CHAPTER II
Plant Varieties And Farmers’ Rights Protection Authority
11.
Manner of Selection and Appointment of the Chairperson -
(1) The Chairperson shall be appointed by the Central
Government on the basis of a panel of names recommended by a Selection Committee
comprising of the following, namely:-
(a)
Secretary,
Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Government of
(b)
Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education,
Government of
(c)
One Expert nominated by Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India – Member.
(2) The Department of
Agriculture and Cooperation of the
Central Government shall act as the nodal department for the selection and
appointment of the Chairperson.
(3)
The Chairperson shall be of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India
and the appointment as chairperson shall either be on deputation or on contract
basis.
(4)
If the Selection Committee constituted under sub rule (1),
recommends any person who is not a government servant but fulfills
qualifications given in clause (a) of sub-section (5) of section 3, such
appointment may be made on contract basis.
12.
Term of Office of the Chairperson -
The Chairperson shall hold office for a term of five years or up to the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier, and shall be eligible for re-appointment:
Provided that no Chairperson shall hold office for a total period
exceeding ten years, or after he has attained the age of sixty-five years,
whichever is earlier.
13.
Salary, allowances, conditions of service, leave, pension, provident fund
etc. of the Chairperson -
The Chairperson
shall be entitled to such salary, allowances, leave, pension, provident fund and
other perquisites as are admissible to a Secretary to the Government of India.
14.
Resignation or removal of the Chairperson from office in certain cases -
(1)
The Chairperson may resign from his office by giving notice in writing to the
Central Government.
(2) The Central Government shall remove the Chairperson from office if
he, -
(a) is or at any time has been, adjudicated as an insolvent;
(b) has been convicted of an offence
which, in the opinion of the Central
Government, involves moral
turpitude;
(c) has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as the
Chairperson;
(d) has failed in discharging the duties and responsibilities under
the Act and the rules made
thereunder;
(e) has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect
prejudicially his function as the Chairperson;
(f) has, in the opinion of the Central Government, so abused his position as to
render his
continuation in office detrimental to the public interest;
(g) any other substantiated ground which is unbecoming of a public servant under
the Government
of India :
Provided that the chairperson shall not be removed under this sub-rule
unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.
15.
Term and
allowances of non-official members -
(1) Every non-official
member of the Authority shall hold office for a period of three years from the
date of his appointment.
(2) The Central Government
shall appoint new non-official member of the Authority within six months of the
expiration of the term of the non-official member.
(3) A
non-official member shall be entitled to sitting allowance and travelling
expenses, at such rate as may be fixed by the Central Government from
time to time in this regard.
16.
Proceedings of the Authority -
(1) The Authority shall meet atleast twice in a year at the head quarters
of the Authority or at
such place as may be decided by the Chairperson.
(2) The Chairperson shall, upon a
written request of not less than five members of the Authority or upon a
direction of the Central Government, call a special meeting of the Authority.
(3) At least fifteen days' notice of an ordinary meeting and
three days' notice of a special meeting specifying the purpose, the time and the
place at which such meeting is to be held, shall be given to the members.
(4) Every meeting shall be presided over by the Chairperson and in his
absence, by a Presiding Officer to be chosen by the members present from
amongst themselves.
(5) The decision of the Authority shall be taken by a majority of the
votes of the members present and voting and in the event of equality of votes,
the Chairperson or in his absence, the member presiding over the meeting shall
have a second or casting vote.
(6) Every member shall have one vote.
(7) The quorum for the meeting of the Authority shall be five.
(8) No member shall be entitled to bring forward for the consideration of
a meeting any matter of which he has not given ten days' notice to the
Member-Secretary unless the Chairperson, in his discretion, permits him to do
so.
(9) The notice of the meeting may be given to the members by delivering
the same by messenger or sending it by registered post to his last known place
of residence or business or in such other manner as the Chairperson or the
Member-Secretary may, in the circumstances of the case, think fit.
17.
Chairman and proceedings of the
Standing Committee -
(1) The Chairperson shall select a member of the Standing Committee appointed by him under sub-section (7) of section 3 from amongst the members of that Committee to preside over its meeting.
