WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
30 October 2012  
 
(12-5909) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM 
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW  
VARIETIES OF PLANTS (UPOV) 
 
Addendum 
  
At its meeting of 5 June 2012, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update th e information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the im plementation of the TRIPS Agreement. 
 The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the World 
Health Organization (WHO) by means of a communication dated 24 October 2012. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1. UPOV's mission is to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection, 
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 ac cordance with the UPOV Convention, to: 
- provide and develop the legal, administra tive and technical basis for international 
cooperation in plant variety protection; 
 - assist States and organizations in th e development of legislation and the 
implementation of an effective plant variety protection system;  and 
 - enhance public awareness and understanding of the UPOV system of plant variety 
protection. 
 IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
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  4. Information on the technical and financial cooperation programs of UPOV in relation to 
UPOV's objectives is provided as follows: 
Assistance to States and Organizations in the develo pment of legislation and the implementation of an 
effective plant variety protection system 
 
Annex I to this report provides informati on on UPOV's activities in relation to the 
development of legislation and the implementa tion of an effective plant variety protection 
system for the period 2010-2011. 
 International Cooperation 
 
Annex II to this report provides informati on on international c ooperation facilitated by 
UPOV.  Annex III contains a list of acronyms used in this report. 
 
   IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
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  ANNEX I 
 
UPOV'S  ACTIVITIES  IN RELATION  TO THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF LEGISLATION  AND   
THE  IMPLEMENTATION  OF AN EFFECTIVE  PLANT  VARIETY  PROTECTION  SYSTEM   
FOR  THE  PERIOD  2010-2011 
 
 
OBJECTIVES 
 
 To assist States and certain organizations, particularly governme nts of developing 
countries and countries in transition to a market economy, in the preparation of 
legislation conforming with the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention. 
 
 To assist States and certain organizations in the accession to the 1991 Act of the 
UPOV Convention. 
 
 To assist States and certain organizations in implementing an effective plant variety 
protection system in line with the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention. 
 
1. Comments provided on laws or draft laws: 
 
Algeria, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, 
Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ma uritius, Montenegro, Pakistan, Philippines, 
Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Unite d Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and 
ARIPO.  
2. Training activities organized by UPOV: 
- Regional Seminar on Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention, 
Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, February 2010 
 
- Seminar on DUS Testing, Geneva, March 2010  - Third USPTO/UPOV Training Course on "P lant Variety Protection under the UPOV 
Convention", Washington, D.C., United States of America, May 2010 
 
- Forum on intellectual property, the usef ulness of plant breeders' rights and the 
benefits of becoming a member of UPOV, Douala, Cameroon, July 2010 
 - Seminar on the strengthening of the en forcement of Annex X of the Bangui 
Agreement, Douala, Cameroon, July 2010 
 
- Ninth Training Course for Ibero-American Countries on Plant Variety Protection 
under the UPOV Convention, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, December 2010 
 - WIPO/UPOV Subregional Central-Ameri can Seminar on Intellectual Property and 
Agriculture, Panama, December 2010 
 - Workshop on Plant Variety Protection, Lilongwe, Mali, March 2011  IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
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  - Seminar on Plant Variety Protection and Technology Transfer:  The Benefits of 
Public-Private Partnership, Geneva, April 2011 
 - Fourth USPTO/UPOV Training Course "Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV 
Convention", Alexandria, Virginia, United States, May 2011 
 
- Regional Workshop on the ARIPO Framewor k on Plant Variety Protection under the 
UPOV Convention, Accra, Ghana, July 2011 
 - Workshop on Plant Variety Protection Law, Geneva, December 2011 
 
- X Training Course for Ibero-American C ountries on the Protection of New Varieties 
of Plants, Montevideo, Uruguay, December 2011 
 
3. UPOV made presentations at: 
- Business Awareness Seminar on Plant Variety Protection, Singapore, February 2010 
 - Study visit at UPOV/WIPO headquarters of high level officials from Oman, 
March 2010 
 - Third Meeting of the East Asian Plant Variety Protection Forum, Seoul, Republic of 
Korea, April 2010 
 - WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on Intellectua l Property for Government Officials, 
Geneva, Switzerland, 26 April to 5 May 2010 
 
- Sida Training Program on "Genetic Res ources and Intellectual Property Rights", 
Alnarp, Sweden, May 2010 
 - "Seminar on the seed and plant sector:  cha llenges and perspectives", Tunis, Tunisia, 
May 2010 
 
- Visit at UPOV/WIPO headquarters of the Minister of SMEs and Promotion of the 
Private Sector of the Republic of Congo, Geneva, May 2010 
 - WIPO Interregional Intermediate Seminar on Industrial Property, Geneva, June 2010 
 
- Thirteenth International Course on Plant Variety Protection, Naktuinbouw, 
Wageningen, Netherlands, June 2010 
 - WIPO General Course on Intellectual Property (DL-101), Geneva, June 2010 
 - Plant Breeder's Rights Workshop, Lusaka, Zambia, June 2010 
 
