WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/305/Add.4
12 October 2001
(01-4994)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Addendum
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE PROTECTION OF
NEW VARIETIES OF PLANTS (UPOV)
The present document reproduces the updated information on technical and financial
cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, which was receivedfrom the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) by means of a
communication dated 18 September 2001.
_______________
Technical Assistance Programme of the International Union for the Protection
of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) fo r the Benefit of Developing Countries
Introduction
1. The inclusion of Article 27.3(b) in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) has strongly en couraged a large number of developing countries
to enact plant variety legislation.  Consequently, the membership of UPOV has expanded worldwide,
with many new members being drawn from developing countries.  In 2000 and the first eight months
of 2001 alone, five new member States1 acceded to the UPOV Convention.  As of 6 September 2001,
the number of UPOV member States reached 49.  Moreover, 18 countries and two regionalorganizations
2 have initiated with the Council of UPOV the procedure for becoming members of the
Union.  Many other non-member States currently have  laws or proposals for laws to protect plant
varieties.  Information available to the Office of UPOV suggests that the number of States likely to
have laws based on the UPOV Convention in the near term may exceed 100.
2. Accordingly, there has been an increase in the number of requests received from developing
countries for legal and technical assistance in the preparation and implementation of plant variety
protection legislation.  In light of their emerging needs, UPOV places great importance on legal and
technical assistance activities subject to limited financial and human resources.  In the UPOV
                                                     
1 Croatia, Estonia , Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua and Romania.
2 Azerbaijan, Belarus, Costa Rica, Egypt, Georgia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania,
Morocco, Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Venezuela,Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe, as well as the European Community and the African Intellectual PropertyOrganisation (OAPI).IP/C/W/305/Add.4
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Programme and Budget for 2000/2001, the Counc il of UPOV established sub-programme UV.05,
with the following objectives:
• To assist governments, particularly the governments of developing countries and
countries in transition to a market economy, in the preparation and enactment oflegislation conforming with the UPOV Convention;
• To assist such governments in implementing effective plant variety protection
systems.
3. The demand for technical assistance has increased. Because of the limited financial and
human resources UPOV has organized several technical assistance activities in cooperation with
UPOV member States and other international organizations, such as the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO).
Legal and Technical Cooperation Activities
4. Pursuant to the above-mentioned objectives, UPOV has organized the following technical
assistance activities, which have been carried out for the benefit of developing countries as well as
other countries, since the policy is that assistance should be provided regardless of the developmental
status of the countries which are involved.
Provision of Legislative and Technical Advice and Information
5. UPOV provided advice to States on plant variety protection laws, comments on draft texts
and, on request, assistance in preparing drafts of national laws and regulations.  During recent years, it
has provided assistance or advice on these matters to numerous developing countries.
6. The Office of UPOV has published model laws for the protection of new plant varieties in
Arabic, English, French and Spanish, which are in conformity with the requirements of the 1991 Act
of the UPOV Convention.  These model laws, as well as other UPOV publications, are available free
of charge to the governments of developing countries.
7. UPOV has also provided advice on the implementation of plant variety legislation, for
example, on the establishment of national offices and technical examination systems on demand, and
has assisted in setting up technical examination systems through the provision of technical
information.IP/C/W/305/Add.4
Page 3
8. From 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2001, the Office of UPOV provided information, advice or
assistance and, in some cases, organized advisory missions, to the following States:
Africa Asia / Pacific Latin America /
CaribbeanCountries in
transition to
Market Economy
Algeria Bangladesh Argentina Albania
Burundi Cambodia Barbados Armenia
Cameroon China Bolivia Azerbaijan
Comoros Fiji Brazil Belarus
Côte d'Ivoire India Colombia Bulgaria
Djibouti Indonesia Costa Rica Croatia
Egypt Jordan Cuba Georgia
Ethiopia Lao People's
Democratic RepublicDominica Kazakhstan
Ghana Lebanon Dominican Republic Kyrgyzstan
Kenya Malaysia Ecuador Latvia
Madagascar Oman El Salvador Lithuania
Mauritius Pakistan Guyana Poland
Rwanda Philippines Honduras Republic of Moldova
Seychelles Republic of Korea Jamaica Romania
Tunisia Singapore Nicaragua Russian Federation
Zimbabwe Sri Lanka Panama Tajikistan
Thailand Peru The former Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia
Turkey Suriname Turkmenistan
Viet Nam Venezuela Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Yugoslavia
Seminar, Workshop, Training Course
9. Subject to the budgetary limitations, the UPOV Office cooperated in the organization of
national seminars and symposia on plant variety protection and, on request, provided speakers for
other meetings.  In the recent past, UPOV has participated in the organization of many such national
meetings in developing countries.