(2) In
the absence of the member selected under sub-rule (1), the meeting of the
Standing Committee shall be presided over by the member who shall be elected by
the members present at meeting from amongst themselves.
(3) The decision in the meeting of the Standing Committee shall be taken
by a
majority of the members present and voting and in the event of equality
of votes, the member selected under sub-rule (1) or in his absence, the member
presiding over the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
(4) Every member
shall have one vote.
(5)
The quorum for the meeting of the Standing Committee
shall be three.
(6)
The convener of the Standing Committee may, in consultation with the
Authority, determine the venue of its meetings any where in
18.
Appointment of Expert Committee by the Authority
-
(1) The Authority may
appoint such experts or consultants as it considers necessary to seek guidance
and assistance in technical areas demanding specialized advisory inputs, to
enable the Authority for efficient discharge of its duties and functions.
(2) The Authority may appoint such other committees as may be necessary
for the efficient discharge of its duties and functions.
(3) The Authority may, in
consultation with the Central Government, fix the quantum of remuneration,
payable to the experts and consultants.
19. Salary, Allowances and Conditions of
service of the Registrar-General -
(1) The Registrar-General shall be an official equivalent to the rank of the Additional/Joint Secretary to the Government of India and he shall be appointed by the Authority on deputation or transfer or on contract basis.
(2) The Registrar-General shall be governed by the Central Government rules in respect of his salary and other allowances including pension, leave, travelling and daily allowances as are admissible to an Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
(3) The Registrar-General shall be a person having proven managerial, or legal or Intellectual Property Rights or agricultural development experience.
(4) The term of office of the Registrar-General shall be a period of five years or until he attains the age of sixty years, whichever is earlier :
Provided that no candidate who may not have at least two years tenure in the office shall be appointed as Registrar-General.
(5) A person on completion of one term as Registrar-General shall be eligible for a second term of three years or until he attains the age of sixty years, whichever is earlier.
20.
The
method of appointment of officers and other employees of the Authority -
(1) The Authority may make recruitment and appointment to the posts of officers specified in the Fourth Schedule.
(2) The Authority shall after advertising the posts in the Employment News and atleast one national daily recruit officers and other employees of the Authority by the method of direct recruitment or contract basis by selection after conducting interview.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1) and subject to the approval of the Central Government the Authority may also appoint such other officers and employees as may be required by it on transfer or deputation basis or on contract basis.
(4) The salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the officers and employees of the Authority shall be the same as applicable to Central Government servants of equivalent rank.
(5) If any question on the service conditions of any officer or employee of the Authority arises, it shall be decided by the Central Government.
21. Powers and Duties of the Chairperson
-
(1) In addition to the duties specified in the Act, the Chairperson shall have powers of general superintendence and directions in the conduct and management of the affairs of the Authority, to enable the Authority in effectively discharging its duties and overseeing the compliance of the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations made thereunder.
(2) The
Chairperson shall also discharge such other duties and functions as the
Authority may by general or special order in writing delegate to him or the
Central Government may authorise him to discharge from time to time.
(3) The
Chairperson shall convene, preside over and conduct the meetings of the
Authority and be responsible for carrying out all decisions taken by the
Authority.
(5) The Chairperson shall guide and facilitate the development of new plant varieties by protecting the rights of the breeders, researchers, farmers, and community of farmers as provided under the Act.
(6) The Chairperson shall facilitate and act on his satisfaction for compulsory licensing of registered plant varieties and advise the Central and the State Governments on the restriction of public use of any such registered plant varieties which may invite action under sub-rule (4).
22. General
functions of the Authority -
(1) The Authority shall advice the Central Government in
relation to the provisions contained in the sub-section (2) of section 29 for
specifying and notifying the genera and species for the purposes of registration
of new plant varieties other than extant varieties and farmers’ varieties.
(2) The Authority shall register extant varieties under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 8 within such period as may be determined by it with suitable test criteria to conform distinctiveness, uniformity and stability (hereinafter referred to as DUS) of such varieties.
