This week, a final round of negotiations was held in Argentina with representatives of the EU and the MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay) countries, in light of the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement.
In the framework of this discussion, CIOPORA has asked delegates from the EU to emphasize the obligation of the MERCOSUR member states to access the provisions of the UPOV 1991 Act.
According to Article 9 of the Proposal Chapter on Intellectual Property Rights of said Agreement reads:
The Parties shall protect plant varieties rights, in accordance with the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) as lastly revised in Geneva on March 19, 1991, (the so-called “1991 UPOV ACT”) including the exceptions to the breeders’ right as referred to in Article 15 of the said Convention, and co-operate to promote and enforce these rights.
The novelty of the wording of this article lies in the legal commitment assumed by the parties to protect Plant Breeders’ Rights following the standards of UPOV 1991.
Although the free-talks are on hold until 2018, CIOPORA highlights the importance of maintaining this commitment during the final discussions and ensuring that said obligation will be enforced once the agreement is concluded.
CIOPORA is working closely with the EU and MERCOSUR countries to helping these nations move toward an accession to the UPOV 1991 Act.