VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGV #0307/01 1071314
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171314Z APR 09
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8305
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS GENEVA 000307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/IPC AND IO/T AND OES 
COMMERCE FOR USPTO 
USDA FOR FAS 
PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KIPR WIPO
SUBJECT:  UPOV Meeting, March 30 to April 3, 2009 
 
¶1. Summary:  The Forty-Fifth Session of the Technical Committee 
(TC), The Fifty-Ninth Session of the Administrative and Legal 
Committee (CAJ), the Seventy-Seventh Session of the Consultative 
Committee (CC), the Twenty-Sixth Extraordinary Session of the 
Council (C), and the Ad-Hoc Subgroup of Technical and Legal Experts 
of Biochemical and Molecular Techniques (BMT Review Group)for the 
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 
(UPOV) were held in Geneva on March 30 to April 3, 2009.  Issues 
directed to the plant variety database, the use of molecular 
techniques in the variety testing, electronic application, the 
adoption of UPOV documents, the approval of the draft Program and 
Budget of the Union, the financial regulations and rules of UPOV, 
the procedure for the appointment of a new Vice Secretary General, 
and the law for the protection of plant varieties of Peru were 
addressed. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. The Forty-Fifth Session of the TC took place on March 30 to April 
1, 2009. The UPOV office informed the committee about the agreement 
between UPOV and WIPO concerning the UPOV Plant Variety Database. 
WIPO had agreed to undertake collation of data for the UPOV-ROM and 
to provide necessary assistance to deliver the program improvements 
concerning options for receiving data for UPOV-ROM in various 
formats and assistance in allocation of UPOV codes to all entries. 
WIPO has planned to also undertake development of a web-based 
version of the UPOV Plant Variety Database. 
 
¶3. The TC considered two proposals on Electronic Application 
Systems.  Proposal 1 involves standardized reference by authority to 
the UPOV Model Application Form, UPOV technical questions (TQ) 
and/or UPOV test guidelines TQ, and Proposal 2 iQolves the use of 
information provided in an electronic version of the UPOV Model 
Application Form (and possibly the UPOV Model TQ and UPOV test 
guidelines TQ).  There was very little interest expressed by 
members.  New Zealand expressed support for Proposal 1, European 
Community and International Seed Federation (ISF) expressed a 
preference for Proposal 2, and the United States expressed concerns 
about the limited interest and the resource implications. 
Nevertheless, the United States supported preliminary work to be 
performed in accordance with Proposal 1, and requested a cost 
analysis. 
 
¶4. The TC discussed the UPOV Guidelines for DNA-profiling: 
molecular marker selection and database construction (BMT 
Guidelines) and agreed that the document BMT guideline (proj. 14) 
would be submitted for adoption by the Council after the French, 
German and Spanish translations of the original English text have 
been checked. 
 
¶5. The TC discussed technical guidelines for describing 
physiological characteristics of varieties which would be scheduled 
for adoption by the Council in October 2009. The TC amended the 
guidelines to clarify disease tolerance and abiotic tolerance 
characteristics. 
 
¶6. The Ad-hoc Subgroup of Technical and Legal Experts of Biochemical 
and Molecular Techniques (BMT Review Group) held its meeting on 
April 2, 2009.  The BMT Review Group considered the proposal from an 
expert from France on "possible use of molecular techniques in DUS 
testing on maize: how to integrate a new tool to serve the 
effectiveness of protection offered under the UPOV system," and 
found that the proposal was acceptable for consideration by the 
CAJ. 
 
¶7. The CAJ also held its meeting on April 2.  The CAJ noted the 
report from the Vice Secretary-General on "the system for combining 
phenotypic and molecular distances in the management of variety 
collections."  The report will be posted at the UPOV website. 
 
¶8. The CAJ approved UPOV documents concerning "Guidance for New 
Types and Species" and "Special Characteristics."  The documents 
will be submitted to the council for adoption, after the 
translations have been reviewed. 
 
¶9. The CC held its meeting on April 3, 2009.  The CC considered and 
took a positive decision on the conformity of the legislation of 
Peru (Decision 345 on Common Provisions for the Protection of the 
Rights of Breeders of Plant Varieties and the Draft Supreme Decree 
establishing the Regulations for the Protection of Rights of 
Breeders of Plant Varieties) with the provisions of the 1991 Act of 
the UPOV Convention. 
 
