Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to maintain the responsibilities and functions in the UK of the Community Plant Variety Office (a) when the UK leaves the EU and (b) in the event of the UK leaving the EU in 2019 without agreement; and if he will make a statement.

As a signatory to the 1991 International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, the UK will continue to provide intellectual property protection through plant variety rights. We are considering the implications and possible options as part of our planning for, and negotiations on, the UK’s departure from the EU. In the event of leaving the EU without an agreement, existing EU plant variety rights will be made effective under UK legislation. New varieties after exit can be protected through the normal UK legislation and processes.

Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 refers to EU Plant Variety Rights and provides protection of intellectual property associated with the breeding of plant varieties. The regulation is not associated with ‘goods’ and as such would not be included in the envisioned common rule book.