Welcome to the latest edition of the Sparring Partner Group (SPG) news, bringing you updates on the Novelty Protection issues in ornamental horticulture, accompanied by analysis, interpretation, and advice from Mia Buma, the Novelty Protection Group Advisor to AIPH.
UPOV’s 2025 meeting took place in Geneva in October, bringing together members and observers to review strategic priorities and recent developments in plant variety protection. Key outcomes included the adoption of UPOV’s Strategic Business Plan for 2026–2029, with a strong focus on digitalisation and Horizon Scanning, and the formal accession of Nigeria as a new member. Discussions also covered breeders’ rights, including progress on Essentially Derived Varieties and harvested material, with AIPH-nominated expert Huib Ghijsen reporting on the work of the Expert Group on Harvested Material.
AIPH and the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) held their annual bilateral meeting in Geneva in October 2025 to exchange updates on EU plant variety protection developments. Discussions focused on strategic work around DUS testing, including options for greater centralisation and efficiency, CPVO’s preliminary Horizon Scanning Report on evolving IP strategies and advanced breeding tools, and ongoing cooperation between CPVO and the European Patent Office. The meeting also reviewed international cooperation activities, recent legal proceedings, and key challenges facing ornamental growers, as presented by AIPH.
AIPH met with CIOPORA in Geneva in October 2025 to exchange views on recent developments in plant variety protection, with a primary focus on the progress report of UPOV’s Expert Group on Harvested Material. Discussions addressed the interpretation of propagating versus harvested material under UPOV 1991, the implications for breeders, growers, and the balance of rights within the value chain, and the differing positions of stakeholders ahead of further debate within UPOV’s Working Group on Harvested Material. The meeting also covered developments in plant breeders’ rights in India and CIOPORA’s recommendations to strengthen the country’s legal framework for variety protection.
In December 2025, the European Union reached a provisional political agreement on a new regulatory framework for New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), establishing a two-tier system for the regulation of NGT plants and addressing issues such as approval procedures, labelling, and patent transparency. The documents included here bring together the legislative agreement itself, joint stakeholder reactions, and editorial analysis of the deal’s implications for plant breeding in practice.
AIPH advisor Mia Buma was invited for an in-depth interview on Plant Breeders’ Rights by Patrick Dieleman, editor-in-chief of the AVBS trade magazine Sierteelt & Groenvoorziening and former Chair of AIPH’s Novelty Protection Committee. The interview followed a renewed connection in Belgium at the 77th AIPH Congress in Ghent, underlining the long-standing professional ties within the AIPH network.
The article, published in November 2025, offers a reflective update on PBR developments and the evolving policy landscape. An English translation is shared here for reference, alongside images from the original Dutch publication.
For readers interested in the broader context, the November 2025 issue of FloraCulture International included a dedicated focus on Plant Breeders’ Rights, offering background perspectives on why PBR remains an important topic for the ornamental sector. The edition provides additional context around the policy and industry discussions reflected elsewhere in this update.
