WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/376/Add.4
18 November 2002
(02-6378)
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 (UPOV)
Addendum
The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) by means of acommunication dated 4 September 2002.  It was circulated as an advance copy at the TRIPS Council
meeting held on 17 September 2002.
_______________
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE
PROTECTION OF NEW VARIETIES OF PLANTS (UPOV) FOR 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 from developing countries.  As of 31 August 2002, the number of UPOV
member States reached 51.  Moreover, 16 countries and two regional organizations
1 have initiated
with the Council of UPOV the procedure for becoming members of the Union.  There are also 39
other countries, which have been in contact with the Office of the Union with a view to developing
legislation in line with the UPOV Convention.  Still, 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 termmay 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
                                                     
1 Azerbaijan, Belarus, Costa Rica, Egypt, Georgia,  Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Morocco,
Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe, European
Community, African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) with its members: Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 2
technical assistance activities subject to limited financial and human resources.  In the UPOV Program
and Budget for 2002/2003, the Council of UPOV established sub-program UV.02 with the followingobjectives:
• To maintain and improve the quality of protection provided by the UPOV system.
• To provide and develop the legal and technical basis for international cooperation in a harmonized
approach to plant variety protection according to the 1991 Act of the Convention.
3. There is a demand-driven need to assist Contracting Parties that have acceded to the Union in
the more recent past, in the implementation of their UPOV-based system of plant variety protection.
The aim is to enable them to fully enjoy the benefits and economic incentives the system is able to
generate.  UPOV, as the leading institution in all matters of plant variety protection, has the obligation
to provide assistance and advice.  For this purpose, in the UPOV Program and Budget for 2002/2003,
the Council of UPOV also established sub-program UV.03 with the following objectives:
• To assist governments in implementing effective plant variety rights systems.
• To assist governments, particularly governments of developing countries and countries in
transition to a market economy, in the preparation and enactment of legislation conforming with
the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.
4. The demand for assistance and demand for training have increased.  UPOV has organized
several assistance activities, some of them in cooperation with UPOV member States and other
international organizations, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  They have
been carried out for the benefit of developing countries as well as other countries, since the policy is
that assistance should be provided where it is most needed to implement plant variety protection
effectively.
Provision of Legislative and Technical Advice and Information
5. UPOV provided advice to States on plant variety protection laws, commented on draft texts
and, on request, assisted 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. From 1 January 2001, to 31 July 2002, 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 a
Market Economy
Algeria Bangladesh Argentina Albania
Burundi Cambodia Barbados Armenia
Cameroon China Bolivia Azerbaijan
Comoros Fiji Brazil Belarus
Côte d’Ivoire India Colombia Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Djibouti Indonesia Costa Rica Bulgaria
Egypt Jordan Cuba Croatia
Ethiopia Lao People’s
Democratic RepublicDominica Czech Republic
Ghana Lebanon Dominican Republic Estonia
Kenya Malaysia Ecuador GeorgiaIP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 3
Africa Asia / Pacific Latin America/
CaribbeanCountries in
Transition to a
Market Economy
Madagascar Mongolia El Salvador Hungary
Mauritius Myanmar Guyana Kazakhstan
Rwanda Oman Honduras Kyrgyzstan
Seychelles Pakistan Jamaica Latvia
Tunisia Philippines Nicaragua Lithuania
Zimbabwe Republic of Korea Panama Poland
Singapore Peru Republic of Moldova
Sri Lanka Suriname Romania
Thailand Venezuela Russian Federation
Turkey Slovakia
Viet Nam Slovenia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
The former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia
Uzbekistan
Yugoslavia
Seminar, Workshop, Training Course
7. Subject to budgetary limitations, the Office of UPOV organized and co-operated in the
organization of national seminars and symposia on plant variety protection.  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.
8. UPOV also provided speakers and lecturers for seminars, symposia and workshops organized
by other organizations or governments to assist with national efforts in the preparation and
implementation of plant variety protection legislation and to promote international understanding ofplant variety protection.  The meetings organized or supported by UPOV are listed in the Annex.
9. Member States of UPOV have expressed their willingness to co-operate with the Office of
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.
Other Assistance
10. UPOV is prepared, in principle, subject to the availability of adequate funding and personal
resources, to participate in, or to execute segm ents of, seed industry or intellectual property
development projects which aim at the establishment of national plant variety protection systems.  A
number of such projects have been proposed.
[Annex 1 follows]IP/C/W/376/Add.4
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ANNEX
Seminars, Workshops, Symposia, and Training  Courses Organized or Supported by UPOV
from January 1, 2001 to July 31, 2002
Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
(a)  Meetings organized/co-organized by UPOV
2001
February 18 to
March 1New Delhi,
Cuttak,
Hyderabad, Pune,IndiaGovernment of India National Seminars on the Protection
of Plant Varieties under the UPOV
Convention, held in IndiaOfficials, scientists and
breeders
April 26 and 27 Panama Ministry of Industry and
Commerce, DIGERPI, SIECANational Seminar on Plant Variety
ProtectionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
July 2 and 3 Senegal Government of Senegal, OAPI
2,
Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries of FranceRegional Seminar on the Common
System for Technical Examination of
Plant Varieties in Africa under the
UPOV Convention16 Member States of
OAPI, France, European
Union
July 16 Paramaribo,
SurinameGovernment of Suriname,
Anton de Kom UniversityNational Seminar on the Protection
of New Varieties of Plants under the
UPOV ConventionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
                                                     
