IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
11 February 2020  
(20-1087) Page: 1/8 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES: INFORM ATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS  
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE PROTECTION O F NEW VARIETIES OF P LANTS (UPOV)  
Addendum  
At its meeting of 6 June 2019 , the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental organization 
observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial cooperation 
programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
 
The present document reproduces the information which h as been received from the International 
Union for The Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) by means of a communication dated 
5 February  2020. 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  UPOV 's mission is to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protectio n, with 
the aim of encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society.  
2.  Information on membership of UPOV can be found at: http://www.upov.int/members/en . 
3.  The main objectives of UPOV are, in accordance with the UPOV Convention, to:  
a. provide and develop the legal, administrative and technical basis for international 
cooperation in plant variety protection;  
b. assist States and organizations in the development of legislati on and the implementation 
of an effective plant variety protection system; and  
c. enhance public awareness and understanding of the UPOV system of plant variety 
protection.  
4.  Information on the technical and financial cooperation program mes of UPOV in relation to UPOV 's 
objectives is provided as follows:  
Assistance to States and Organizations in the development of legislation and the implementation of 
an effective plant variety protection system  
Annex I to this report provides information on UPOV 's activities in relation to the development of 
legislation and the implementation of an effective plant variety protection system for the period 
October 201 8 – September 201 9. 
International Cooperation  
Annex II to this report provides information on international cooperation facilitated by UPOV.  
Annex III contains a list of acronyms and abbreviations used in this report . 
_______________IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  ANNEX I1 
UPOV 'S ACTIVITIES IN RELATI ON TO THE DEVELOPMEN T OF LEGISLATION AND  THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF AN  EFFECTIVE PLANT VAR IETY PROTECTION SYST EM  
FOR THE PERIOD OCTOBER 201 8 - SEPTEMBER 201 9 
Objectives:  
 • To raise awareness of the role of plant variety protection according to the 
UPOV  Convention . 
• To assist States and organizations, particularly governments of developing 
countries and countries in transition to a market economy, in the 
development of legislation in accordance with the 1991 Act of the 
UPOV  Convention.  
• To assis t States and organizations in their accession to the 1991 Act of 
the UPOV  Convention.  
• To assist States and organizations in implementing an effective plant 
variety protection system in accordance with the UPOV Convention.  
 
1  ADVICE AND ASSISTANC E IN THE DEV ELOPMENT OF LEGISLAT ION 
1.  UPOV provided assistance on plant variety protection legislation to the following UPOV members:  
Bosnia and Herzegovina ; Colombia ; Georgia ; Japan ; Mexico ; New Zealand ; Trinidad and Tobago ; 
Uzbekistan and Viet Nam . 
2.  UPOV provided advice and assistance on the development of plant variety protection legislation 
according to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention and/or on the procedure to acc ede to the UPOV 
Convention to: ARIPO ; Afghanistan ; Algeria; Brunei Darussalam ; Cambodia ; Egypt ; Ghana ; 
Guatemala ; Iraq; Iran; Jamaica ; Kazakhstan ; Lao People 's Democratic Republic ; Liechtenstein ; 
Malaysia ; Mongolia ; Myanmar ; Nigeria ; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ; United Arab Emirates ; 
Zambia and Zimbabwe . 
2  UPOV AWARENESS -RAISIN G ACTIVITIES, OR ACT IVITIES INVOLVING UP OV STAFF OR 
UPOV TRAINERS ON BEH ALF OF UPOV STAFF  
2.1  Activities organized by, or with, UPOV:  
• Workshop on "Strengthening the knowledge of effective implementation of the Plant 
Breeders ' Rights system in the Sultanate of Oman ", Muscat, Oman (October 2018)  
• Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property (WIPO/University of Turin/ITC -ILO), 
Geneva, Switzerland (October 2018)  
• Contribution with ARIPO via videoconferencing to presentations on plant variety protection 
at Master 's Degree in Intellectual Property Program me at Africa University, Mutare, 
Zimbabwe (October 2018)  
• AFSTA Plant Variety Protection Workshop, Nairobi, Kenya ( October 2018)  
• WIPO Forum on Strengthening IP Management in African Universities, Nairobi, Kenya 
(October 2018)  
• Workshop on UPOV PRISMA, Nairobi, Kenya (October 2018)  
• National Stakeholder Consultation on South Africa 's approval of the 1991 Act of the UPOV 
Convention, Pretoria, South Africa (October 2018)  
• Workshop on UPOV PRISMA, Pretoria, South Africa (October 2018)  
 
