Select Committee Report on Plant Variety Rights Bill Released

Following the earlier noted introduction of the Plant Variety Rights Bill to Parliament in May 2021 the Select Committee considering the Plant Variety Rights Bill has now released a unanimous report.

Given the complete overhaul of the current Act and the range of interested parties it is not surprising that the Select Committee recommends a broad range of amendments, although they are generally clarificational. Notable amendments are:

Purposes
•   Amending the purposes clause from recognising to protecting kaitiaki relationships with taonga species and mātauranga Māori;
•   Acknowledging NZ’s international obligations under the CPTPP in the purposes clause;
•   Including a clause on promoting innovation and economic growth based on the provision in the purposes section of the Patents Act 2013;
•   Recognising the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi as a separate clause with specific reference to the Part 5 provisions applying to indigenous plants and non-indigenous plants of significance;

Maori Plant Varieties Committee
•   Allowing for a right of appeal from decisions of the Maori Plant Varieties Committee, with the Maori Appellate Court being the appropriate appellate body;
•   Clarifying that the definition of “kaitiaki relationship” applies throughout the Bill by moving the definition from clause 54 in Part 5 to the main interpretation provision (clause 5);
•   Changing the definition of “indigenous plant species” from native plant species that occur naturally in New Zealand to native plant species that are endemic to New Zealand;

Essentially Derived Species
•   Changing the definition of an essentially derived species so it closely aligns to the definition in UPOV-91, rather than the definition used in Australia;

Farm Saved Seed
•   Clarifying that the farm saved seed exception only allows farmers to save seed for use on their own farm holdings;

Compulsory Licences
•   Modifying the public interest test for the grant of a compulsory licence so that regard is had to the availability of harvested material in addition to propagation material;
•   Restricting the effect of a compulsory licence to the specific protected variety, meaning it will not also extend to essentially derived varieties or dependent varieties;
•   Allowing an exclusive licencee to be heard before making a compulsory licence determination;
•   Requiring the Commissioner to publish any compulsory licence determination, whether granted or refused;
•   Clarifying that any kaitiaki conditions applying to a plant variety right will also apply to any granted compulsory licence of that right;

Novelty
•   Clarifying that a range of standard industry practices do not affect novelty. This includes distributing propagating material to third parties for testing, evaluation or stocking purposes or the sale of used material no longer required for breeding or propagating purposes;

Uniform and Stable Varieties
•   Matching UPOV-91 by defining uniform and stable varieties in relation to the variety’s relevant characteristics rather than essential characteristics;

Publication
•   Clarifying that information received after the initial application is also subject to publication;
•   Providing an exception to publication for kaitiaki interests if the Maori Plant Varieties Committee recommends that

Harvested Material
•   Removing the definition of harvested material as its plain and ordinary meaning is appropriate and sufficiently clear;

Breeding
•   Clarifying that the definition of breeding is not restricted to any method or technique;

Duration
•   Changing the duration for potatoes from 20 years to 25 years;
•   Retaining the term “woody plant or its rootstock” from the current Act instead of the Bill’s term “tree or vine” as the former is wider than the latter and ensures 25 year term applies;

Registration of Interests
•   Clarifying that licences, including compulsory licences, do not need to be registered;
 
Plant Variety Rights Office
•   Instead of being abolished the Plant Variety Rights Office would be retained.

Author: Quinn Miller

//piperpat.com/news/article/select-committee-report-on-plant-variety-rights-bill-released