b'ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENTAUSTRALIAS POSITION ON THE EDV CONCEPT. BY: MARCEL BRUINSW ith a public UPOV Seminar coming up inES: IS A MUTANT OR GMO-VARIETY IN ALL Oct 2019 about essentially derived varietiesCASES AN EDV? AND WHY?(EDVs), it becomes apparent that the viewsNH:No. To be an essentially derived variety, the among UPOV members are not always fully aligned.second variety must fulfil three requirements: (i) be To bring the various viewpoints and interpretationspredominately derived from the initial variety, and (ii) to light, European Seed went to speak with severalretain its essential characteristics, and (iii) not exhibit UPOV member states and UPOV observer organi- any important features that differentiate it from the sations. I sat down with Nik Hulse, Chief of Plantinitial variety. Whilst a mutant or GMO would always Breeders Rights at IP Australia. satisfy requirement (i) it may not satisfy requirements (ii) or (iii). Nik HulseNIK HULSE (NH):First off, Id like to say that response to the questions below are my views on interpretingES: WHERE DO YOU FEEL SHOULD A and deciding on EDV. They are based on the currentDECISION LIE ON WHETHER A VARIETY IS limited experience in dealing with claims of EDV inAN EDV OR NOT? WITH THE NATIONAL Australia and the perception of possible or theoretical(PBR) AUTHORITIES, OR WITH A JUDGE OR circumstances. They do not necessarily represent howARBITRATOR? AND WHY?a future claim of EDV in Australia will be decided as,NH:A decision on EDV can be made by the national ultimately, the policy interpretation of the PBR Actauthority, a judge or an arbitrator. It should be up itself and specific circumstances of the case will deter- to the authority to decide the approach that is mostA decision mine the outcome. appropriate for their jurisdiction. In Australia, deci- on EDV sions on EDV are made by the authority. However, a EUROPEAN SEED (ES): WHAT ISdecision to declare or not declare EDV can be appealedcan be YOUR VIEW ON WHAT ARE ESSENTIALto the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. made CHARACTERISTICS?NH:The definition of essential characteristics is inES: WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF PLANTby the the Australian PBR Act. BREEDING INNOVATION TECHNIQUES ONnational essential characteristics, in relation to aEDV?plant variety, means heritable traits thatNH:In my opinion the possible impact of new breedingauthority, are determined by the expression of one ortechniques on EDV, such as gene editing, remains toa judge more genes, or other heritable determinants,be seen. It may not change the current situation sig- or an that contribute to the principal features,nificantly if the time to bring a new variety to market performance or value of the variety. is about the same as currently for a GM variety. If genearbitrator.Whilst this definition leaves room for some inter- editing brings new varieties to market much quicker Nik Hulsepretation it does at least give some guidance as tothan existing conventionally bred or GM varieties which characteristics may be considered as essential.then it may disincentivise breeders from obtaining PBR as the opportunity (time) to obtain a return on ES: SHOULD UPOV MAKE A DISTINCTIONtheir investment is less. The impact is likely to vary BETWEEN MORE IMPORTANT AND LESSdepending on crop type. IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS? AND WHY? ES: IS THERE A NEED TO REVISE THE NH:No. The importance of a characteristic is not rele- CURRENT UPOV EXPLANATORY NOTE ON vant to determining whether a variety is clearly distin- EDV?guishable from another variety. The level of importanceNH:No.of a characteristic can be subjective. A characteristic that is not considered important today may be impor- ES: IS THERE A NEED TO REVISE THE EDV tant tomorrow due to new breeding/use/marketing. Also,PROVISIONS IN THE UPOV CONVENTION?what may be considered important in one country mayNH:Not currently. However, if it were to be considered not be in another (eg resistance to a particular diseasethen adding some further clarity around what is meant that is prevalent in one country but not another). by essential characteristics might be useful.ES: IF AN ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC WAS CHANGED DUE TO AN ACT OF DERIVATION, CAN A VARIETY STILL BE AN EDV?NH:No. Under the Australian PBR Act, a variety cannot be an EDV if it does not retain the essential character-istics of the variety from which it was derived.30IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'