1 In English only.  IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  • IP Key SEA Study Visit on Plant Variety Protection, Hanoi, Viet Nam (November 2018)  
• Meetings with Working Group responsible for drafting the Pla nt Variety and Seed Act, 
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (November 2018)  
• IP Key SEA Conference on the benefits of membership in the International Union for the 
Protection of New Varieties of Plants, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (November 2018)  
• WIPO/Tongji University Master 's Degree in Intellectual Property with specialization in 
Design (MIP in Design), Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China (November 2018)  
• Master in Intellectual Property of the University of Alicante (Magister Lvcentinvs), Alicante, 
Spain (November 2018)  
• Open ses sion of the ARIPO Administrative Council , Windhoek, Namibia (November 2018)  
• Seminar on Plant Variety Protection for ARIPO Member States, Windhoek, Namibia 
(November 2018)  
• Meeting on UPOV PRISMA PBR Application Tool with the Development Center of Science 
and Technology (DCST), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Beijing, China 
(December 2018)  
• Workshop on Awareness of Protection of Plant Variety under the UPOV Convention, 
Vientiane, Lao People 's Democratic Republic (December 2018)  
• Advanced Ma sters on Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge Management, Maastricht, 
Netherlands (January 2019)  
• Meeting with OAPI and IP Master 's Program me Ceremony, Yaoundé, Cameroon 
(January  2019)  
• Twentieth EIPIN Congress on Intellectual Property and Innovation, Ali cante, Spain 
(January 2019)  
• Workshop on drafting legislation in accordance with the UPOV Convention, Geneva, 
Switzerland (January 2019)  
• Meeting with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore 
(March  2019)  
• Seminar on Plant Variety P rotection , Can Tho, Viet Nam (March 2019)  
• Workshops on Plant Variety Protection, Sarajevo and Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 
(March 2019)  
• WIPO -WTO Advanced Course on Intellectual Property for Government Officials, Geneva, 
Switzerland (March 2019)  
• Workshop on the benefits of UPOV membership and the procedure to become a UPOV 
member, Nur-Sultan , Kazakhstan (March 2019)  
• Legal Consultation with government officials, Nur-Sultan , Kazakhstan (March 2019)  
• Advanced International Training Programme on "Intellect ual Property and Genetic 
Resources - in Support of Innovation ", Stockholm, Sweden (March 2019)  
• Lecture at Institut Polytechnique La  Salle as part of the MSc in Plant Breeding Course, 
Beauvais, France (April 2019)  IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  • Advanced International Training Programme on "Intellectual Property and Genetic 
Resources - in Support of Innovation ", Geneva, Switzerland (April 2019)  
• Seedconnect  Conference and Expo 2019, Abuja, Nigeria (April 2019)  
• IP Key Seminar on EDV and FSS: China -EU Seminar on PVP, Beijing, China (April 2019)  
• Celebration Conference of China 's 20th Anniversary of Accession to the International 
Convention on the Protection of New Plant Varieties, Beijing, China (April 2019)  
• International Seminar on PVP, Beijing, China (April 2019)  
• 12th meeting of the East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum, Beijing, China (April 2019)  
• Meeting on PVP cooperation in the Asian region, Beijing, Ch ina (April 2019)  
• Programme Master II en propriété intellectuelle, Yaoundé, Cameroon (April 2019)  
• Meeting of Experts on Formulation and Implementation of National Intellectual Property 
Strategies:  Updating and Improving the Methodology and Tools of the Wor ld Intellectual 
Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (May 2019)  
• WFO General Assembly meeting, Luxembourg, Luxembourg (May 2019)  
• Food Systems Dialogues (FSDs) event, Luxembourg, Luxembourg (May 2019)  
• Second meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group  (AHTEG) on Farmers ' Rights of the 
ITPGRFA, Rome, Italy (May 2019)  
• ALTIUS 9th edition of the annual agri -food law seminar, Brussels, Belgium (June 2019)  
• Study visit for a Chinese delegation to CPVO and UPOV, Geneva, Switzerland (June 2019)  
• International Co urse on Plant Variety Protection, Wageningen, Netherlands (June 2019)  
• JICA Training Course "Plant Variety Protection and Quality Control System of Seeds to 
Facilitate Distribution of High Quality Seeds ", Tsukuba, Japan (June 2019)  
• WIPO -WTO Colloquium for T eachers of Intellectual Property, Geneva, Switzerland 
(June  2019)  
• Joint ISTA/OECD/UPOV Workshop on Molecular Techniques, Hyderabad, India (June 2019)  
• Kick-off meeting on "Innovation in Plant Variety Testing in Europe " (INVITE project), 
Angers, France (July  2019)  
• OAPI kick -off meeting on the reinforcement and promotion of the PVP system in OAPI and 
its member States, Brussels, Belgium (July 2019)  
• IP Delegation Network meeting at the Directorate -General for Trade of the European 
Commission, Brussels, Belgium (July 2019)  
• Study Visit for Senior Lebanese Officials at WIPO headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland 
(July 2019)  
• Meeting with the Plant Variety Rights Office, Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand, 
Wellington, New Zealand (July 2019)  
• WIPO -QUT Master of La ws (LL.M) in Intellectual Property, Brisbane, Australia (July 2019)  IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  • Meeting on "Building capacity and raising awareness of the OAPI PVP System ", Yaoundé, 
Cameroon (August 2019)  
