Geneva, Switzerland
October 28, 2016
The Council of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) held its fiftieth ordinary session on October 28, 2016.
Round-up of key developments:
UPOV Logo and Website
The Council approved the following new UPOV logo and agreed that it should be introduced on the UPOV website in conjunction with the introduction of the new stakeholder features for: Breeders; Farmers; Policy-makers; and the General Public and with the introduction of the UPOV YouTube channel.
The updated website will be launched on November 8, 2016 (see http://www.upov.int/portal/index.html.en).
UPOV Electronic Application Form
The Council approved the launch of the UPOV Electronic Application Form (EAF) in January 2017 for rose, soya bean, lettuce, apple fruit varieties and potato.
The EAF will enable breeders to submit data to participating UPOV members via an online form. The main benefits of the EAF are to:
- provide an online system for UPOV members that to not have their own online application system;
- allow applicants to read all questions in any of the languages of participating members;
- enable applicants to reuse existing application data for subsequent applications;
- facilitate exchange of data in a standard format (PVP-XML).
Events
On October 24, 2016, UPOV organized a “Seminar on Propagating and Harvested Material in the Context of the UPOV Convention”. The Seminar was attended by 151 participants (see http://www.upov.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=39124).
On October 26, 2016, UPOV and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) jointly organized a “Symposium on Possible Interrelations between the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention)” (see http://www.upov.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=40584).
The Symposium was opened by Mr. Francis Gurry, Secretary-General, UPOV and Mr. Kent Nnadozie, Secretary ad interim of the ITPGRFA.
In their closing remarks, the Co-Moderators: Mr. Muhamad Sabran, Chairperson of the Seventh Session of the Governing Body, ITPGRFA and Mr. Raimundo Lavignolle, Vice-President of the Council of UPOV concluded that:
- We have seen the objectives and benefits of both treaties: UPOV Convention, ITPGRFA;
- It is important to interpret and implement the two treaties in a mutually supportive way in the context of each Contracting Party;
- In order to succeed in these objectives, it is important for the two organizations to work together and to provide the necessary support;
- The Symposium highlights the need to involve all stakeholders in this process.
The Symposium was attended by 147 participants.
Plant Variety Protection Statistics
A total of 61 members of the Union now offer protection to all plant genera and species (59 in 2015), with 13 members of the Union offering protection to a limited number of plant genera and species. Of those 13, five members (Brazil, China, Morocco, South Africa and Turkey) extended protection to additional plant genera and species in 2015.
The Council noted that, in 2015, there was a 3.2 percent decrease in the number of applications for plant variety protection (15,017 in 2015; 15,511 in 2014), resulting from a 2.9 percent increase in the number of applications by residents (10,061 in 2015; 9,778 in 2014) and a 13.6 percent decrease in the number of applications by non-residents (4,956 in 2015; 5,733 in 2014). The number of titles granted increased from 11,566 in 2014 to 12,409 in 2015 (7.3 percent increase).
The total of 107,232 titles in force in 2015 represented a 0.6 percent increase on figures for 2014 (106,575).
Cooperation in the Examination of New Plant Varieties
In 2015, the number of plant genera and species for which there were agreements between members of the Union for cooperation in the examination of distinctness, uniformity and stability totaled 2,031, compared to 2,002 in 2014.
Adoption of documents
The Council adopted revised versions of the following documents:
(a) TGP documents:
TGP/7 Development of Test Guidelines (Revision)
TGP/8 Trial Design and Techniques Used in the Examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (Revision)
(b) Information documents:
UPOV/INF/16 Exchangeable Software
UPOV/INF/22 Software and Equipment Used by Members of the Union
All adopted documents will be published in the UPOV Collection (see http://www.upov.int/upov_collection/en/).
Election of President and Vice-President of the UPOV Council
The Council elected, in each case for a term of three years ending with the fifty-third ordinary session of the Council, in 2019:
(a) Mr. Raimundo Lavignolle (Argentina), President of the Council
(b) Mr. Marien Valstar (Netherlands), Vice-President of the Council
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair of the Administrative and Legal Committee
The Council elected, in each case for a term of three years ending with the fifty-third ordinary session of the Council, in 2019:
(a) Mr. Anthony Parker (Canada), Chair of the Administrative and Legal Committee
(b) Mr. Patrick Ngwediagi (United Republic of Tanzania), Vice-Chair of the Administrative and Legal Committee
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair of the Technical Committee
The Council elected, in each case for a term of three years ending with the fifty-third ordinary session of the Council, in 2019:
(a) Mr. Kees van Ettekoven (Netherlands), Chair of the Technical Committee
(b) Mr. Nik Hulse (Australia), Vice-Chair of the Technical Committee
UPOV is an intergovernmental organization based in Geneva, with 74 members, covering 93 States.
The purpose of UPOV is to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection, with the aim of encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society.
The members of UPOV are:
African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, México, Morocco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam.
Topics
Species