- Workshop on Plant Variety Protection for Central and Eastern European States, 
Slupia Wielka, Poland, June 2010 
 - WIPO-WTO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property, Geneva, July 2010 
 
- KSVS/KOICA Training course on plant variet y protection, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 
July 2010 
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  - WIPO Summer School on Intellectual Property, Geneva, July 2010 
 - Master Program of Intellectual Property Law, Queensland University of Technology 
(QUT), Brisbane, Australia, July 2010 
 
- Third EAPVP Workshop for Cooperation in Harmonisation of Test Guidelines and 
DUS Test, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 2010 
 - XXII Pan-American Seed Seminar,  Asunción, Paraguay, August 2010 
 
- VI International Workshop on DUS Exam ination, Texcoco, Mexico, August 2010 
 - JICA Training Course on "Internationally  Harmonized Plant Variety Protection 
System", Tsukuba, Japan, August-September 2010 
 
- National Seminar on Plant Breeder's Ri ghts, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of 
Tanzania, September 2010 
 - Sida Training Programme on "Plant Bree ding and Seed Production", Alnarp, Sweden, 
September 2010 
 
- International Seminar on Plant Breeders'  Rights, Cuernavaca, Morelos States, 
Mexico, September 2010 
 - Second ECOSA International Seed Trade Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 
October 2010 
 
- Working session between WIPO and Mauritius government officials on the draft 
industrial property and copyright laws  of Mauritius, Gene va, January 2011 
 - Study tour and meeting regarding the plant variety protection system in Japan, Tokyo, 
Japan, January 2011 
 
- EAPVP Training on Enhancing PVP T echnical Skills, Manila, Philippines, 
February 2011 
 - National Seminar for information a nd creating awareness for experts from 
agricultural research institutions and po licy makers for agriculture from Mali, 
Bamako, Mali, April 2011 
 - Sida Training Program on "Genetic Res ources and Intellectual Property Rights", 
Alnarp, Sweden, May 2011 
 
- Plant Breeder's Day, Ankara, Turkey, May 2011 
 - GAIA Workshop, Brasilia, Brazil, May 2011  - Congreso Nacional de Viveros de Vid, Olivo y Frutales de Hoja Caduca, Mendoza, 
Argentina, May 2011 
 - WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on Intellectua l Property for Government Officials, 
Geneva, May 2011 
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  - Fourth EAPVP Forum, Makassar, Indonesia, May 2011 
 - Stakeholders' Workshop on Plant Breeder s' Rights, Zanzibar, United Republic of 
Tanzania, June 2011 
 
- WIPO Interregional Intermediate Seminar on Industrial Property, Geneva, June 2011 
 - WIPO Seminar on How the Private and th e Public Sectors Use IP to Enhance 
Agricultural Productivity, Geneva, June 2011 
 
- Fourteenth International Course on Plant Variety Protection, Wageningen, 
Netherlands, June 2011 
 - WIPO-WTO Colloquium for Teachers of In tellectual Property, Geneva, June 2011 
 
- CPVO Seminar on the impact of the EU plant variety protection system, Angers, 
France, June 2011 
 - National Seminar for information a nd creating awareness for experts from 
agricultural research institutions and policy makers for agriculture from Togo, Lomé, 
Togo, July 2011 
 
- KOICA Training course on plant variety protection, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 
July 2011 
 - Symposium on Plant Variety Protection Future Strategy for Enhancing the 
Effectiveness of the PVP System, Seoul, Republic of Korea, July 2011 
 - WIPO Summer School on Intellectual Property, Geneva, July 2011  - Master Program of Intellectual Property Law, Queensland University of Technology 
(QUT), Brisbane, Australia, July 2011 
 
- International Symposium on Plant Breeder Rights, Mexico City, Mexico, 
August 2011 
 - EAPVP Forum Workshop on the UPOV Technical Basics, Bangkok, Thailand, 
September 2011 
 - JICA Training Course on Internationally Harmonized Plant Variety Protection 
System, Tsukuba, Japan, September 2011 
 - Sida Training Programme on "Plant Bree ding and Seed Production", Alnarp, Sweden, 
September 2011 
 - International Seminar on Intellectual Propert y in Plant Varieties and its Enforcement, 
Bogota, Colombia, September 2011 
 
- ITC-ILO 2011 Edition of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property, 
Geneva, October 2011 
  IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
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  - EU Plant Variety Rights in the 21st Century: Conference on the outcome of the 
evaluation of the Community Plant Variety Rights Regime, Brussels, Belgium, October 2011 
 - Study visit of COMESA senior officials, Geneva, October 2011 
 
- Thirty-fifth session of the ARIPO Administrative Council and thirteenth session of 
the ARIPO Council of Ministers, Accra, Ghana, November-December 2011 
 