• JICA Training - Q&A session, Tsukuba, Japan (August 2019)  
• Seminar on Plant Variety Protection, Da Nang, Viet Nam (September 2019)  
• CORAF training course on plant variety protection, Abidjan, Côte d 'Ivoire 
(September  2019)  
• Meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Côte d 'Ivoire, Abidjan, 
Côte d 'Ivoire (Septe mber 2019)  
• Legal consultation in the SNICS, Mexico city, Mexico (September 2019)  
• Seminar on breeders ' rights, Mexico city, Mexico (September 2019)  
• OAPI training course on plant variety protection, Lomé, Togo (September 2019)  
• IP Kea SEA "Study Visit on Plant Variety Protection and UPOV 1991 ", Angers, The Hague, 
Bleiswijk, De Lier, Brussels, France, Netherlands, Belgium (September 2019).  
3  PARTICIPATION IN UPO V DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES DL -205 "INTRODUCTION TO 
THE UPOV SYSTEM OF P LANT VARIETY PROTECT ION UND ER THE UPOV  CONVENTI ON" 
AND DL -305 "EXAMINATION OF APPLI CATIONS FOR PLANT BR EEDERS ' RIGHTS " 
(INCLUDING DL -305, D L-305A AND DL -305B)  
3.1  Countries  from which there were participants in the UPOV distance learning courses 
(Session II, 201 8 and Session I, 201 9) 
Afghanistan ; Argentina ; Australia ; Barbados ; Bolivia , Plurinational State of ; Bosnia and 
Herzegovina ; Brazil ; Canada ; Chile; China ; Croatia ; Czech Republic ; Denmark ; Dominican Republic ; 
Ecuador ; Egypt ; France ; Georgia ; Germany ; Ghana ; Greece ; Guatemala ; Hungary ; India; 
Indonesia ; Iran; Ireland ; Israel ; Italy; Jamaica ; Japan ; Kazakhstan ; Kenya ; Lao People 's Democratic 
Republic ; Latvia ; Lithuania ; Madagascar ; Malaysia ; Mexico ; Mongolia ; Netherlands ; New Zealand ; 
Nigeria ; Norway ; Paraguay ; Peru; Poland ; Republic of Korea ; Republic of Moldova ; Russian 
Federation ; Saudi Arabia , Kingdom of ; Senegal ; South Africa ; Spain ; Sweden ; Switzerland ; Turkey ; 
Uganda ; Ukraine ; United Kingdom ; Tanzania ; United States of America ; Uruguay ; Zambia ; ARIPO ; 
European Union ; FAO; OAPI (64 countries and 4 organizations).  
3.2  Total number of participants in UPOV distance learning courses (Session II, 2017 and 
Session I, 2018)  
Category  Number of participants  
DL-205 DL-305 DL-305A  DL-305B  
Government officials of members of the Union  460 140 89 77 
Officials of observer States / intergovernmental 
organizations  67 8 5 4 
Total:  527 148 94 81 
 IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  3.3  Special sessions of the DL -205 course "Introduction to the UPOV System of Plant 
Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention " (September 201 8 - September 201 9) 
Month/Year  Name of Course  Number of 
participants  
November  2018 Master in Intellectual Property of the University of Alicante 
(Magister Lvcentinvs), Alicante, Spain (November 2018)  32 
January  2019 Advanced Masters on Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge 
Management of the University of Maastricht  19 
January  2019 Workshop on drafting legislation in accordance with the UPOV 
Convention  3 
March 2019  WIPO Advanced Training Program me on Intellectual Property 
and Genetic Resources in Support of Innovation : PRV -Sida 3 
April 2019  La Salle Beauvais University - IP Plant Breeding Master 
Programme  23 
April 2019  OAPI Masters IP Training Course  27 
June 2019  Naktuinbouw International Course on Plant Variety Protection 
Course (Netherlands)  23 
June 2019  JICA Training Course "Internationally Harmonized Plant Variety 
Protection System " 6 IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  ANNEX II1 
INTERNATIONAL COOPER ATION FACILITATED BY  UPOV  
1.  UPOV facilitates cooperation in the examination of plant varieties as follows:  
a. Document C/53/INF/5  "Cooperation in Examination " contains a synopsis of offers for 
cooperation in examination made by authorities, of cooperation already established 
between au thorities and of any envisaged cooperation.  
(see https://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/c_53/c_53_inf_5.pdf ). 
b. Document TC/55/INF/4  "List of Genera and Species for which Authorit ies have Practical 
Experience in the Examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability " provides 
information on plant genera and species for which authorities have practical experience in 
the examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS).  
(see https://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_55/tc_55_inf_4.pdf ). 
c. UPOV has developed "Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformity and 
Stability, " or "Test Guidelines ", for many individual species or other variety groupings (see 
https://www.upov.int/test_guidelines/en ). The purpose of these Test Guidelines is to 
provide practical gu idance for the harmonized examination of DUS and, in particular, to 
identify appropriate characteristics for the examination of DUS and production of 
harmonized variety descriptions. In 2018, the adopted Test Guidelines covered 94% of all 
entries concernin g plant variety protection in the PLUTO Plant Variety Database (299,064 
of 319,547).  
d. The GENIE database provides a dynamic source of information on the cooperation 
explained above. (see https://www.upov.int/genie/en ). 
e. The PLUTO Plant Variety Database provides information concerning plant breeders ' rights.  
(see https://www.upov.int/pluto/en ). 
UPOV PRISMA is an online, multi -lingual tool for ma king plant breeders ' rights ' applications 
in participating UPOV members. UPOV PRISMA currently has 3 5 participating UPOV 
members, covering 74 countries (see http://www.upov.int/upovprisma/en/inde x.html ). 
 
