The Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, under the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, and the Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO) recently held a seminar to raise awareness on the protection of new varieties of plants.
The seminar’s objective was to educate participants on the protection of new varieties of plants constituting legislation to protect the rights of breeders and as recognition and protection for contributions made by creating new varieties of plants.
The seminar also raised awareness on the commercial potential of new varieties of plants for breeders and industry while providing a platform to discuss any potential issues with farmers before the country commits to the obligations imposed by the UPOV convention.
It also raised public interest in venturing into plant breeding for creating varieties with better harvest, quality and agronomy characteristics to be marketed within and outside the country.
The seminar was one of two related to the protection of new varieties of plants to be held this year.
Legislative Council member Yang Berhormat Lau How Teck was also present, along with farmers, representatives from higher education institutions and officers from the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood. Acting Director of the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood Abuzar bin Haji Mohd Tahir and BruIPO Head Norazizah binti Haji Mohd Jaafar were the guests of honour during the event at the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood headquarters.
Director of Legal Affairs from the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Martin Ekvad, senior examiner from the Department of Crop Production under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Cam Hang and Director of the Vietnam Seed Support Service Centre Nyugen Thanh Minh joined the seminar online. – James Kon
