National Plant Variety Protection Board.
Section 66
SEC. 66. National Plant Variety Protection Board. - There is hereby created a National Plant Variety Protection Board which shall be composed of the following or their duly designated representatives: The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, as chairman; The Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, as co-chairman; The Director-General of the Intellectual Property Office, as vice chairman; The Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry; The Director of the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Banos; The President of the Philippine Seed Industry Association; A representative from a federation of small farmers' organizations to be nominated by the Secretary of Agriculture; A representative from the scientific community to be nominated by the National Academy of Science and Technology; and The Registrar (ex officio). The members of the Board or their representatives must be Filipino citizens, have good moral character and should not have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. The Board shall perform the following functions: Promulgate policy guidelines for the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act; Have original and exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all acts of the Registrar; Have original jurisdiction over petitions for compulsory licensing, nullity and cancellation of the Certificates of Plant Variety Protection; Institutionalize database of existing plant varieties, collected from foreign and local databases, within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act; Call on resource persons to provide inputs that will be relevant in the performance of the tasks of the Board; Organize the Registrar as it sees fit; Approve capital expenditure and contracts of experts; and Perform all other functions as may be required in the implementation of this Act.