The Netherlands is the country of origin of most of the registrations of ornamental varieties in Mexico. However, many breeders are concerned about the lack of enforcement of breeders' rights protection in the country. Therefore, The Netherlands Embassy in Mexico organized a workshop together with NakTuinbouw and Plantum NL in order to inform the Dutch breeders about the efforts the Mexican authorities (in particular SNICS, the National Service for Seed Inspection and Certification) are currently undertaking to strengthen their system for breeders rights protection.
Over the last few years, The Embassy of The Netherlands in Mexico has worked closely with Dutch and Mexican stakeholders to improve the protection of breeders' rights in Mexico's ornamental sector, and this workshop is part of this effort.
During the session, SNICS Director Leobigildo Cordova presented the strategies, mechanisms, and tools. SNICS has developed to improve the protection of breeders' rights in Mexico.
Mr. Jan de Lange presented Floregal, a new certification scheme to certify those producers that are committed to breeders' rights and meet other quality and sustainability criteria.
Finally, SNICS presented a new pilot project for the certification of rose varieties, which should help SNICS to be able to have better control of the propagation and production of rose varieties in Mexico and ensure the protection of breeders' rights of participating breeders. Dutch breeders are invited to participate in this pilot project, and breeders interested in participating in this pilot are encouraged to contact the Netherlands Embassy in Mexico at [email protected].