Amendment to Taiwan’s Plant Variety and Plant Seed Act greenlighted to protect superior plant varieties cultivated by Taiwan

　The Legislative Yuan of Taiwan approved the amendment to Article 51, Article 53-1, and Article 55 of the Plant Variety and Plant Seed Act on May 2, 2023.  According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the amendment incorporates the provisions that restrict items for import or export, set penalties, and raise administrative fines to be imposed on contravention of restrictions, with an aim to prevent the outflow of superior varieties or resale thereof domestically that will ultimately result in harm to Taiwan’s agricultural and economic safety and national interests.  

The three focuses of the amendment are summarized as follows.  

1.  The central competent authority is authorized to announce the prohibition against export and import of plant seeds, their harvested materials or the products made directly from the harvested materials; 

2.  Violators of the aforesaid prohibitions should receive a sentence of imprisonment for up to 3 years, detention, and/or a fine ranging between TWD600,000 and TWD3 million, and the contraband should be confiscated.  The amendment also sets forth penalties on corporations.  

3.  Administrative fines should also apply to the above mentioned prohibitions and the fines are in the amount of TWD500,000~TWD2,500,000, and confiscation will be implemented on a flexible basis.    

　The MOA emphasized that the agricultural competitiveness is grounded on plant seeds, and therefore, unauthorized and illegal outflow of Taiwan’s superior plant seeds definitely needs to be interdicted.  To actualize effective control, the MOA made a comprehensive list of the items that urgently need strict restriction and regulation, drafted the announcements of the restricted and prohibited categories, conditions and types of control.  Based on the foregoing, the MOA will invite relevant agencies and industrial groups to determine the restricted items for the announcement and will work with border control agencies to implement inspection and control measures and further to enhance the promotion of such restrictions on the border and to the industry, all of which aims to uphold Taiwan’s agricultural competitiveness and sustained agricultural developments.  (Released 2023.05.02) 
/CCS