On 3 March 2021, the President of the EU Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) met virtually with a delegation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The CPVO is a European Union agency that manages the European Union system of plant variety rights covering the 27 Member States. It issues DUS reports on plant varieties (DUS = Distinctness, Uniformity, Stability of new varieties of plants).
The meeting recalled that the United States of America’s Plant Variety Protection Act was amended to include asexually reproduced plant varieties, which allows the U.S. Plant Variety Protection Office to accept applications for these genera. With the ability to accept these new varieties, the U.S. Plant Variety Protection Office adopted the UPOV Test Guidelines for all asexually reproduced varieties.
As a result, DUS reports from the CPVO and its entrusted Examinations Offices in the EU Member States can now be accepted for all asexually reproduced plant variety applications.
DUS reports for sexually propagated varieties can also be accepted, on a case-by-case basis, if the applications fulfill certain criteria. For example, DUS reports for certain crops that are new to the U.S. Plant Variety Protection Office can be acceptable.
Applicants who are interested in using a DUS report from the EU in an application procedure before the U.S. Department of Agriculture are invited to contact Jeffery Haynes, Commissioner, to learn more and discuss in further detail. Mr. Haynes can be contacted at Jeffery.Haynes@usda.gov.