Twice Chairman of the Technical Committee (1996-1998 & 2011-2013)
- Chairman of the Technical Working Party for Agricultural Crops (1985-1987)
- Twice Chairman of the Working Group on Biochemical and Molecular Techniques, and DNA-Profiling in Particular (1994-1998)
- Leading Expert for a number of important Test Guidelines
Mr. Guiard’s contribution has extended beyond his direct participation in UPOV bodies. In his role as Directeur adjoint, GEVES, Mr. Guiard has made a unique contribution to the advancement of UPOV’s technical work. The contributions from GEVES include:
- Software which is made freely available to all members of the Union:
- GAIA - for the management of reference collections
- SIRIUS - for hand-held data capture in DUS trials
- GEVES has provided the examples for the models approved by UPOV for the use of biochemical and molecular markers in the examination of DUS. Those models/examples are the basis for document TGP/15 “Guidance on the Use of Biochemical and Molecular Markers in the Examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability”, which is planned for adoption in October 2013.
Mr. Guiard has also provided support, personally and through GEVES, for a multitude of UPOV activities during his time at GEVES. His knowledge, intelligence and personality have enabled him to become a focal point for new and old experts alike.
Test Guidelines
The Council welcomed the adoption by the Technical Committee of 14 new UPOV Test Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (Test Guidelines) and 10 revised Test Guidelines. UPOV has now developed 295 Test Guidelines, all of which are freely available on the UPOV website (http://www.upov.int/test_guidelines/en/).
Distance Learning Course DL-205
On-line registration for the UPOV Distance Learning Program “Introduction to the UPOV System of Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention” is now open.
The timetable for the session is as follows:
Study period: May 13 to June 16, 2013
Final exam: June 10 to 16, 2013
On-line registration is available until March 31, 2013. After that date, registration will not be possible. For Category 1 and 2 participants, all endorsements must be provided by May 1, 2013.
The categories of participants are as follows:
Category 1:
Government officials of members of the Union endorsed by the relevant representative to the UPOV Council
No fee
Category 2:
Officials of observer States / intergovernmental organizations endorsed by the relevant representative to the UPOV Council
(One non-fee paying student per State / intergovernmental organization; Additional students: CHF1,000 per student)
Category 3:
Others
Fee: CHF1,000
Please note that registration of participants in categories 1 and 2 must be accompanied by an endorsement from the representative to the UPOV Council of the UPOV member or observer, as appropriate, formally nominating the participant.
More detailed information concerning the course content and on-line registration is available on the UPOV website: http://www.upov.int/resource/en/dl205_training.html.
Topics
Species
