2011 CIOPORA Chronicle - the 50th Anniversary Edition

CPVO
Bart Kiewiet,
president of the
Community Plant
Variety Office
(CPVO) in Angers,
congratulates
CIOPORA on its
golden jubilee whilst
reflecting on past
successes and future
goals. Established
in 1995 the CPVO
grants Community
plant variety rights
to any individual
or company
which either has a
permanent residence
in the EU or has a
nominated EU agent
and is itself from a
UPOV (International
Union for the
Protection of new
Varieties of Plants)
member state.
CPVO and CIOPORA
continue to strengthen
their cooperation
me begin with congratulating
CIOPORA
“Let
International on its 50th
anniversary. It is not by accident
that this organisation is almost the
same age as UPOV. In fact, the
creation of UPOV was, as I have
understood, the very reason for the
foundation of CIOPORA.
In light of this, it is not surprising
that CIOPORA has focused its
activities on intellectual property
rights in general and plant
variety protection UPOV type in
particular.
I have had professional contacts
with CIOPORA International and
its former Dutch branch from the
beginning of the nineties, first as
president of the Dutch board for
plant breeders’ rights and from
1996, in my capacity as president
of the Community Plant Variety
Office (CPVO).”
Remarkable
representatives
During the first years of Bart
Kiewiet’s dealings with CIOPO-
RA, it was René Royon who was
the most visible and remarkable
representative. “I still vividly
remember how René, during the
Diplomatic Conference for the revision
of the UPOV convention of
1991, tried with all his intellectual
force to convince the participants
to enhance the right of the breeder
as laid down in the Basic Proposal
for the revision of that convention.
In the end, he was not fully satisfied
with the result but nevertheless
considered the 1991 version as an
important improvement, compared
to the previous version of the
UPOV Convention.
Bart Kiewiet, president
of the Community Plant
Variety Office.
In the years after the retirement
of René Royon, the new secretary
general Edgar Krieger and the successive
presidents Maarten Leune
and Lars Henriksen were my main
contacts within this organisation.”
Beneficial cooperation
According to Bart Kiewiet the
cooperation between CIOPORA
and the CPVO has been beneficial
12 www.CIOPORA.org | CIOPORA Chronicle April 2011