Michael T. Jarvis (202) 720-8998 michael.jarvis@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2012 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that the Plant Variety Protection Board will meet April 25-26, 2012, in Beltsville, Md. The meeting will convene each day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in room 4-2223 of USDA’s George Washington Carver Center on 5601 Sunnyside Avenue.
The board consists of 14 individuals who are experts in various areas of plant varietal development. Members were appointed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and include seed industry, public 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; makes advisory decisions on all appeals from the examiner; and advises the Secretary about questions related to section 44 of the PVP Act on public interest in wide usage of a protected variety.
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service administers the PVP Act, which provides legal protection in the form of intellectual property rights to developers of new and distinct seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers.
The meeting is open to the public. All prospective attendees are encouraged to pre-register with the PVP Office at 301-504-5518 before April 23. For additional information regarding the meeting, contact Jennifer Banks, Plant Variety Protection Office, Room 401, National Agricultural Library, 10301 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville, MD 20705 or send her mail at Jennifer.Banks@ams.usda.gov.
Minutes of the meeting will be available for public viewing 30 days following the meeting and will be posted on the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/pvpo. The meeting notice and proposed agenda will be published in the April 5, 2012, Federal Register.
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