The Bundessortenamt introduces itself

The Bundessortenamt is an independant senior federal authority under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of  Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. It is responsible for granting of Plant Breeders' Rights, the registration of varieties in the National List and for variety and seed affairs.

To the functions of the Bundessortenamt belongs also the co-operation at the advancement variety and seeds-legal framework on national and to international level.

The Bundessortenamt has 12 trial stations for variety testing (see map) throughout Germany, with about 630 ha of agricultural land in the various cultivation and climatic regions. Approximately  15,000 m² are available for greenhouse cultivation. Further tests are carried out at 450 trial sites in the Federal Lands or on the basis of bilateral agreements at test sites belonging to other UPOV-member states.

More detailed information is given in the booklet "Bundessortenamt - protection and national listing of new plant varieties"(German and English edition). The booklet can be ordered directly from the Bundessortamt by email under info@Bundessortenamt.de.

• Bibliographical references about Plant Breeder's Rights, National Listing, Laws and Ordinances
• Legal bases
• BSA booklet

Organization of the Bundessortenamt

The Bundessortenamt is arranged into four divisions:

• Division 1: Administration
  Adminsitrative tasks, personnel, household, IT
• Division 2: Testing of Value of Cultivation and Use
  Tasks in connection with registration in the National Variety List
• Divsion 3: Testing of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability
  Tasks in connection with granting Plant Breeders'Rights
• Division 4: Test Management
  Trial stations, variety diagnostics

• Examination Boards: Plant Breeders'Rights
  Decisions in procedures for granting Plant Breeders'Rights are seized by a examination board, which consists in each case of an expert member of the Bundessortenamt. At present there are 11 examination boards for the different plant species.
• Variety commitees: National Listing of plant varieties
  Variety committees decide on the registration in the National Variety List. A variety committee consist of three expert members of the Bundessortenamt. For the different plant species there are ten variety committees.