Regional Workshop on the Arusha Protocol

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) is organising a virtual Regional Workshop on the Arusha Protocol in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Project (AfrIPI) on 9 November 2021. The workshop is aimed at Plant Variety Protection Experts in ARIPO Member States.

The main objectives of this workshop are the following:

• to share experiences, best practices and lessons learnt on plant variety protection systems amongst ARIPO Member States in anticipation of the coming into force of the Arusha Protocol;

• to share experiences, best practices and to explain the advantages of UPOV 1991 membership. In this regard, Member States which are already members of UPOV 1991, or whose preparations to join are at an advanced stage such as the Republics of Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania will be given the opportunity to share first-hand experience and  perspectives on the impact that UPOV membership and the development of plant variety systems has had on their economic growth; and

• to promote predictability and efficiencies in the registration of PBRs across Africa and ensuring that registration experiences and procedures are as close as possible to uniformity across a wide spectrum of African states.