Law no. 9.456/97 instituted the Plant Variety Protection Act (Lei de Proteção de Cultivares - LPC) in Brazil, bearing a range of positive aspects for Brazilian agriculture, such as the increase in the number of new varieties in Brazil, both domestic and foreign; incentives for breeding activities in the country; and socioeconomic benefits to the agricultural sector. In 15 years of activity in the sphere of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento), the National Plant Variety Protection Service (Serviço Nacional de Proteção de Cultivares - SNPC) has consolidated its activity, not only through its credibility in analysis and granting of plant variety protection (PVP) applications, but also through its proactive stance in technical and legal activities in Brazilian and international affairs, as well as involving the scientific community in a participatory manner in the actions it develops. Nevertheless, in spite of these advances, there is a great deal of discussion regarding the limitations to effective exercise of plant breeders' rights caused by some legal provisions of the LPC that may lack refinement.
Intellectual property; plant variety protection; seeds