Geneva, Switzerland
March 26, 2010

Today the Council of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) appointed Mr. Peter John Button, a national of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to the post of Vice Secretary-General.

Mr. Button succeeds Mr. Rolf Jördens, a national of Germany, who will vacate the position on December 1, 2010, after more than 10 years of service.

The Council took the decision by consensus after having sought the agreement of the Secretary-General, Mr. Francis Gurry, who is also Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Mr. Gurry complimented the spirit of cooperation among the 68 members of the Union in this process.

Mr. Button holds a Bachelor of Science, Honours degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Warwick. Mr. Button has a range of experience in matters concerning plant breeders’ rights from senior positions in the private sector and with the Government of the United Kingdom. Since September 2000 he has been the Technical Director of UPOV.

The appointment of the new Vice Secretary-General took place at the end of the week-long sessions of UPOV from March 22 to 26, 2010, which was preceeded by a Seminar on the technical examination of plant varieties for protection, in which some 130 experts participated. The Technical Committee (TC) adopted Test Guidelines for 16 species and recommended a number of important technical guidance documents for adoption by the Council. The Administrative and Legal Committee (CAJ) approved explanatory notes on the definition of variety and on conditions and limitations concerning the breeder’s authorization in respect of propagating material. The Consultative Committee discussed UPOV’s Financial Regulations and Rules.

The members of UPOV are: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.

UPOV is an intergovernmental organization which is based in Geneva.

Website: http://www.upov.int

Published: March 29, 2010