Washington, DC
March 13, 2007
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 March 20 and 21 at USDA’s
George Washington Carver Center, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room
4-2223, Beltsville, Md. The meeting is open to the public.
The board consists of 14 individuals who are experts in various
areas of plant varietal development. They 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 board advises the
secretary about rules and regulations needed to facilitate
proper administration of the Plant Variety Protection (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 Internet at
www.ams.usda.gov/science/pvpo/pvpindex.htm.
The meeting notice and proposed agenda were published in the
March 7, 2007, Federal Register. For more 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.
AMS 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 more information, contact the
Plant Variety Protection Office at (301) 504-5518, fax (301)
504-5291, or the Internet at
www.ams.usda.gov/science/pvpo/pvpindex.htm. |
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