Technical support for the reference collections for the Accredited Research and Examination Centres on Plant Varieties in OAPI countries

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In 2022, OAPI accredited four research centres (DUS examination centres) in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon, to solve the problem of the availability of quality seeds and plant varieties for those involved in the agricultural sector, and to provide them with suitable plant material through an effective plant variety protection system.

Since 2023, AfrIPI has been providing technical support to the four examination centres. In collaboration with the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), AfrIPI has recruited four technical experts to:

improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the four OAPI examination centres and ensure that they have consolidated and improved reference collections for use in substantive examination;
take stock of the reference collections of existing plant varieties within the said examination centres;
draft manuals of procedures so as to create reference collections according to the varieties of botanical species developed in the centres, and carry out training;
make recommendations for future actions to be carried out with a view to capacity building.

In 2024, the technical experts are expected to consolidate the reference collections of the examination centres to enable DUS examination testing that is uniform, reliable and of consistent quality, with the overall aim of strengthening the quality and capacity of examination under the OAPI plant variety protection system.

This activity is the continuation of AWP3 Activity 12.