Chapter X

Supplementary Provisions

Article 90     The following terms in this Law mean:

(1) “Germplasm resources” mean the basic material for the selective breeding of new plant varieties, including the propagating material of the cultivars and wild species of various plants and the genetic material of the various plants artificially created with the aforementioned propagating material. 

(2) “Variety” means a plant grouping selected or discovered and improved, whose individuals have the same morphological features and biological characteristics, and heritable traits are relatively stable.

(3) “Main crops” mean rice, wheat, maize, cotton, and soybean.

(4) “Main forest trees” shall be determined and published by the competent department of forestry and grassland under the State Council; no more than eight main forest trees other than those determined by the department of forestry and grassland under the State Council may be determined by the competent departments of forestry and grassland under the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. 

(5) “Improved forest tree variety” means a main forest tree variety that has been adopted in the review and decision, which, in a given region, is obviously superior to those of the major trees currently planted in aspects such as yield, adaptability, and resistance.

(6) “Novelty” means that the seeds of a variety that an applicant applies for a new plant variety right have not been sold or promoted by or with the consent of the holder of the application right within the territory of China for longer than one year before the filing date; in a foreign territory, the seeds of woody plants or vines have not been sold or promoted for longer than six years, and the seeds of other plants have not been sold or promoted for longer than four years.

The genera or species of plants newly included in the national lists of protected plant varieties after this Law enters into force, where the applications for variety rights are filed within one year from the date of publication of such lists, and the sale or promotion of the seeds of the said varieties in China has not been longer than four years,  shall have novelty.

In addition to the loss of novelty by the act of sale or promotion, novelty shall be deemed as lost under any of the following circumstances:

(i) The de facto dispersal of the variety has been confirmed by the competent department for agriculture and rural affairs or the competent department of forestry and grassland under the people’s government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government based on the sown area.

(ii) The crop variety has been adopted in the review and decision or has been registered for two years or more, but no application for a new plant variety right has been filed.

(7)“Distinctness” means that a plant variety is clearly distinguishable by one or more traits from any other known variety.

(8) “Uniformity” means that despite the expected natural variation of the particular features of a variety, features or characteristics of individuals in the grouping of a plant variety are uniform.

(9) “Stability” means that the main traits of a plant variety remain unchanged after repeated propagation or at the end of each particular cycle of reproduction.

(10)“Essentially derived variety” means a variety that is essentially derived from the initial variety or from an essentially derived variety of the said initial variety that is clearly distinguishable from the initial variety and conforms to the initial variety in the expression of the essential traits that result from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety, except for the differences in traits which result from derivation.

(11)“Known variety” means a plant variety that has been accepted for application, has been adopted in the variety review and decision, has been registered, has obtained new variety protection, or has been sold or promoted.

(12)“Label” means a particular pattern and textual description which is printed, pasted, fixed, or attached to the surface of a seed or seed package.

Article 91 The state strengthens the protection of germplasm resources of traditional Chinese medicinal plants and supports scientific and technological research on the breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal plants.

This Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the administration of germplasm resources and selective breeding, production and business operation, administration and other activities of grass seeds, tobacco seeds, traditional Chinese medicinal plant seeds, and edible fungal cultures.

Article 92    This Law shall enter into force on January 1, 2016.