 
1 In English only.  IP/C/W/654/Add.6  
 
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  ANNEX III1 
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVI ATIONS  
UPOV terms   
DL-205 UPOV distance learning course "Introduction to the UPOV System of Plant 
Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention " 
DL-305 UPOV distance learning course "Examination of Applications for Plant 
Breeders ' Rights " 
DL-305A UPOV distance learning course "Administration of Plant Breeders ' Rights "  
(part A of DL -305) 
DL-305B UPOV distance learning course "DUS Examination " 
(part B of DL -305) 
DUS Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability  
PBR Plant Breeder 's Right  
TC Technical Committee  
UPOV PRISMA  UPOV PRISMA PBR Application Tool  
 
Acronyms   
AFSTA  African Seed Trade Association  
ALTIUS  Belgian law firm  
ARIPO  African Regional Intellectual Property Organization  
CORAF  
(WECARD)  Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement 
Agricoles  
(West and Central African  Council for Agricultural Research and 
Development ) 
CPVO  Community Plant Variety Office of the European Union  
EUIPO  European Intellectual Property Office  
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
IP Key  IP Key is co -financed by the Eu ropean Union and the European Intellectual 
Property Office (EUIPO).  It is implemented by EUIPO in cooperation with 
EPO 
IP Key SEA  IP Key South -East Asia  
ISTA International Seed Testing Association  
ITC-ILO International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization  
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency  
Naktuinbouw  The Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture  
OAPI African Intellectual Property Organization  
OECD  Organisation for Economic Co -Operation and Development  
PRV of Sweden  Swedish Patent and Registration Office  
QUT of Australia  Queensland University of Technology of Australia  
Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency  
WFO World Farmers ' Organization  
WIPO  World Intellectual Property Organization  
WTO World Trade Organization  
 
__________  
 
1 In English only.