2 African Intellectual Property Organization.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 5Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
July 19Georgetown,
GuyanaMinistry of Foreign Trade and
International Cooperation of
GuyanaNational Seminar on the Protection
of New Varieties of Plants under the
UPOV ConventionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
July 23 to 26 Beijing, China Ministry of Agriculture, State
Forestry Administration, State
Intellectual Property Office ofChina, MAFF
3 - JapanRegional Technical Meeting for
Asian Plant Variety Protection
Systems and Workshop on thePrinciples of Technical Examination
and the Preparation of National Test
GuidelinesChina, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Pakistan,
Philippines, Republic ofKorea, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Viet Nam,
IRRI
4
September 13and 14Asunción,
ParaguaySeed Direction of the Ministry
of Agriculture of ParaguayNational Seminar on Plant Breeders’
Rights under the UPOV ConventionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
September 17
and 18La Habana, Cuba Cuban Office of Industrial
PropertyNational Seminar on Plant Breeders’
Rights under the UPOV ConventionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
December 4
and 5Zagreb, Croatia Government of Croatia National Seminar on Plant Variety
ProtectionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
                                                     
3 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.
4 International Rice Research Institute.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 6
Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
2002
May 20 to 22 Port of Spain,
Trinidad and
TobagoMinistry of Legal Affairs of
Trinidad and TobagoRegional Seminar on the Protection
of New Varieties of Plants Under the
UPOV ConventionOfficials from the
government and judicial
sector, researchers, plantbreeders, representatives
from Antigua and
Barbuda, Dominica,
Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica,
St. Kitts and Nevis, othercountries in the Caribbean
Region.
June 10 and 11 Tepic, Mexico University of Colima,
Autonomous University of
Nayarit, Technological Institute
of TepicFifth Workshop on Intellectual
Property Rights:  Plant Breeders
Rights, Teaching, Research,
Commercialization and Legal
ProtectionOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
June 12 and 13 Ukraine WIP O, State Department of
Intellectual Property, Ministry
of Education and Science of
Ukraine, Autonomous Republic
of CrimeaNational Seminar on Intellectual
Property Protection in BiotechnologyOfficials, scientists,
breeders and lawyers
June 12 to 14 Texcoco, Mexico SNICS
5Workshop on Data Handling Experts from:  Mexico,
Bolivia, Guatemala,
Kenya, Nicaragua and
Costa Rica
                                                     
5 National Service for Seed Certification and Inspection ( Servicio Nacional de Inspecci ón y Certificación de Semillas ).IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 7Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
June 14 Ukraine State Service for Plant Varieties
Rights Protection of UkraineNational Workshop on Plant Variety
ProtectionOfficials, scientists,
breeders and lawyers
July 2 to 5, 2002 Seoul, Republic
of KoreaMinistry of Agriculture and
Forestry of the Republic of
Korea, MAFF – JapanThird Asian Regional Technical
Meeting for Plant Variety ProtectionBangladesh, Cambodia,
China, India, Indonesia,
Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Pakistan,
Philippines, Sri Lanka,Thailand and Vietnam.
UPOV member States
(China, Japan, Poland,
Spain, Republic of Korea,
IRRI)
July 8 to 10 Suva, Fiji Ministry of Agriculture, Sugar
and Land Resettlement of the
Government of FijiNational Seminar on the Protection
of New Varieties of Plants under the
UPOV ConventionOfficials, breeders and
lawyersIP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 8
Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
(b) Meetings to which UPOV provided speakers
March 6 to 8 Budapest,
HungaryAgricultural Research Institute
of the Hungarian Academy ofSciences, FAO
6Regional Technical Meeting on SeedPolicy and Programs for CEEC
7, CIS
and other Countries in TransitionOfficials, scientists and
breeders
March 24 to 27 Cairo, Egypt AFSTA Lecture at the First Annual Congress
of AFSTA8Officials, breeders andlawyers
April 24 Bologna, Italy EC
9Workshop on the Use of Molecular
Markers Applied to EssentialDerivation of VarietiesOfficials, scientists,
breeders and lawyers
July 17 and 18 Bangkok,
ThailandIRRI, SWIFFT
10The INGER Training-Workshop on
Intellectual Property Rights,
Contracts and Germplasm Exchange
and the INGER Technical AdvisoryCommittee Meeting15 INGER member
countries (Bangladesh,
Cambodia, China, Egypt,
India, Indonesia, theRepublic of Korea, the
Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Sri Lanka,Thailand, Viet Nam),
WARDA
11, IRRI and
SWIFFT
                                                     
