Agricultural crop varieties go to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, through its Office for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants; forestry and grassland varieties go to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, through its Office for the Protection of New Varieties of Forestry and Grassland Plants. Each authority handles acceptance, examination, testing and the organization of specimen preservation for its own category.
To be granted, a variety must belong to a genus or species on the national catalogue of protected plant varieties; it must be novel, distinct, uniform and stable; and it must have a suitable denomination. The process runs through filing, together with the variety description, then formality examination, then substantive examination including DUS testing — normally over two or more growing cycles — and finally publication of the grant.
Protection runs from the date the grant is published: 25 years for woody and vine plants, 20 years for other plants.
Preliminary examination, which formerly took 6 months, has been shortened to 3 months, extendable by a further 3 months in complex cases.
Annuities must be paid as prescribed. Where they are not, the right may terminate before the end of its term.
