Following a process of technical consultations with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, Mongolian Parliament enacted the Law on Seeds and Varieties of Plants on October 15, 2021 to regulate issues related to supporting the development of the sector of crop seeds, stimulating research and innovation in the seed sector, establishing fair trade of seeds, protection and sustainable use of plant genetic resources, creation of new plant varieties, protection of breeder’s rights and ensuring food safety.
In specifically, this law regulates the registration of a new plant varieties and the protection of the breeder’s rights. Any person who produces, sell, export and import a registered and protected plant varieties is required to obtain permission from a breeder. The protection of breeder’s right is valid for 20 years for plants and 25 years for trees and climber plants.
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry is entitled to register a new variety plant in Mongolia and to protect breeder’s right. In determining whether or not the breeder is entitled to apply a new variety plant registration, the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry should identify that the plant is new, various, identical and stable by doing necessary field experiments and laboratory tests. These four requirements are described as below.
New – the seed and plants variety are considered new if it is not sold or distributed throughout a certain time prior to the request date:
- 1 year ago, in the territory of Mongolia;
- four years ago, in the territory of other countries and six years ago for trees and shrubs.
Various – if the newly created variety differs clearly from other popular varieties at the time of the request, it is considered to be different.
Identical – if the basic characteristics of the variety are sufficiently maintained during changes that may depend on the characteristics of the reproductive structure, then the seed is considered an identical variety.
Stable – After repeated reproductive cycles, if the basic characteristics of the seed do not change at the end of a specific cycle, the seed is considered a stable variety.
Therefore, it is significant to first clarify whether a plant variety can be considered as a new variety plant in Mongolia, whether breeder’s plant variety sold or distributed before in Mongolia and oversees during period mentioned above.