VI. Protection of New Varieties of Agricultural and Forestry
Plants
Proceeding from the actual conditions of China and on the basis of earnestly
summing up and borrowing from international experience, the Chinese government
has set up and carried out a series of systems and measures for the protection
of new varieties of plants, thus fully guaranteeing the legitimate rights and
interests of the investment bodies involved. On October 1, 1997, the government
began implementing the "Regulations on the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants," greatly expanding the scope of IPR protection in China.
To supplement the implementation of the "Regulations on the Protection of New
Varieties of Plants," the Chinese government has in succession promulgated and
implemented such regulations as the "Rules for the Implementation of the
Regulations on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (Agriculture)," "Rules
for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants (Forestry)," "Regulations on Agency of New Agricultural Plant Variety
Rights," "Regulations on Handling Cases of Infringement of New Agricultural
Plant Variety Rights," and "Regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture on the
Work of the Reexamination Board for New Varieties of Plants," providing legal
guarantees for the rapid development of new varieties of plants.
In recent years, the government has set up the Office of Protection of New
Varieties of Plants and the Reexamination Board for New Varieties of Plants at
the Ministry of Agriculture and State Forestry Administration, respectively,
forming an institutional protection system combining examination and approval
agencies, law-enforcement organizations, intermediary service organizations and
other rights protection organizations. Meanwhile, a technological support system
has been established, which includes the Center for the Preservation of Breeding
Materials of New Varieties of Agricultural Plants, Center for Testing of New
Varieties of Plants and its 14 sub-centers, and the Center for the Testing of
New Varieties of Forest Plants and its five sub-centers and two molecule
determination labs. To ensure scientific and authoritative examination of plant
variety rights, and drawing on the international standards for testing new
varieties of plants, the relevant authorities have, based on the actual
conditions of China, formulated guides for testing 57 new varieties of plants,
including corn, rice, poplar and peony, of which 18 have been promulgated and
implemented as national or industrial standards.
The government has issued and implemented five lists of protected new
varieties of agricultural plants and four lists of protected new varieties of
forest plants, which cover 119 genera and species, including 41 agricultural
plants and 78 forest plants. The numbers are far higher than the minimum numbers
required by the "International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants."
By the end of 2004, the Ministry of Agriculture had handled 2,046
applications for plant variety rights. The number of applications handled in
1999 was 115, and by 2004 it reached 735, indicating an average annual increase
of 44.9 percent. Among all the applications, there were 1,875 for field crops,
87 for vegetables, 52 for fruit trees and 32 for decorative plants. A total of
2,174 applications were from scientific, technological and educational
institutions, and 772 from enterprises and individuals, which included 32 from
foreign enterprises and individuals. After examination, 503 applications were
granted the variety rights.
By the end of 2004, the State Forestry Administration had handled 305
applications for variety rights, including 64 from France, Germany, the
Netherlands, Belgium and the United States, and granted 72 new plant variety
rights. The involved plants included Chinese rose, peony, Christmas flower,
azalea, poplar, Chinese chestnut, apricot, eucalyptus and walnut. Of them, 253
applications were for decorative arbors, accounting for 82.95 percent of the
total. The applications were mainly from Chinese research institutions, foreign
individuals engaging in breeding and Chinese universities, which respectively
accounted for 50.2 percent, 14.4 percent and 11.1 percent of the total.
Since 2001, the government began experimental law
enforcement on the protection of new varieties of plants in 12 selected
provinces and municipalities, and then gradually spread the work across the
country. By the end of 2004, 17 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities
directly under the central government) had handled 863 cases of infringement of
new agricultural plant variety rights and of faking new agricultural plant
varieties.
