Costa Rica Accedes To
UPOV Convention
Costa Rica deposited its
instrument of accession
to the UPOV Convention
and will become the
sixty-seventh member of
the International Union
for the Protection of
New Varieties of Plants
(UPOV) on January 12,
2009.
The purpose of the UPOV
Convention is to
encourage the
development of new
varieties of plants by
granting breeders an
intellectual property
right on the basis of a
set of clearly defined
principles.
To be eligible for
protection, varieties
need to satisfy certain
conditions, such as
being distinct from
existing, commonly known
varieties and
sufficiently uniform and
stable.
New varieties of plants
are one of the most
powerful tools to
enhance food production
in a sustainable way, to
increase income in the
agricultural sector and
to contribute to overall
development.
The Secretary-General of
UPOV, Mr. Francis Gurry,
welcomed the deposit of
the instrument of
accession of Costa Rica
to the UPOV Convention
(1991 Act) and expressed
his satisfaction that
UPOV has now reached 67
members.
The members of UPOV are:
Albania, Argentina,
Australia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Belgium, Bolivia,
Brazil, Bulgaria,
Canada, Chile, China,
Colombia, Costa Rica (as
of January 12,
2009), Croatia, Czech
Republic, Denmark,
Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Estonia,
European Community,
Finland, France,
Germany, Georgia,
Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Israel, Italy,
Japan, Jordan, Kenya,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,
Lithuania, Mexico,
Morocco, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua,
Norway, Panama,
Paraguay,
Poland, Portugal,
Republic of Korea,
Republic of Moldova,
Romania,
Russian Federation,
Singapore, Slovakia,
Slovenia, South Africa,
Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Trinidad
and Tobago, Tunisia,
Turkey, Ukraine, United
Kingdom,
United States of
America, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
UPOV is an
intergovernmental
organization which is
based in Geneva.
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