THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE,
FISHERIES AND RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
1536
Pursuant to Article 50, paragraph 3, Article 52, paragraph 4, Article 55, paragraph 5, Article
60, paragraph 4, Article 66, paragraph 6, Article 67, paragraph 3, Article 70, paragraph 6 and
Article 71, paragraph 4 of the Act on Seeds, Planting Material and Registration of Varieties of
Agricultural Plants (Official Gazette 140/05, 35/08), the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Rural Development hereby issues the
ORDINANCE
ON THE INCLUSION OF VARIETIES IN THE NATIONAL LIST OF
VARIETIES OF AGRICULTURAL PLANTS 1
I. BASIC PROVISIONS
Article 1
1) This Ordinance lays down the requirements for inclusion in and maintenance of the
National List of Varieties of Agricultural Plants (hereinafter: National List of Varieties) in
respect of plant species which must be included in the List, the contents of the List of
Varieties and of variety dossiers, the requirements and procedure for the renewal of inclusion
of a variety in the National List of Varieties, the requirements for determining the suitability
of the denomination of a variety, supervision over the maintenance of a variety and the
contents and manner of keeping the records of variety maintenance.
2) The inclusion in the National List of Varieties is mandatory for the following plant species:
oil and fibre plants, fodder plants, cereals, beet, vegetables, potatoes and vine.
II. APPLICATION FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF A VARIETY
Article 2
1) An application for the acceptance of a variety shall be made to the Institute for Seed and
Seedlings (hereinafter "the Institute"), using Form 1 which is printed along with this
Ordinance and forms an integral part thereof.
2) In addition to the application referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, there shall be
submitted the UPOV (International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties) or CPVO
(Community Plant Variety Office) Technical Questionnaire and, where necessary, a letter of
1
This Ordinance transposes the provisions of Council Directive 2002/53/EC on the common catalogue of
varieties of agricultural plant species, Council Directive 2002/55/EC on the marketing of vegetable seed and
Council Directive 68/193/EEC on the marketing of material for the vegetative propagation of the vine
authority appointing a procedural representative, using Form 4 which is printed along with
this Ordinance and forms an integral part thereof.
Article 3
1) An application for the acceptance of a variety (hereinafter "the application") shall be
submitted in two copies for each variety.
2) The deadline for submission of the application shall be as set forth in a special regulation
concerning registration of varieties.
3) The deadline referred to in paragraph 2 shall also apply to applications for withdrawal from
the acceptance procedure in respect of varieties for which the acceptance procedure is
underway and to applications for suspending the acceptance procedure for a maximum
suspension period of one year.
4) Upon receipt of the application the Institute shall determine whether the application is
complete, i.e. whether it contains information on:
– the applicant;
– the representative, if any;
– the person responsible for maintenance of the variety (hereinafter: maintainer of the variety);
– the species;
– variety denomination or breeder's reference;
– the origin of the variety;
– the intended use of the variety;
– the testing for distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS);
– the description of the variety in the Technical Questionnaire;
– genetically modified organisms (hereinafter: GMO)
5) The application shall be considered complete if it contains all the information specified in
paragraph 4 of this Article.
6) The Institute shall put the variety registration number on the application to confirm that the
variety is included in the examination for acceptance and shall submit it to the applicant.
7) A summary of the complete application shall be published in the Official Gazette of the
Institute.
8) If the Institute determines that the application is incomplete, it shall notify the applicant
and require the applicant to correct the observed deficiencies within 30 days.
9) If the applicant does not correct the deficiencies within the time frame referred to in
paragraph 8 of this Article, the application shall be rejected.
III. DETERMINATION OF THE SUITABILITY OF VARIETAL DENOMINATION
Article 4
1) If, at the time of submitting the application, the applicant does not propose a variety
denomination for inclusion in the National List of Varieties, the applicant must propose the
denomination of the variety by the end of the first growing year of examination during the
acceptance procedure.
2) The proposal for a variety denomination shall be made on Form 3, which is printed along
with this Ordinance and forms and integral part thereof.