6 Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations.
7 Central and Eastern European Countries.
8 African Seed Trade Association.
9 European Community.
10 Strategic Initiative for Technology Transfer at the Cornell University.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 9Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
September 17 to
20Chiba, Japan APSA12Asian Seed 2001 (and Keygene
Seminar: The Genetic Revolution)Officials, scientists and
breeders
October 11 and
12Tokyo, Japan JICA13JICA Training Course on Protection
of Plant Breeders’ RightsExperts from:
Bangladesh, Bolivia,Indonesia, Kenya,
Malaysia, Philippines,
Thailand, Viet Nam,
Zimbabwe
October 15 to 17 Gaborone,
BotswanaARIPO
14, EPO15, UKPO16Workshop on Modernization of
Patent Offices and Participants
Challenges of the Industrial Property
System in the RegionOfficials, scientists and
breeders
November 26 to
28Beijing, China Seed Industry of China International Forum on the
Globalization of the Chinese Seed
IndustryOfficials, scientists and
breeders
November 26 to
29Almaty,
KazakhstanCIMMYT17, GTZ18, TACIS19Regional Meeting on Plant Variety
Testing, Selection Achievements
Protection in the Central Asia States
and the Kazahk-Kyrgyz-Tajik
Seminar on Wheat Breeding and
CultivationOfficials, scientists and
breeders
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
11 West Africa Rice Development Association.
12 Asia and Pacific Seed Association.
13 Japan International Cooperation Agency.
14 African Regional Industrial Property Organization.
15 European Patent Office.
16 United Kingdom Patent Office.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 10
Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
November 27 Buenos Aires,
ArgentinaArgentine Association for Plant
Variety Protection1991 UPOV Act, A Tool for the
Development of AgricultureOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
November 27
and 28Vilnius, Lithuania WIPO Lecture at Subregional Seminar on
Biotechnology and IntellectualPropertyOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
December 3
and 4Santiago, Chile Chilean Association of
Industrial PropertySeminar on the WIPO and UPOV
TreatiesOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
December 3 to 6 Beijing, China SWIFFT Executive Seminar for Professionals,
Strengthening the Plant VarietyProtection, Registration and
Management in ChinaOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
December 7 Anyang City,
Republic of KoreaNational Seed Management
Office, Republic of KoreaNational Workshop on the
Membership of UPOVOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
17 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
18 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit .
19 The EU’s relations with Eastern Europe & Central Asia.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 11Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
2002
April 8 to 10 Abidjan, Côte
d’IvoireMinistre de l’industrie et de la
promotion du secteur privé,
OIPI20Colloque régional / OMPI/OAPI sur
la propriété intellectuelle et la
protection des expressions du
folklore, des savoirs traditionnels et
des ressources génétiquesOfficials, breeders and
lawyers
May 8 to 10 Lusaka, Zambia WIPO, Government of Zambia,
National Institute of Scientificand Industrial Research of
ZambiaThe WIPO Regional Meeting on
Intellectual Property and theProtection of Expressions of Folklore
and Traditional KnowledgeOfficials, scientists,
breeders and lawyers
May 20 and 21 Belgrade and
Lake Palic,
YugoslaviaFederal Ministry of Economy
and Internal Trade of
Yugoslavia, Plant VarietyProtection Office of the
US Department of AgricultureSymposium and Workshop entitled
"Plant Variety Protection in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia"Officials, breeders and
lawyers
June 11, 2002 Wageningen,
NetherlandsPRI
21PRI: Sixth Course on Plant Variety
ProtectionExperts from:  Chile,
China, Cyprus, Hungary,
India, Indonesia, Iran,Israel, Republic of Korea,
South Africa, Sudan and
Thailand
June 26 Rome, Italy University of Rome-Tor Vergata,
FAOPublic Agriculture Research: the
Impact of IPRs on Biotechnology inDeveloping CountriesOfficials and scientists
                                                     
20 Office Ivoirien de la Propriété Industrielle.
21 Plant Research International.IP/C/W/376/Add.4
Page 12
Date Venue Co-organizers, sponsors Activities Participants
June 30 Ulan Bator,
MongoliaUNU/IAS22In Search of Biosecurity: Best
Practices, Awareness Raising &
Capacity Building on Access to
Genetic Resources,Benefit-Sharing and Biosafety in
Central Asian Countries and
MongoliaOfficials, scientists and
breeders
July 1 to 3 Santa Cruz de la
Sierra, BoliviaLatin-American Federation of
Seed Associations and theRegional Seed Office of Santa
Cruz de la SierraXVIII Pan-American Seed Seminar
on "Transgenic Varieties:  TheFuture"Officials, breeders and
lawyers
July 1 to 5 Egoryevskay,
Russian
FederationState Commission of the
Russian Federation  for
Selection Achievements, Test
and Protection, CIMMYT, GTZInternational Seminar "Cereal
Varieties Testing on Their
Distinction, Uniformity and
Stability"Officials, scientists and
breeders from Russia and
four Central Asian
Countries
September 9 to
11Manaus, Brazil National Institute of Industrial
Property and the European
CommissionInternational Seminar on the Role of
Intellectual Property Protection in the
Field of Biodiversity and TraditionalKnowledgeOfficials, scientists and
environmentalists
__________
                                                     
22 United Nations University/ Institute of Advanced Studies.