Regulations on professional plant variety right representation exam in Vietnam

Regulations on professional plant variety right representation exam in Vietnam (Internet image) 

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Contents of the professional plant variety right representation exam in Vietnam

According to Clause 1 of Article 27 of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP, contents of the professional plant variety right representation exam include:

- Laws on rights to plant varieties, including laws of Vietnam, regulations of international treaties, guiding documents, and cooperation agreements that Vietnam is a signatory;

- Skills in applying laws to the procedure for establishing rights to plant varieties, searching and utilizing information on plant variety protection, and implementing DUS testing.

2. Conditions for registering for professional plant variety right representation exam in Vietnam

Individuals meeting the following requirements shall be eligible for registering for participation in the exam, specifically:

- Being Vietnamese citizens with sufficient legal capacity;

- Residing in Vietnam;

- Having at least a bachelor’s degree in crop production, plant protection, biology, silviculture, or law;

- Having engaged in operations concerning plant variety right laws for 5 years or more or engaged in operations of assessing applications for registering rights to plant varieties at national or international authorities of rights to plant varieties for 5 years or more or graduated from training courses in plant variety right laws recognized by competent authorities.

(Clause 3 of Article 27 of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP)

3. Application for registering for professional plant variety right representation exam in Vietnam

Individuals registering for participation in the exam for certificates of professional plant variety right representation shall submit applications to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam. An application includes:

- Statement on exam registration following Form No. 24 enclosed with Decree 79/2023/ND-CP;

- Copies of the bachelor’s degree or post-university degree (the original shall be presented for comparison, excluding cases of certified copies);

- Copies of the certificate of training in plant variety right laws (the original shall be presented for comparison, excluding cases of certified copies) or copies of the recruitment decision or labor contract, and other documents proving the actual professional operations (the original shall be presented for comparison, excluding cases of certified copies);

- 2 photos sized 3 x 4 (cm).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam shall assess applications and provide written notification for individuals with valid applications 15 days before the exam date, specifying the exam plan.

(Clause 4 of Article 27 of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP)

4. Organization of professional plant variety right representation exam in Vietnam

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam shall issue a decision to establish a Council for Professional Plant Variety Right Representation Exam (hereinafter referred to as “Exam Council”).

+ The Exam Council shall have 5 people, with its President as the head of the unit assigned to perform the state management of plant variety protection; members of the Exam Council are specialists with professional experience and prestige in plant variety protection and officials assigned to perform tasks of plant variety protection as administrative secretaries.

+ The Exam Council shall develop a question paper bank (including answer keys and score scales).

- Organization of the exam

+ The question paper shall be randomly selected by the President of the Exam Council from the question paper bank.

+ The Exam Council shall mark exam papers following the answer keys and score scales of the selected question paper.

+ A candidate achieving a score of 5,0 or more based on the 10-point scale for his/her exam paper is considered qualified.

- Within 20 days from the date of the exam, the President of the Exam Council shall disclose the exam results on the web portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and issue certificates following Form No. 25 enclosed with Decree 79/2023/ND-CP for qualified people.

(Clause 5, 6, 7 of Article 27 of Decree 79/2023/ND-CP)

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