3) If the applicant fails to propose a variety denomination by 30 June of the second year of
examination of the value for cultivation and use, there shall be issued a decision rejecting the
application concerned.
Article 5
1) A variety denomination may be in the form of a fancy name or a code.
2) The applicant must make a declaration as to the form of the variety denomination. If the
applicant makes no declaration as to the form of the denomination, the denomination shall be
considered to be a fancy name.
Article 6
A variety denomination in the form of a fancy name shall be unsuitable if:
– it consists of a single letter;
– it consists of a series of letters not forming a pronounceable word, except where this series
is an established abbreviation, such an established abbreviation shall be limited to a maximum
of two sets of up to three characters each, located at each end of the denomination;
– it contains a number, except where this is an integral part of the name, or where this
indicates that the variety will be one of a series of related varieties;
– it consists of more than three words, except where such name has already been approved in
a member state of UPOV;
– it contains an excessively long word;
– it contains a hyphen, a full stop, a blank space other than between the words, an upper and
lower case mixture within the words, another mark, a symbol, a subscript or a superscript.
Article 7
A variety denomination in the form of a code shall be unsuitable if:
– it consists of many numbers only, except in the case of inbred lines or of similar types of
varieties;
– it consists of a single letter;
– it contains more than ten letters, or letters and numbers;
– it contains more than four groups of letters or letters and numbers or numbers;
– it contains a hyphen, a full stop, another mark, a symbol, a subscript or a superscript.
Article 8
1) A variety denomination is unsuitable if it is exactly the same as a denomination already
registered in a member state UPOV for a variety of the same species or closely related species,
i.e. the species included in the same UPOV class. The list of UPOV classes is given in Annex
1 which is printed along with this Ordinance and forms an integral part thereof.
2) Closely related species are species belonging to the same class.
Article 9
1) A variety denomination is not different from another variety denomination if it contains a
difference of only one letter or number, or of accents on letters, taking into account closely
related species.
2) A difference of only one letter in a variety denomination shall count as a sufficient
difference in the case:
– of an established abbreviation as a separate entity of the variety denomination;
– where the first letter of the variety denominations is different;
– where the variety denomination is short.
3) The provisions of this Article shall not apply to a variety denomination in the form of a
code.
Article 10
An identical variety denomination may be used if the variety concerned is no longer on the
market and a period of ten years has expired since its deletion from the List of Varieties.
Article 11
The following may not be used as a variety denomination:
– currency denominations, or technical terms associated with weights and measures;
– technical terms that have become part of everyday language and are used when marketing
seeds of other varieties;
– denominations used in accordance with other special regulations.
Article 12
A variety denomination shall be unsuitable if:
1. it conveys the false impression that:
– the variety has particular characteristics;
– the variety is related to, or derived from, another variety;
– only that variety possesses a specific characteristic or value;
– the variety is another variety because of its similarity to a well-known trading name
concerning the identity of the applicant, the maintainer of the variety, or the breeder;
2. it contains:
– comparatives or superlatives;
– the Latin or Croatian name of a genus or species or a part of the name of the group of
agricultural plant species, to which the variety belongs;
– the name of a natural or legal person so as to convey a false impression concerning the
identity of the applicant, the maintainer of the variety, or the breeder;
– a geographical name liable to convey a false impression as to the characteristics or the value
of the variety.
Article 13
If a variety is registered under a certain denomination in another country, the same
denomination should be used, if possible, unless the wording or meaning of that denomination
is offensive or inappropriate in the Croatian language.
If a variety is placed on the market in another country under a different denomination, such
denomination should be given in the National List of Varieties as a synonym.
Article 14
1) During the procedure for determining the suitability of a variety denomination, which is
undertaken by the Institute, the proposed variety denomination shall be published in the
Official Gazette of the Institute.
2) Anyone who claims to have a legal interest may make a complaint to the Institute about the
proposed variety denomination, at the latest within three months of the date on which the
proposed denomination was published in the Official Gazette of the Institute. The complaint
must be in writing and substantiated.
