DA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 7-03
SUBJECT : Implementing Rules and Regulations of the “Philippine Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002”
Pursuant to Sections 67 & 77 of Republic Act No. 9168, otherwise known as the “PHILIPPINE PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT OF 2002”, which was enacted on June 7, 2002 and became effective on July 19, 2002, the following rules and regulations are hereby adopted to implement the provisions of the said Act.
CHAPTER I
Preliminary Provisions
ARTICLE 1. Title. – These rules and regulations, including any subsequent amendments thereto, shall be known as the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Philippine Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002, hereinafter referred to as the “Rules”.
ARTICLE 2. Purpose. – The purpose of these Rules is to ensure the effective and efficient implementation and enforcement of the provisions of Republic Act No. 9168.
CHAPTER II
Definitions
ARTICLE 3. Definition of Terms. – When used in these Rules, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
a) “Act” means Republic Act No. 9168, otherwise known as the “PHILIPPINE PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT OF 2002”.
b) “Applicant” means the breeder who applies for the grant of a Certificate of Plant Variety Protection in accordance with these Rules. [Sec. 3(a)]
c) “Board” means the National Plant Variety Protection Board created by the Act. It shall also refer to the National Seed Industry Council during the transition period from the effectivity of this Act up to the time that the National Plant Variety Protection Board has been organized and operating. [Sec. 3(b)]
d) “Breeder” means:
1) The natural person who bred, or discovered and developed, a new plant variety, or
2) The employer of the person in Article 3(d)(1), unless he has waived his right to the plant variety protection in accordance with Article 20; or
3) The person who commissioned the person in Article 3(d)(1) to breed or discover and develop, a new plant variety, provided there is written agreement in accordance with Article 21; or
4) The successor-in-interest of the foregoing persons as the case may be, or
5) The holder of a plant variety protection certificate issued by the relevant authority in another country: Provided, qualified under Article 23. [Sec. 3(c)]
e) “Certificate of Plant Variety Protection” means the document issued by the Board pursuant to the Act and these Rules for the protection of a new plant variety. It is prima facie evidence that the person to whom it is issued is the owner of the plant variety protection. [Sec. 3(d)]
f) “Commission” means to engage the services of a person to develop new plant varieties in exchange for monetary or any material consideration. [Sec. 3(e)]
g) “Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and shall include the Government, and all its branches, subdivision and instrumentalities, all government-owned or controlled corporations and institutions, as well as non-profit private institutions or organizations.
h) “Examiner” means any duly qualified person authorized by the Board to evaluate the distinctness, uniformity, stability and newness of a plant applied for plant protection. An examiner shall have at least a college or post-graduate degree in plant science and at least three (3) years experience in plant research.
i) “Genebank” means the facility duly accredited by the Board where samples of propagating materials are stored, maintained or otherwise grown.
j) “Harvested material” means any part of a plant with potential economic value or any product made directly therefrom in proper cases. [Sec. 3(f)]
k) “Holder” means a person who has been granted a Certificate of Plant Variety Protection or his successors-in-interest. [Sec. 3(g)]
l) “Person” includes natural persons and juridical persons. [Sec. 3(h)]
m) “Plant” includes terrestrial and aquatic flora. [Sec. 3(i)]
n) “Plant Variety Protection (PVP)” means the rights of breeders over their new plant variety as provided in the Act. [Sec. 3(j)]
o) “Plant Variety Protection Office” or “PVP Office” means the Office of the National Plant Variety Registrar, which is headed by the Registrar and performs the functions listed in Article 12.
p) “Propagating material” means any part of the plant that can be used to reproduce the protected variety. [Sec. 3(k)]
q) “Registrar” means the person appointed by the President of the Philippines, upon recommendation of the Board, to exercise general supervision over the Plant Variety Protection Office. The Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry shall be the Acting Registrar until the Board is fully organized or July 19, 2005, whichever comes first. [Secs. 74 and 76]
r) “Small farmer” means any natural person dependent on small-scale subsistence farming as his primary source of income.
s) “Variety” means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, that without regard to whether the conditions for plant variety protection are fully met, can be defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination of genotypes, distinguished from any other plant groupings by the expression of at least one (1) characteristic, and considered as a unit with regard to the suitability for being propagated unchanged. A variety may be represented by seed, transplants, plants, tubers, tissue culture plantlets, and other form.