(3) The Authority shall develop DUS test and other test criteria and conduct such tests for characterization of each variety of crop species notified by the Central Government.
(4) The Authority shall compile and maintain a database on all
varieties of common knowledge including all registered extant and farmers’
varieties and such varieties being cultivated outside India for each crop
species prior to grant for registration for new varieties belonging to such
species.
(5)
The Authority shall be entitled to call for and procure the details of any crop
variety under use in the country for the purpose of bringing the same into its
database.
(6)
Any public or private institution, community or individual involved in the
production and use of seed of such varieties shall be required to provide
full information on its characteristics or and a true sample of seed of such
variety.
(7) The Authority shall keep a record of the production and
sale of seed of all registered varieties.
(8) It shall be necessary for all breeders of registered
varieties to supply certified figures on annual seed production and sales to the
Authority within a period not exceeding three months from the completion of such
reporting period.
(9) The Authority, if required shall also be entitled to call
for such figures specifically relating to any region of the country.
The National
Register of Plant Varieties shall contain the following particulars of each
registered variety, namely: -
(1) Registration Number;
(2) Nationality of Breeder(s);
(3) Denomination as granted;
(4) Date of Grant of Registration;
(5) Date on which application was received;
(6) Provisional number given to the application;
(7) Date of Gazette notification;
(8) Grouping of the plant variety (new, extant or farmers);
(9)
Classification of the variety (typical variety, hybrid variety or essentially
derived variety);
(10)
Denomination of variety, Common Crop name to which the variety belongs,
Taxonomical Lineage of the Crop in Botanical names;
(11)
Key Passport data of the variety;
(12)
Essential characters making the variety distinct;
(13)
Starting date of protection;
(14)
Expiry date of protection;
(15)
Date of revocation with other details (grounds etc.);
(16)
Name and address of the applicant(s);
(17)
Address for service of document(s);
(18)
Name and address of the breeder(s) (in case breeder is not the applicant);
(19)
Name and address of the legal representative (if applicable);
(20)
Name, address and other details of the licensee and terms of license (if
applicable);
(21)
Name, address and other details of the agent with jurisdictional rights, if any
(if appointed);
(22)
Type of crop;
(23)
Name of the family, genus, species, variety and common name;
(24)
Name and address of the breeder of initial variety (in case of essentially
derived variety);
(25)
Details of the acquisition of propagating material/ seeds (if applicable);
(26)
Details of parental material used in the development (if applicable);
(27)
Name and address of the contributor(s) of genetic material (if applicable);
(28)
Any other feature specified by the Authority or Registrar-General;
(29)
Country of origin of the plant variety;
(30)
Brief description of the variety along with characteristic details of the
nearest variety including results of DUS testing, supplemented with the drawings
or photographs or both;
(31)
In case of compulsory licensing, name and address of licensee with other details
(terms and conditions, revocation, etc), if applicable;
(32)
Declaration and details of the renunciation to the variety (if applicable);
(33)
Details of benefit sharing;
(34)
Details of opposition, revocation, restoration, maintenance (whatever
applicable);
(35)
In the case of varieties protected outside India prior to registration in the
country, following additional information shall be entered in the National
Register of plant varieties namely: -
(a) Name of the country(ies) where protection is made along with the
denomination of the variety in each of them,
(b) Date of first protection with country,
(c)
Variation in important trait with respect to first filing,
(d)
Country wherein the Variety was first commercialized with date,
(e)
Any other feature specified by the Authority or Registrar-General;
(36)
In case of a convention application, the following information shall also be
furnished, namely :-
(a)
Name of the convention country
(b)
Passport data of the convention application
(c)
Date of application
(d)Date of grant of registration
(e)
Registration number
(f)
Denomination as accepted
(g)
Date of Gazette notification
(h)
Starting date of protection
(i)
Expiry date of protection
(j)
Whether the variety has been sold or otherwise disposed of within and outside
the country, if so, details thereof
(37) Any changes made in any entry.