3) If it is found by the Institute that the proposed denomination is not suitable, or that the
complaint is justified, the Institute shall require the applicant to propose another variety
denomination within sixty days.
4) If the applicant fails to propose a new variety denomination within the time specified in
paragraph 3 of this Article, the Institute shall issue a decision rejecting the application for
acceptance.
IV. EXAMINATION OF VARIETIES
Article 15
Varieties shall be examined in accordance with the regulation governing the acceptance of
varieties of agricultural plants.
V. CONSERVATION VARIETY
Article 16
1) An indigenous variety shall be a variety or landrace that:
– originates from indigenous plant genetic resources and has not been subject to systematic
breeding;
– has been cultivated in the Republic of Croatia; and
– has been maintained and propagated in the Republic of Croatia in similar environmental
conditions.
2) A variety shall also be considered indigenous if:
– it was created in the Republic of Croatia more than 15 years ago, or more than 30 years ago
in the case of vine;
– its seed and propagating material are still being produced in the Republic of Croatia;
– has been maintained and produced in the Republic of Croatia or in similar environmental
conditions.
3) Domesticated varieties are older varieties of foreign origin that:
– have been produced in the Republic of Croatia for more than 15 years or, in the case of vine,
for more than 50 years and are well adapted to production conditions in the Republic of
Croatia;
– have been maintained and produced in the Republic of Croatia or in similar environmental
conditions.
4) The time periods specified in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall be counted from the
day of entry into force of this Ordinance.
Article 17
1) For in situ conservation of plant genetic resource and sustainable use of plant genetic
resource through growing, an indigenous or domesticated variety may be included in the
National List of Varieties as a »conservation variety« if:
– it is distinct,
– its characteristics remain unchanged after repeated cycles of propagation,
– it is of satisfactory value for cultivation and use (VCU).
2) By way of derogation from the provision on acceptance referred to in paragraph 1 of this
Article, a conservation variety may be accepted if, as regards distinctness and stability, it has
characteristics listed in Annex 2 which is printed along with this Ordinance and forms an
integral part thereof.
3) An official examination of a »conservation variety« for inclusion in the National List of
Varieties shall not be conducted if the following information are sufficient:
a) a description of the indigenous variety and its denomination,
b) the results of unofficial tests,
c) knowledge gained from practical experience during cultivation, reproduction and use,
d) other information.
Article 18
1) An application for inclusion of a »conservation variety« in the National List of Varieties
shall be made to the Institute using Form 1 which is printed along with this Ordinance. In
point 12 of Form 1, it must be indicated that the application is made for a »conservation
variety«.
2) Along with the application, a sample of the agricultural propagating material of the variety
and the following information must be submitted:
– information about the source and type referred to in Article 16 of this Ordinance;
– information about the method and place of maintenance of the »conservation variety«;
– information about unofficial tests and knowledge gained from practical experience during
cultivation and use of the seed and propagating material of the variety concerned;
– a description of the »conservation variety«.
3) The application referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be accompanied by a
Technical Questionnaire.
4) The applicant must submit to the Institute a standard sample of the variety.
5) An indigenous or domesticated variety shall not be included in the National List of
Varieties:
1. if it is already listed in the Community Common Catalogue of Varieties as a variety other
than an indigenous or domesticated variety, or it was deleted from the Community Common
Catalogue of Varieties during the previous two years,
2. if, pursuant to the legislation governing plant variety rights, the plant variety right has
already been granted, or it is protected by a national plant variety right, or an application for a
plant variety right is pending.
6) For indigenous and domesticated varieties registered before 25 May 2000, more than one
name may be accepted if these variety names have been used historically.
7) An indigenous variety must be maintained in its region of origin.
VI. CONTENTS OF THE NATIONAL LIST OF VARIETIES AND VARIETY DOSSIERS
Article 19
1) The National List of Varieties shall contain the following information in respect of each
variety:
– the species to which the variety belongs;
– the denomination of the variety, indicating the denomination in the form of a code;
– the synonym for the variety;
– the registration number of the variety;
– the person responsible for the maintenance of the variety;
– the representative of the maintainer;
– the date of inclusion of the variety in the List of Varieties;
– the date until which seeds and propagating material of the variety may be marketed after the
variety is deleted from the List of Varieties;
– whether the variety is a genetically modified variety;
– whether the variety is an indigenous or domesticated variety.