4. Participation in UPOV distance learning course DL-205 "Introduction to the UPOV 
System of Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention 
(a) Countries from which there were participants in the UPOV distance learning course DL-205 
(between 2006 and 2011) 
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Austra lia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, 
Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovi na, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, 
Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Co ngo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, 
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, 
Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, European Union, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guat emala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hungary, 
India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, 
Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, 
Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar,  Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, 
Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama , Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, 
Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania,  Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, 
Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Afri ca, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, 
Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, the fo rmer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, 
Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of 
Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vi et Nam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (total:  123 
countries).  (b) Total number of participants from members a nd observers in the DL-205 course (between 
2006 and 2011) 
Category Number of 
students 
Government officials of members of the Union 1,578 
Officials of observer States / intergovernmental organizations 114 
Total: 1,692 
 
(c) Special sessions of the DL-205 course (in 2010 and 2011) 
Month/ 
Year Name of Course Language Number of 
participants 
February 2010 Participants in the Regional Seminar on Plant 
Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania EN 4 
May 2010 USPTO/UPOV Training Course "Plant Variety 
Protection under the UPOV Convention" EN 10 IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
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  Month/ 
Year Name of Course Language Number of 
participants 
June 2010 International Course on Plant Variety Protection 
Course (Naktuinbouw, Wageningen, Netherlands) EN 27 
July 2010 KOICA Training Course on Plant Variety Protection EN 12 
September 2010 JICA Training Course on "Internationally 
Harmonized Plant Variety Protection System" EN 11 
December 2010 IX Training Course for Ibero-American Countries on 
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, Santa Cruz 
de la Sierra (Bolivia) ES 6 
November 2010 African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) 
training EN, FR, 
ES 23 
May 2011 USPTO/UPOV Training Course "Plant Variety 
Protection under the UPOV Convention" EN 9 
June 2011 International Course on Plant Variety Protection 
Course (Naktuinbouw, Wageningen, Netherlands) EN 19 
July 2011 KOICA Training Course on Plant Variety Protection EN 12 
September 2011 JICA Training Course on "Internationally 
Harmonized Plant Variety Protection System" EN 9 
December 2011 X Training Course for Ibero-American Countries on 
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 
Montevideo (Uruguay) ES 10  IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
 Page 9 
 
 
  ANNEX II 
 
INTERNATIONAL  COOPERATION  FACILITATED  BY UPOV 
  
UPOV facilitates cooperation in the examin ation of plant varieties as follows: 
 
(a) Document C/45/5 "Cooperation in Examinati on" contains a synopsis of offers for 
cooperation in examination made by aut horities, of cooperation already established 
between authorities and of any envisaged cooperation. 
(see http://www.upov.int/meetings/en/ details.jsp?meeting_id=26467 ) 
 
(b) Document TC/48/4 "List of Genera and Species for which Authorities have Practical 
Experience in the Examination of Distinct ness, Uniformity and Stability" provides 
information on plant genera and species for which authorities have practical 
experience in the examination of Distin ctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS). 
(see http://www.upov.int/meetings/en/ details.jsp?meeting_id=25503 ) 
 
The following graph illustrates the development of cooperation since 2004: 
 
Plant Genera/Species with Cooperation  Agreements, Practical Experience and 
Plant Breeder's Right Entries in Plant Variety Database 
 
 
 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 23363042
17502679
6401990
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 
YearCooperation Agreements (see document C/45/5)  
Practical Experience (see document TC/48/4)
PBR Entries in Plant Variety Database (PLUTO)  Number genera/species IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
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  (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 http://www.upov.int/test_guidelines/en/ ).  The purpose of these 
Test Guidelines is to provide practical guidance for the harmonized examination of 
DUS and, in particular, to identify appropria te characteristics for the examination of 
DUS and production of harmonized variety d escriptions.  In 2011, the adopted Test 
Guidelines covered 90 per cent of all entries concerning plant variety protection in the 
PLUTO Plant Variety Database (201,873 of 224,189). 
 
(d) The GENIE database provides a dynami c source of information on the cooperation 
explained above.  (see http://www.upov.int/genie/en/ ) 
 
(e) The PLUTO Plant Variety Database provid es information concerning plant breeders' 
rights.  (see http://www.upov.int/pluto/en/ )  IP/C/W/581/Add.3 
 Page 11 
 
 
  ANNEX III 
 
LIST  OF ACRONYMS  USED  IN THIS  REPORT 
  
ARIPO  African Regional Intellectual Property Organization 
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa CPVO  Community Plant Variety Office of the European Union 
DUS  Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability EAPVP  East Asian Plant Variety Protection 
ECOSA Economic Cooperation Organization Seed Association 
GAIA  Software to assist crop experts in the examination of distinctness 
IP  Intellectual property JICA  Japan International Cooperation Agency  KOICA  Korean International Cooperation Agency 
KSVS  Korea Seed & Variety Service 
PBR  Plant Breeders' Rights PVP  Plant Variety Protection Sida  Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency 
USPTO  United States Patent and Trademark Office WIPO  World Intellectual Property Organization 
WTO  World Trade Organization 
  
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