Taiwan and Japan ink MOU on mutual plant variety recognition

　On December 19, 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that Taiwan and Japan have signed a MOU on mutual recognition of both sides’ plant varieties verification reports.  Under the MOU, both sides will mutually recognize their respective plant varieties verification reports.  The pact is expected to save a lot of time and cost required for variety right applications and to benefit both countries’ breeders while reinforcing the bilateral development of agricultural intellectual property rights.  

　The Ministry of Agriculture explained that using variety rights to protect Taiwan’s high-quality plant varieties has become extremely important in response to the liberalization of global trade and the increasing frequency of international agricultural trade.  As variety rights are subject to the principle of territoriality, they must undergo examination in each country before being granted.  In addition, the whole examination process, which must also follow plant life cycle and plant traits investigation, typically takes more than 2-3 years from application to approval.  For breeders, both time and money are significant costs, and applying for variety rights in multiple countries further increases the financial burden. In order to encourage breeders to apply for variety rights abroad, Taiwan inked with the EU an administrative arrangement on mutual recognition of moth orchid varieties in 2019 and also a MOU with Vietnam on international cooperation in plant variety examination and protection in 2021.  As of the end of November 2024, Taiwan has obtained 17 overseas variety rights through such cooperation mechanism, which has markedly reduced both time and costs.  Japan is Taiwan’s most important target export market of agricultural products.  To enhance agricultural exchanges, Taiwan and Japan have engaged in negotiations for over one year and finally reached a consensus on mutual recognition of plant variety examination reports and further officially signed a MOU therefor in the 48th Taiwan-Japan Economic and Trade Meeting held in Tokyo.  The two nations will further discuss and determine the adopted species of verified plants.  The collaboration between the two nation plays a crucial role in strengthening the international competitiveness and industrial development of agricultural products in both nations.   

　According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s statistics, there had been a total of 3,265 applications filed for plant variety rights as of November 2024, among which, 2,735 applications were filed for the category of flowers, accounting for 84% of all applications and followed by the category of vegetables in 210 applications at 6%.  The category of fruit tree varieties made up 5% of all applications by 171 applications, while the category of crop varieties comprised 3% of all applications by 85 cases and others in 64 applications at 2%.  Plant variety rights not only protect breeders’ rights and encourage variety improvement and innovation but also provide consumers with more diversified agricultural products.  Additionally, with an aim to encouraging applications for overseas variety rights for Taiwan’s agricultural exports, the Ministry of Agriculture will continue seeking more opportunities for international cooperation to protect Taiwan’s high-quality varieties and elevate Taiwan’s agricultural competitiveness.  (Released 2024.12.19)  
/CCS