WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/155/Add.6
1 December 1999
(99-5202)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW VARIETIES OF PLANTS
Addendum
The present document reproduces the updated information on technical and financial
cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, which has been
received from UPOV by means of a communication, dated 14 October 1999.
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1. UPOV is not a specialized agency of the United Nations.  Consequently, its constitution does
not embody a specific obligation to provide development assistance to developing countries, as such.
2. The objectives of the program and budget of UPOV for the current, 1998-99 biennium,
include the following:
" …
"(v) to propagate the concept of plant variety protection, particularly in countries that do
not yet afford such protection, by explaining, where appropriate, in cooperation with national
governments, with intergovernmental and with non-governmental organizations the need for
and the modalities of the protection of plant breeders' rights; to publish information for this
purpose;
"(vi) to promote the accession of States to the UPOV Convention and to assist them in
taking measures which will enable them to accede to the Convention;
"(vii) to provide or promote the provision of programs for education and training in the
field of plant variety protection, seeking when possible sources of extra-budgetary funding for
such programs;"
3. Pursuant to the above-mentioned objectives, UPOV has the following technical assistance
activities, which are carried out for the benefit of developing countries as well as other countries,since the policy is that such assistance is provided without regard to the developmental status of the
countries which are involved:
(a) UPOV provides advice to States on plant variety protection laws, comments on draft
texts and when requested to do so, prepares drafts of national laws and regulations.  During
recent years, it has provided assistance or advice on these matters to numerous developing
countries.IP/C/W/155/Add.6
Page 2
(b) The Office of UPOV has published model laws for the protection of new plant
varieties in Arabic, English, French and Spanish which conform 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.
(c) Subject to the limitations of its budgetary resources, the UPOV Office is prepared to
cooperate in the organization of national seminars and symposiums on the subject of plant
variety protection and, on request, to provide speakers for other meetings.  Over recent times,
UPOV has participated in the organization of many such national meetings in developing
countries.
(d) Where extra-budgetary resources have been made available, UPOV has organized,
and is ready to organize in the future, in ternational seminars and extended courses for
developing countries on subjects related to plant variety protection.
(e) Member States of UPOV in general have expressed their willingness to cooperate
with UPOV in the organization of on-job training for individuals or courses for groups,
subject to funding being available for the travel and subsistence expenses of trainees, while
some member States have made and are making funds available to UPOV for technical
assistance purposes.
(f) 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.
4. By an amendment adopted in April 1998 to the UPOV Program and Budget for1998/99, the
Council of UPOV established a new budget head UV.08 bis as follows:
"UV.08 bis TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
The Office of the Union will
(i) establish and maintain contact with non-member States envisaging accession to the
UPOV Convention (the overwhelming majority of which are developing countries or
countries in transition to market economies), including the rendering of assistance in the
preparation and the discussion of the necessary legislation, providing comments on the
compatibility of such legislation with the UP OV Convention and the organizing of seminars,
workshops or similar activities;
(ii) particularly in the context of the worldw ide need for food security and the obligation
embodied in Article 27.3(b) of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights ("the TRIPS Agreement") for members of the World Trade Organization toprovide protection for plant varieties, assist such non-member States to establish plant variety
protection offices and to develop relevant human resources by the provision of training
courses (when possible in cooperation with  member States) and a fellowship program to
facilitate participation in such training courses."
5. The Program and Budget of the World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO) for
1998/99, adopted in March 1998, included a new sub-program 02.5 entitled "Cooperation with the
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants." The objectives of this sub-program
are:IP/C/W/155/Add.6
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" - To promote a wider understanding or the role and effects of intellectual 
property protection relating to plants.
- To coordinate WIPO's cooperation with UPOV in education, training and 
advisory activities for government officials aimed at assisting developing 
countries in meeting TRIPS obligations concerning protection of plant 
varieties."