10. Where extra-budgetary resources have been made available, UPOV has organized
international seminars and extended courses for developing countries on subjects related to plant
variety protection.
11. The seminars, workshops and training courses organized by UPOV from 1 January 2000 to
31 July 2001 were the following:
(a) two regional round tables jointly orga nized by OAU and WIPO for discussion with
African regional organizations;
(b) two regional seminars for the Latin American region and the African region;
(c) fifteen national seminars in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesi a, Panama, Philippines, Republic of
Moldova, Romania, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Zimbabwe;IP/C/W/305/Add.4
Page 4
(d) two training courses for Ibero-American countries and for the French-speaking
African region;
(e) two regional technical meetings for the Asian Region;
(f) one technical workshop on data handling in technical examination.
Further information on these activities is given in the Annex.
12. UPOV also provided speakers and lecturers for seminars, symposia and workshops organized
by other organizations to assist with national efforts in the preparation and implementation of plant
variety protection legislation and to promote intern ational understanding of plant variety protection.
13. The member States of UPOV have expressed their willingness to cooperate with UPOV in the
organization of on-the-job training for individuals or courses for groups, subject to funding being
available for the travel and subsistence expenses of trainees.  In June 2001, a technical expert from theGovernment of Thailand received this kind of technical training in cooperation with the UPOV Office
and the Governments of Germany and Japan.
Other assistance
14. UPOV is prepared, in principle, subject to the availability of adequate funding, to participate
in, or to execute segments of, seed industry or intellectual property development projects which call
for the establishment of national plant variety protection systems.  A number of such projects have
been proposed.
15. UPOV does not provide direct financial support for the establishment or reinforcement of
domestic offices and agencies relevant to plant variety protection.IP/C/W/305/Add.4
Page 5
ANNEX
Seminars, Workshops, Symposiums, and Training Course
from 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2001
Date Venue Co-organizers,
sponsorsActivities Participating (foreign)
countries/organizations
(a) Regional Round Table/Coordinating Meetings
2000
27 and 28
JanuaryHarare,
ZimbabweWIPO
OAURound Table on the sui
generis  protection of plant
varieties under Article
27.3(b) of the TRIPS
AgreementOAU, OAPI, ARIPO,
AFSTA3, ARCT4,
CMA/AOC5, WANA6
2001
9 to 11MayAddis Ababa,
EthiopiaWIPO
OAUOAU Inter-Secretariat
MeetingAlgeria, Ethiopia, Malawi,
Mali, Nigeria Zimbabwe,
AFSTAS ARIPO,
COMESA
7, OAPI, SADEC
(b) Regional Seminars/Workshop
2000
23 and 24
NovemberPunta del Este,
UruguayWIPO
INASE8
URUPOV9Seminar on the UPOVConvention, theObligations of the TRIPS
Agreement and the
Effective Implementation
of Breeders' RightsArgentine, Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Dominican
Republic, Uruguay,
Venezuela
2001
2 and 3JulyDakar,
SenegalGovernment of
Senegal,OAPI,
Ministry ofAgriculture
and Fisheries,
FranceRegional Seminar on the
Common System for
Technical Examination ofPlant Varieties in Africa
under the UPOV
Convention16 Member States of OAPI,
France, European Union
                                                     