¶10. The CC decided to establish an ad hoc working group on the 
Financial Regulations and Rules of UPOV (FRR Working Group) to meet 
in October 2009 and provide guidance to the office of the Union on 
the financial regulations and rules of UPOV.  The composition of FRR 
Working Group will be based on the composition of the Consultative 
Group which includes representatives from Argentina, Australia, 
France, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian 
Federation, Spain, and the United States.  The meeting of FRR 
Working Group will be open to other interested members. 
 
¶11. The CC agreed to extend the terms of reference of the FRR 
Working Group to enable it to assist the Office of the Union in its 
preparation of proposals concerning an external audit committee and 
internal audit provisions for UPOV. 
 
¶12. The CC considered and endorsed the structure of the Draft 
Program and Budget of the Union for the 2010-1011 Biennium. 
 
¶13. The CC discussed the procure for appointment of a new Vice 
Secretary-General, and agreed to change one of the requirements for 
the qualification of the applicants to: "must" (instead of should) 
have wide experience in the application of laws of his or her 
country on the protection of new varieties of plants, and also in 
the application of the UPOV convention. 
 
¶14. The CC approved the procedure and timetable for the appointment 
of the new Vice Secretary-General, as set out below: 
      a) to finalize the circular announcing the vacancy and general 
description of the post and an outline of the conditions of 
employment of the post; 
      b) to request the Secretary-General to announce the vacancy by 
the end of May 2009; 
      c) to set the remuneration and other benefits at the D.2 or 
assistant Secretary-General (ASG) level of the United Nations common 
system, according to the experience and qualifications of the 
successful applicant; 
d) to establish a deadline for the receipt of applications by August 
31, 2009;       to send to each member of the Union, as soon as 
possible after August 31, 2009, a copy of the applications 
received; 
      e) to add an agenda item for the seventy-eight session of the 
CC to be held in October 21, 2009, to consider applications received 
for the post of Vice Secretary-General and to establish an Ad hoc 
Sub-Committee, charged with interviewing the selected candidates at 
the beginning of 2010; 
      f) to arrange for the selected candidates to meet with the Ad 
hoc Sub-Committee by end of January/beginning of February 2010; 
      g) to convene the seventy-ninth session of the CC and an 
extraordinary session of the Council on March 26, 2010, and after 
seeking the agreement of the Secretary-General, to make a 
recommendation on the appointment of the new Vice Secretary-General 
to the Council. 
      The composition of the Ad hoc Sub-Committee is based on the 
Consultative Group which includes representatives from Argentina, 
Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, 
Russian Federation, Spain, and the United States.  It is agreed that 
there should be some flexibility in the composition of the Ad hoc 
Sub-Committee. 
 
¶15. The CC noted the documents relating to the development 
concerning the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Food 
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the Second Word Seed 
Conference. 
 
¶16. The CC also noted the information relating to the Council for 
TRIPS concerning the review of Articles 27.3(b) of the Agreement on 
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS 
Agreement"). 
 
¶17. The Council held its Twenty-sixth extraordinary session on April 
3, 2009.  The council took a positive decision of the plant variety 
laws of Peru.  This means that once the Regulations of the Draft 
Supreme Decree are adopted, with no changes, and in force, Peru may 
deposit its instrument of accession to the 1991 Act. 
 
¶18. The President of the Council reported that Costa Rica had become 
the sixty-seventh member of the Union on January 12, 2009. 
 
¶19. The Council approved the procedure and timetable for the 
appointment of the new Vice-Secretary General in 2010. 
 
¶20. The Council noted the tentative calendar for the October 2009 
sessions: October 19-20,-CAJ; October 20-Ad hoc Sub-Committee 
charged with interviewing the selected candidates for the post of 
Vice Secretary-General; October 21-CC, October 22-C, October 22-FRR 
Working Group; Oct 23-Administrative and Legal Committee Advisory 
Group. 
 
¶21. The United States delegation consisted of Kitisri Sukhapinda 
(USPTO), Anne Marie Grunberg (USPTO) and Paul Zankowski (PVPO). 
 
STORELLA