The most important point of discussion in the TC was related to the redesign of how UPOV should aim to deliver its support to the work on Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) testing (the PBR-criteria Distinct, Uniform and Stable).
As a result of a survey conducted a few months previously, several weaknesses were identified in the current DUS system. For instance, the repetition of content across the technical meetings, how to improve the integration of Technical Working Party on Testing Methods and Techniques (TWM)-related matters into meetings, and the lack of visits to field trials, among others.
For this reason, a new working group (WG) to support the relevant changes related to DUS will be initiated in November 2022. The breeders’ organisations will participate in the WG and release the developments accordingly.

The procedure for the appointment of a new Vice-Secretary-General was defined. The current Vice-Secretary General, Peter Button, will be stepping down next year, and three new candidates have been nominated:
Mr. Martin EKVAD (Sweden), Ms. Yolanda HUERTA-CASADO (Spain), and Mr. Leontino REZENDE TAVEIRA (Brazil).
A presentation and an interview will be conducted with each candidate. A sub-committee will prepare a report to the Council, and in case of no consensus, the election will be done by secret ballot among the members.
As reported and explained earlier in this SPG newsletter, another important item revised in the Council was the Explanatory Notes on Essentially Derived Varieties under the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.

The Council took a positive decision on the examination of the conformity of the Draft Law on the Protection of Varieties of Plants of Armenia with the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.

Once the law is in force, this will allow Armenia to deposit its instrument of accession to the 1991 Act. Armenia would then become the 79th member country of UPOV.

The Council elected new chairpersons for a three-year term ending in 2025:

• Mr Yehan Cui (China), President of the Council;
• Mr Anthony Parker (Canada), Vice-President of the Council;
• Ms María Laura Villamayor (Argentina), Chair of CAJ;
• Ms Minori Hagiwara (Japan), Vice-Chair of CAJ;
• Ms Beate Rücker (Germany), Chair of TC;
• Ms Nuria Urquía Fernández (Spain), Vice-Chair of TC

UPOV frequently publishes short videos on its website about topics on and for UPOV member countries.

The recent new UPOV video is on the topic “Netherlands’ Triple Helix: government, business and academia working together. Learn how this complements plant variety protection”.

All videos are available on the UPOV website on this link.