The Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) welcomed the deposit of the instrument of accession of Oman on October 22, 2009. The UPOV will enter into force in the country on November 22, 2009. Oman is the fourth Arab country to join the UPOV following the accessions of Jordan (entry into force: October 24, 2004), Morocco (entry into force: October 8, 2006), and Tunisia (entry into force: August 31, 2003).
By way of background, filing of plant variety applications in Oman is possible under law no. 92 of 2000, issued on October 8, 2000. The protection term is 25 years from date of grant for trees and grapevines, and 20 years for other agricultural products. The filing requirements of a plant variety application are as follows:
1. Power of Attorney.
2. Denomination of the variety.
3. Full disclosure of the origin of the variety and the method of breeding.
4. A detailed description of the consecutive stages of the choice and propagation processes which were used to breed the variety.
5. Proof of the novelty of the variety, in the sense that the variety has not been sold or otherwise disposed of for purposes of exploitation for more than one year in Oman, or more than four years in any foreign jurisdiction (or six years in the case of trees).
6. Proof of the uniformity of the variety in the sense that any variations are describable, predictable, and commercially acceptable.
7. Proof of the stability of the variety in the sense that the variety, when reproduced, will remain unchanged with regard to its essential and distinctive characteristics within a reasonable degree of commercial reliability.
8. Proof of the distinctiveness of the variety, in the sense that the variety is clearly distinguishable from any other publicly known variety.
9. Illustrations of the variety, if they are necessary to identify it, along with a brief description.
The table below sets forth the national list of approved plant varieties in Oman:
|
National List (By Common Name) |
|
|
Wheat |
Banana |
|
Barley |
Cotton |
|
Oat |
Tomatoes |
|
Corn |
Potatoes |
|
Elephant Grass |
Tobacco |
|
Pearl Millet |
Sweet Potatoes |
|
Sugarcane |
Sesame |
|
Clover |
Carrots |
|
Cowpea |
Cucumber |
|
Chickpea |
Melon |
|
Fenugreek |
Pumpkin |
|
Fava Bean |
Fig |
|
Ghaf |
Pomegranate |
|
Onion |
Ziziphus |
|
Garlic |
Frankincense Tree |
|
Date Palm |
Grapes |
|
Coconut |
Apricot |
|
Lemon |
Almond |
|
Orange |
Peach |
|
Mango |
Coffee |
|
Saffron |
|
Should you have any further enquiries regarding the subject matter, please contact us atinfo@sabaip.com