3 African Seed Trade Association.
4 African Regional Centre for Technology.
5 Conference of Ministers for Agriculture of West and Central Africa.
6 Seed Network of West Asia and North Africa.
7 Common Market for East and Southern Africa.
8 Instituto Nacional de Semillas del Uruguay.
9 Asociación Civil Uruguaya para la Protección de Obtentores Vegetales.IP/C/W/305/Add.4
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Date Venue Co-organizers,
sponsorsActivities Participating (foreign)
countries/organizations
(c) National Seminars
2000
1 February Harare,
ZimbabweNational Seminar on Plant
Variety ProtectionAFSTA, ARCT10, ARIPO,
OAPI, OAU, SADC, WANA
15FebruaryManila,
PhilippinesMAFF, Japan National Seminar on the
Protection of PlantVarieties under the UPOV
Convention
13 March San Jóse,
Costa RicaWIPO
SIECA11
COMEX12
MAG13National Seminar on theProtection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOV
ConventionGuatemala, Nicaragua,
Panama
13 and 14MarchKishinev,
Republic of
MoldovaWIPO National Seminar on the
Protection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOV
Convention
15 March Tegucigalpa,
HondurasWIPO
SIECA
Secretariat forAgriculture
and LivestockNational Seminar on the
Protection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOVConventionGuatemala, Nicaragua,
Panama
16 and 17MarchBucharest,
RomaniaWIPO National Seminar on the
Protection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOV
Convention
17 March San Salvador,
El SalvadorWIPO
SIECA
MAG
ASPRODES14National Seminar on theProtection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOV
ConventionGuatemala, Nicaragua,
Panama
27 April Peradeniya,
Sri LankaMAFF, Japan
Department of
AgricultureNational Seminar on the
Protection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOVConvention
28 August Jakarta,
IndonesiaMAFF, Japan
Ministry of
AgricultureNational Seminar on
the Protection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOVConvention
9 and 10OctoberSanto
Domingo,
Dominican
RepublicState Secretary
of AgricultureNational Seminar on the
Protection of New Plant
Varieties
12 and 13
OctoberGuatemala MAGA15National Seminar on the
Protection of New Plant
Varieties
                                                     
10 African Regional Center for Technology.
11 Secretaria de Integración Económica Centroamericana.
12 Ministry of Foreign Trade.
13 Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
14 Seed Producers Association of San Salvador.
15 Ministry of Livestock and Foods.IP/C/W/305/Add.4
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Date Venue Co-organizers,
sponsorsActivities Participating (foreign)
countries/organizations
2001
23 and 24
AprilQuito,
EcuadorIEPI16National Seminar on the
Exercise of Breeders
Rights under the UPOVConvention and the
Legislation of Ecuador
26 and 27AprilCiudad de
Panamá,
PanamaMICI
17
DIGERPI18
SIECA19Regional Seminar on the
Exercise of Breeders
Rights under the UPOV
ConventionGuatemala, Honduras, El
Salvador, Nicaragua
16 July Paramaribo,
SurinameGovernment of
Suriname
Anton de KomUniversityNational Seminar on the
Protection of New
Varieties of Plants underthe UPOV Convention
19 July Georgetown,
GuyanaMinistry of
Foreign Trade
and
InternationalCooperationNational Seminar on the
Protection of New
Varieties of Plants under
the UPOV Convention
(d) Training Courses
2000
29 May to2 JuneCartagena de
Indias,ColombiaINIA
20
AECI21Training Course on the
Protection of PlantVarieties for Ibero-
American CountriesNineteen Ibero-American
countries
5 to 16
JuneAngers and La
Rochelle,
FranceWIPO
Ministry of
Agriculture
and Fisheries
of FranceGNIS
22Seminar on the Protection
of Plant Varieties under
the UPOV ConventionAlgeria, Cameroon, Côte
d'Ivoire, Gabon, Morocco,
Senegal, Tunisia, OAPI
(e) Regional Technical Meeting
2000
17 to 19MayTsukuba,
JapanMAFF, Japan Technical Coordination
Meeting for Asian PlantVariety Protection
SystemsChina, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Republic ofKorea, Thailand, Viet Nam
                                                     
16 Instituto Ecuatoriano de la Propiedad Intelectual.
17 Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
18 Dirección General del Registro de la Propiedad Industrial.
19 Secretaria de Integración Económica Centroamericana.
20 Institute for Agricultural and Food Technology.
21 Spanish Agency for International Cooperation.
22 Groupement national interprofessionnel des semences et des plants.IP/C/W/305/Add.4
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Date Venue Co-organizers,
sponsorsActivities Participating (foreign)
countries/organizations
2001
23 to 26JulyBeijing,
ChinaMAFF, Japan
Ministry ofAgriculture
State Forestry
Administration
State
IntellectualProperty
OfficeRegional Technical
Meeting for Asian PlantVariety Protection
Systems and Workshop
on the Principles of
Technical Examination
and the Preparation ofNational Test GuidelinesChina, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Pakistan,Philippines, Republic of
Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Viet Nam, IRRI
23,
(f) Techncial Workshop
2000
9 and 10JuneKyiv,
UkraineState
Committee of
Ukraine for
Testing and
Protection of
Plant varietiesWorkshop on Data
HandlingCzech Republic, Croatia,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico,
Poland, Republic of
Moldova, RussianFederation, Slovenia, United
Kingdom
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23 International Rice Research Institute