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Australian Lobby Effort on EDV: New Era for "CIOPORA Australia"

Sydney/Hamburg - In close consultations with the CIOPORA Secretary General and as a part of the CIOPORA's global lobby effort on EDV, Alanna Rennie and Richard Gough of Baker McKenzie took the lead on lobbying the Australian government to support/stay neutral on the decision to re-open the UPOV explanatory notes on EDV at UPOV CAJ Meeting on October 30. Australia was a key jurisdiction, as the explanatory notes were based on the Australian conception of EDV.

Alanna and Richard joined forces with Osman Mewett from the Australian Seed Federation (ASF) to lobby the Australian PBR Office and faced significant resistance on the basis that Australia's law is currently consistent with the UPOV explanatory note. Alanna and Osman argued that the fact that the law is consistent doesn't make it right or represent what the industry wants or needs. Both Alanna on behalf of CIOPORA and Osman on behalf of the ASF escalated the matter to the Australian Minister for Industry, Science and Technology who referred the matter back to IP Australia. On the day of the UPOV meeting, a response was received from IP Australia that the EDV concept has been placed on the agenda for the next PBR Consultation Group meeting (the Australian industry consultation group for PBR legislative developments).

The result being that Australia remained neutral during the UPOV talks that transpired on October 30, ultimately playing a significant role in the positive decision to re-open the discussion on the explanatory notes.

As a result of Baker McKenzie's lobby efforts in Australia, "CIOPORA Australia" is now a member of the PBR Consultation Group, with Alanna taking the seat as CIOPORA's representative. The next meeting is scheduled for November, where revision of Australia's EDV concept will be consulted on.

A new era for CIOPORA Australia.


Image by Johny Bhalla, Unsplash.com

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