2) The list of vegetable plant varieties shall also contain information about varieties whose
seed may only be marketed as standard seed.
3) The list of vine varieties shall contain the following information:
– the species to which the variety belongs;
– the denomination of the variety, including all synonyms;
– the registration number of the variety;
– the person responsible for the maintenance of the variety;
– the representative of the maintainer;
– the date of inclusion of the variety in the List of Varieties, except for varieties registered
before 31 December 1971;
– the date until which propagating material of the variety may be marketed after the variety is
deleted from the List of Varieties;
– whether the variety is a genetically modified variety;
– basic morphological and physiological characteristics by which the variety is
distinguishable from other varieties.
4) On a proposal from the supplier who maintains the basic material of the clone of vine,
pursuant to a special regulation governing the marketing of material for the vegetative
propagation of the vine, information about the clone and its maintainer may also be given for
certain varieties of vine.
Article 20
The Institute must be notified of any changes to the reference to a variety maintainer, his
representative or a variety included on the National List of Varieties.
If changes to the reference to a variety maintainer or a variety are not notified to the Institute
by the next deadline for paying the fee for the maintenance of the variety, a decision shall be
issued deleting the variety from the relevant register.
Article 21
1) The Institute shall keep a file on each variety, containing documents relating to the variety.
2) The variety file shall be kept for ten years after the deletion of the variety from the relevant
register.
VII. RENEWAL OF INCLUSION OF A VARIETY IN THE NATIONAL LIST OF
VARIETIES
Article 22
1) Varieties of fodder plants, cereals, beets, vegetables, potatoes, and oil and fibre plants shall
be included in the National List of Varieties for a period of 10 years, and varieties of vine
shall be included for a period of 25 years.
2) A maintainer of a variety, or his representative, must submit to the Institute an application
for renewal of inclusion of the variety in the National List of Varieties, not later than two
years before the date on which the 10-year period of inclusion of the variety in the list of
varieties is due to expire, or in the case of vine, not later than five years before the date on
which the 25-year period of inclusion of the variety in the list of varieties is due to expire.
3) An application for renewal of inclusion of a variety in the National List of Varieties shall
be made on Form 2, which is printed along with this Ordinance and forms and integral part
thereof. Along with the application for renewal of inclusion of the variety in the National List
of Varieties, a sample of the seed of the variety shall be submitted for the purposes of testing
distinctness, uniformity and stability.
4) When submitting an application for renewal of inclusion of a variety in the National List of
Varieties, the maintainer of the variety or his representative must include a note indicating the
method of maintenance and the place where the variety will be maintained during the next 10
years, or in the case of vine, during the next 25 years.
VIII. SUPERVISION OVER THE MAINTENANCE OF A VARIETY
Article 23
1) The varieties accepted must be maintained.
2) Varieties may be maintained by variety maintainers who are entered in the Register of Seed
Suppliers or the Register of Suppliers of Planting Material and registered for variety
maintenance.
3) In addition to the variety maintainer, his representative in the Republic of Croatia must be
always indicated in respect of varieties that are maintained outside the Republic of Croatia.
4) The Institute shall supervise the maintenance of a variety to check whether the
characteristics on the basis of which the variety was accepted and included in the National
List of Varieties are maintained.
5) The supervision referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be performed by checking
records on the maintenance of the variety and comparing the seed placed on the market by the
maintainer or his representative with the standard sample of the variety.
6) The person responsible for the maintenance of the variety must keep records of:
– the origin of the source material used in the variety maintenance procedure;
– the quantity of produced agricultural propagating material of the maintained variety;
– the origin of the source material and the production of pre-basic and basic seeds and
propagating material;
– in the case of vine, the origin of the parent vines and the quantity of propagating material
produced.
