Protection on new plant varieties, which is the most important intellectual property right in agricultural sector, has become part of China’s IPR protection. The Ministry of Agriculture held a forum to mark the 15th anniversary of the promulgation of the Ordinance on the Protection of New Plant Varieties on March 21. Experts at the meeting believed the protection on agricultural new plant varieties worked efficiently since the implementation of the Ordinance, especially in stimulating plant breeding innovation, promoting the core competitiveness of China’s agriculture and sustaining the development of modern agriculture.
Protection on agricultural plants covers a broader scope, providing a fair competition platform for more and more breeders. The Ministry of Agriculture has released 8 batches of plant variety protection lists incorporating 80 agricultural plant genera and species.
Breeders show more enthusiasm in filing new plant variety applications. As of the end of 2011, applications on new plant varieties had amounted to 9,016, 55% of which were contributed by research institutes and 39% were from domestic enterprises and individuals. Furthermore, foreign applications recorded 555, reflecting foreign organizations were increasingly confident in China’s protection on new plant varieties.
Many emerging seed enterprises with indigenous intellectual property are realizing the integration of breeding, propagating and distributing.
Licensed varieties of major staple crops such as rice, corn and wheat are applied broadly. According to the statistics based on the varieties of major staple crops covering a demonstration area of at least 100,000 mu, licensed varieties were applied to 21.6% of rice planting, 49.3% of wheat and 55.9% of corn. Protection on new plant varieties made a great contribution to food safety.
Director of the Seed Administration Department under the Ministry of Agriculture Zhang Yanqiu proposed to create a fair social atmosphere so as to improve the core competitiveness of seed industry by focusing on the “cultivation, protection, utilization and administration” of new plant varieties as well as establishing systems of rules and regulations, providing technical support and management service.
The forum was co-hosted by the Seed Administration Department and the Industrial Policies and Regulations Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and organized by the Science and Technology Development Center. About 40 representatives from universities and enterprises attended the meeting.
(Source: IPR in China)