6. Since UPOV last provided information to the Council for TRIPS on its technical assistance
activities, UPOV has undertaken the following relevant activities:
(a) Seminars, Courses, Workshops
January 19 to 2L:  UPOV co-organized with the Organismo International Regional de
Sanidad Agropecuaria (O1RSA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) a
Workshop in San José, Costa Rica, on plant variety protection laws for the following CentralAmerican and Caribbean countries: Costa Ri ca, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
February 15:  UPOV jointly organized with the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), for the members and observers of the
joint organizers, a Symposium in Geneva on the Protection of Plant Varieties under Article
27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement.
March 18 and 19:  UPOV jointly organized with WIPO and WTO, in cooperation with the
Government of Thailand and with a financia l contribution from the Government of New
Zealand, a Workshop in Bangkok on the Protection of Plant Varieties under Article 27.3(b) of
the TRIPS Agreement for members in the Asia Pacific Region.
May 3 and 4:  UPOV jointly organized with  WIPO and WTO, in cooperation with the
Government of Egypt, for countries of the Arabic Region and Turkey a Workshop in Cairo on
the Protection of Plant Varieties under Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement.
May 6 and 7:  UPOV jointly organized with WIPO and WTO, and  in cooperation with the
Government of Kenya, a similar Workshop in Nairobi for anglophone African countries.
May 17 to 21:  UPOV organized, jointly with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the
Ministry of Agriculture and the State Forestry Administration of China, in cooperation with
the Yunnan Provincial Government and with financial support from the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, an International Seminar in Kunming, China, on
Technological Innovation and the National Implementation of the Protection of New Varieties
of Plants.  In addition to participants from China, there were participants from Malaysia, the
Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
June 15:  in Tallinn, Estonia, on June 17 , in Riga, Latvia, and on June 21 , in Vilnius,
Lithuania, UPOV and WIPO organized, in each case in cooperation with the Ministry
responsible for agriculture in the host country, national Seminars on the Protection of Plant
Varieties under the UPOV Convention, the Patent System and the TRIPS Agreement.IP/C/W/155/Add.6
Page 4
July 5 to 16:  UPOV organized a Briefing Workshop in Cambridge, United Kingdom, on
Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention.  The Workshop was organized in
cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, and the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food an d the National Institute of Agricultural Botany
of the United Kingdom.  Participants in the Workshop came from Bangladesh, Bulgaria,China, Croatia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mauritius, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe and from the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO) and the
Organization of African Unity (OAU).
August 10 and 11:  UPOV cooperated with the Instituto Nacional de Semillas of Argentina
and with support provided by the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and the
Asociación Argentina de Protección de las Obtenciones Vegetales (ARPOV), in the
organization of a Latin-American Regional Seminar, in Buenos Aires, on the 1991 Act of the
UPOV Convention.
(b) Provision of Information, Advice or Assistance
The Office of UPOV has 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 People's Republic of
ChinaArgentina Armenia
Burundi People's Democratic
Republic of KoreaBolivia Azerbaijan
Central African
RepublicFiji Brazil Belarus
Comores India Commonwealth of
DominicaEstonia
Côte d'lvoire Indonesia Costa Rica Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia
Djibouti Jordan Cuba Georgia
Egypt Lebanon Dominican Republic Kazakhstan
Ethiopia Mongolia EI Salvador Kyrgyzstan
Gabon Philippines Honduras Latvia
Kenya Republic of Korea Jamaica Lithuania
Madagascar Sri Lanka Nicaragua Russian Federation
Mauritius Syria Panama Slovenia
Rwanda Thailand Peru Tajikistan
Sudan Turkey Venezuela Turkmenistan
Tunisia Vietnam Ukraine
Uganda Uzbekistan
Zambia Yugoslavia
ZimbabweIP/C/W/155/Add.6
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7. UPOV has no independent activity involving the provision of direct financial support for the
establishment or reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies relevant to plant variety protection.
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