Plant Variety Rights Act 1987 review: Outstanding policy issues

The discussion document sought views on the following issues and our preliminary analysis of proposed options:

• Outstanding policy issues relating to the Treaty of Waitangi compliance provisions. In November 2019, Cabinet noted that there were a small number of issues that will need further consideration. This includes the issues relating to the establishment and operation of the Māori Advisory Committee, definition of indigenous species and non-indigenous species of significance, and the process for considering objections to decisions made by the Māori Advisory Committee.  
• Operational issues arising from a survey conducted by the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand in 2019. This includes the processes around testing/growing trials, confidentiality of information in applications, and access to plant material for comparative purposes.

Your submissions on these issues assisted with the drafting of a new Plant Variety Rights Bill which has now been introduced to Parliament and received its first reading. It has now been referred to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee for consideration, where you can engage with the submissions process.

You can find out more information about the Bill and track its progress through Parliament on the Parliament website(external link).

Find out more about the review process

Opportunities to engage in person

Thank you to those who engaged with us at our hui and PVR Technical Focus Group meeting to discuss these outstanding policy issues.

We received 20 submissions on the discussion paper. Submitters who wished to remain anonymous are referred to as ‘anonymous submitter’. Redactions have been made in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1993 and when content may be commercially sensitive.

Read the submissions(external link)

Read the summary of submissions [PDF, 360 KB]