Plant Variety Rights Technical Training - Plant Variety Protection Awareness raising seminar

The objective of the Administrative Agreement, signed by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China, is to reach a similar scope of protection of plant variety rights in the European Union and in China. This will not only benefit breeders, but also farmers, producers and, ultimately, the public and consumers.

IP Key China contributes to this objective by supporting the organisation of training sessions and seminars.

Technical training on plant variety rights will take place online from 3 to 5 November 2021, giving Chinese officials from many different regions the opportunity to participate. The CPVO and the EU examination offices will conduct sessions on topics related to the distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) testing process, focusing either on the implementation of a more horizontal approach or on the EU’s experience with testing specific crops, such as melon, tomato, rhododendron and chrysanthemum.

On 8 November, a one-day seminar will take place to raise awareness among potential users of the plant breeders’ rights system in China. Representatives of breeders, breeding institutes, lawyers, producers and officials will be informed of the developments in the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the electronic tools available to facilitate the application process, the benefits for small to medium-sized enterprises, and the mechanisms available to enforce their plant variety rights.