Taiwan and Japan on Thursday in Tokyo signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on mutual recognition of plant varieties, the Agriculture and Food Agency said in a news release.
Following negotiations that lasted for more than a year, the MOU was signed by Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi on behalf of their respective governments at the 48th annual Taiwan-Japan Economic and Trade Conference, agency Deputy Director Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said in a news release.
Given that the international trade of agricultural products is booming due to global trade liberalization, using plant variety rights to protect Taiwan’s high-quality plant varieties has become even more important, he said.
Photo: Lin Tsuei-yi, Taipei Times
Plant variety rights cannot be protected in a country without prior review and approval from local authorities, as they are regulated following the territorial principle, Yao said.
As the review of applications for plant variety rights must be conducted following the plant’s life cycle, it is usually costly and time-consuming and could take applicants more than three years to obtain the rights, he said.
It would require more time and money if applications are made to more than one country, so the government has been establishing agreements on mutual recognition of plant variety rights with other countries, Yao said.
For example, Taiwan signed an agreement on mutual recognition of moth orchid varieties with the EU in 2019, as well as an MOU on mutual recognition and conservation of plant varieties with Vietnam in 2021, he said.
As of last month, 17 high-quality plant varieties have been granted an international plant variety right through such cooperative mechanisms, markedly reducing the application time and fees, Yao said.
There were 3,265 plant variety right applications nationwide as of last month, he said.
Of these, 2,735 were flowers, which made up the largest category of applications at 84 percent, followed by 210 from the vegetable category at 6 percent, 171 fruit tree varieties at 5 percent and 85 crop varieties at 3 percent, Yao said, adding that the remaining 64 applications, or 2 percent, fell under the “other” category.
The ministry would continue to seek more opportunities for international cooperation on the mutual recognition of plant varieties to enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness in agriculture, he said.
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