December 17, 2010

Source: Crop Biotech Update

A Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Laws Workshop was organized by CropLife China on Dec.15, 2010 in Beijing, China. The workshop was moderated by Dr. Qinfang Wang, Rotating President of CropLife China. More than 50 participants attended including Chinese agricultural enterprise representatives, judges, lawyers, IP experts and breeders.

Dr. Jingyuan Xia, Director of The National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center, Ministry of Agriculture; and Dr. Xiangming Lin, GMO Safety and Intellectual Property (IP) Officer, Department of Science and Education, Ministry of Agriculture, discussed China's seed industry and status of PVP laws. Lin said that "related laws and regulations for PVP in China will be further improved with the advances in molecular biotechnology, especially DNA fingerprinting. China is studying how to bring genetic resources protection and benefit sharing issues into IP laws." Dr. Bradley Kurtz, Senior Counsel of Pioneer Hi-Bred, pointed out that IP protection for plants including biotech crops stimulates breeding investment and creates an opportunity to increase yields and farmer income.

For the details of the workshop,contact Phoebe Chen of Croplife China at phoebechen@vip.163.com. 
For more information about biotechnology in China, email Prof. Zhang Hongxiang of ISAAA ChinaBIC at zhanghx@mail.las.ac.cn.

Website: http://www.isaaa.org/kc/

Published: December 17, 2010