Washington, DC
October 1, 2002

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing to increase the Plant Variety Protection Office's fees  for Plant Variety Protection Certificates. Current fees have been in effect since 2000.

"The fee increase is necessary to reduce operating losses and maintain the fiscal stability of this program," said A.J. Yates, Administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. “Major factors contributing to the need for the fee changes include increased employee salaries and information technology needs.”

The proposal will raise the application fee from $320 to $432, the search fee from $2,385 to $3,220, and the issuance fee from $320 to $432. It will also increase the fees for reviving an abandoned application, or correction or re-issuance of a certificate, from $320 to $432. The charge for granting an extension for responding to a request will increase from $55 to $74. The hourly charge for any other service not specified will increase from $66 to $89. The fee for appeal to the Secretary (refundable if appeal overturns the Commissioner's decision) will increase from $3,050 to $4,118.

The Plant Variety Protection Office administers the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) of 1970, as amended, by issuing Certificates of Protection which provide legal intellectual property rights to developers of new varieties of plants. A Certificate of Protection is awarded to an owner of a variety after an examination shows that it is new, distinct from other varieties, and genetically uniform and stable through successive generations. Applications for Plant Variety Protection are voluntary, and paid for by the applicants. The PVPA requires that reasonable fees be collected from applicants to cover the costs of maintaining the program.

The proposed fee increase will be published in today’s Federal Register. Comments should be received no later than Oct. 31, 2002, and should be sent to Paul Zankowski, Plant Variety Protection Office, Rm. 401, National Agricultural Library Building, 10301 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville Md. 20705.