The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that it will hold a meeting of the Plant Variety Protection Board on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at the National Agriculture Library Building in Beltsville, Md. The meeting is open to the public.

The board consists of 14 individuals who are experts in various areas of varietal development. These individuals are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, and include representatives from the private or seed industry sector, the public or government sector, and farmer representatives. The function of the board is to advise the secretary about rules and regulations needed to facilitate proper administration of the PVP Act; to make advisory decisions on all appeals from the examiner; and to advise the secretary on questions related to section 44 of the PVP Act on public interest in wide usage of a protected variety.

Minutes of the meeting will be available for public review 30 days following the meeting and will be posted on the website, http://www.ams.usda.gov/science/pvpo/pvpindex.htm.

The meeting notice and proposed agenda will be published in the Sept. 16 Federal Register. For further information, contact Paul Zankowski, Commissioner, Plant Variety Protection Office, Room 401, National Agricultural Library Building, 10301 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville MD 20705, or via e-mail at: Paul.Zankowski@usda.gov.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time-limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.