Washington, DC
February 16, 2006
The Plant Variety Protection Act provides for a
"Plant Variety Protection Board" to be appointed by the
Secretary of Agriculture. The
duties of the Board are to:
- advise
the Secretary concerning the adoption of rules and
regulations to facilitate the proper administration of the
Act;
- make
advisory decisions for the Secretary on appeals concerning
decisions on applications by the PVPO and on requests for
emergency public-interest compulsory licenses; and
- advise
the Secretary on any other matters under the rules and
regulations.
The Act
provides that "The Board shall consist of individuals who are
experts in various areas of varietal development covered by this
Act." The term "various areas" is interpreted to include plant
breeding and seed increase, certification, merchandising, and
use. The Act also provides that the membership "shall include
farmer representation and shall be drawn approximately equally
from the private or seed industry sector and from the sector of
government or the public" For additional information, see
enclosed Departmental Regulation No. 1042-53.
The PVPO
Board consists of 14 members, each of whom is appointed for a
2-year period, with no member appointed for more than three
2-year periods. The term of the present board will expire in
August 2006. The first meeting of the new Board will most
likely be held in the Winter of 2007.
In order to
provide the Secretary of Agriculture a broad choice, from a
diverse group of applicants, in appointing Board members, the
PVPO is asking for nominations of person(s) for membership on
the Board, to serve for two years from the date of appointment.
Expenses will be covered by USDA.
To ensure
that the recommendations of the Board take into account the
needs of the diverse groups served by the USDA (from research
and production to trade, use, and consumption), PVPO seeks
nominees, to the extent practicable, with demonstrated ability
to represent minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.
In order to
ensure the integrity of the process, the Department of
Agriculture requires a clearance for each nominee. The minimum
data required to begin this clearance process are the nominee's
name, date of birth, home address and telephone, and Social
Security number. All nominees must be US citizens. Formal
clearance, necessary before a name is submitted to the
Secretary, requires a completed Form AD 755, "Background
Information", for each nominee. A weblink for Form AD 755 is
provided here. An original and one copy are required for each
nominee. Major sources of income must be indicated.
Please
submit full nominations with completed AD 755 background
information forms not later than May 15, 2006, although PVPO
would be delighted to have informal notification of nominations
as soon as possible. If completion of the AD 755 creates an
obstacle to the nomination of an otherwise appropriate
candidate, the form can be filled in by hand. The nominee must
sign the AD 755 form.
Final
selection of members will be made by the Secretary from
nominations submitted and from other proposals.
Please see
http://www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/CurrentNews/news.htm
for more information on the nomination application. |