7) The person responsible for the maintenance of the variety shall enable the responsible
person from the Institute to inspect:
– the surfaces and places where the variety is maintained;
– the processing of seeds and propagating material of the maintained variety;
– the records on the maintenance of the variety and accompanying documents;
– plantations of the parent vines of the maintained variety.
Article 24
A supplier who maintains a variety must provide the Institute with the evidence of the right to
maintain the variety, issued by the variety maintainer.
Article 25
1) The Ministry shall remove from the register any supplier who is registered for the
maintenance of a variety and entered in the Register of Seed Suppliers or the Register of
Suppliers of Planting Material, at his own request or for failing to pay the fee for the
maintenance of the variety.
2) The Ministry shall remove from the register any supplier who is registered for the
maintenance of a variety and entered in the Register of Seed Suppliers or the Register of
Suppliers of Planting Material if during the supervision referred to in Article 23, paragraphs 4
and 5 of this Ordinance it is established that he does not keep the required records on
maintenance or that the seed that is placed on the market by the supplier under the name of a
certain variety does not belong to that variety.
IX. TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 26
1) For a variety that has been included in the List of Varieties for more than ten years, the
supplier registered for the maintenance of the variety must, within one year from the date of
entry into force of this Ordinance, initiate a procedure for the renewal of inclusion of the
variety in the National List of Varieties in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.
2) If such procedure is not initiated in accordance with this Ordinance within the time limit
specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, the variety concerned shall be deleted from the List of
Varieties.
3) A variety included in the List of Varieties as an indigenous or domesticated variety may
remain on the National List of Varieties if it is maintained by at least one maintainer.
4) A supplier registered for the maintenance of a variety shall develop a Description of
Indigenous and Domesticated Varieties in accordance with the UPOV Guide within five years
from the entry into force of this Ordinance.
Article 27
On the date of entry into force of this Ordinance, the Ordinance on the registration of varieties
of agricultural plants in the National List of Varieties of Agricultural Plants, on the
registration in the Register of Maintainers of Varieties of Agricultural Plants and on the fees
for maintenance of varieties (Official Gazette 73/06) shall cease to have effect.
Article 28
This Ordinance shall enter into force on the eighth day after the day of its publication in the
Official Gazette.
Class: 011-02/08-01/30
Reg. No: 525-1-08-1
Zagreb, 19 March 2008
The Minister
Božidar Pankretić, m. p.
ANNEX I
CLASS 1
AVENA, HOREDUM, SECALE, TRITICALE, TRITICUM
CLASS 2
PANICUM, SETARIA
CLASS 3
SORGHUM, ZEA
CLASS 4
AGROSTIS, ALOPECURUS, ARRHENATHERUM,
BROMUAS, CYNOSURUS, DACTYLIS, FESTUCA,
LOLIUM, PHALARIS, PHLEUM, POA, TRISETUM
CLASS 5
BRASSICA OLERACEA, BRASSICA CHINENSIS,
BRASSICA PEKINENSIS
CLASS 6
BRASSICA NAPUS, BRASSICA CAMPESTRIS, BRASSICA
RAPA, BRASSICA JUNCEA, BRASSICA NIGRA, SINAPIS
CLASS 7
LOTUS, MEDICAGO, ORNITHOPUS, ONOBRYCHIS,
TRIFOLIUM
CLASS 8
LUPINUS ALBUS, LUPINUS ANGUSTIFOLIU, LUPINUS
LUTEUS
CLASS 9
VICIA FABA
CLASS 10 BETA VULGARIS. VAR ALBA, BETA VULGARIS.VAR
ALTISSIMA
CLASS 11 BETA VULGARIS.VAR CONDITIVA, BETA
VULGARIS.VAR RUBRA, BETA VULGARIS.VAR CICLA,
BETA VULGARIS.VULGARIS.VAR VULGARIS, BETA
VULGARIS.VULGARIS.CONDITIVA
CLASS 12 LACTUCA, VALERIANELLA, CICHORIUM
CLASS 13 CUCUMIS SATIVU
CLASS 14 CITRULLUS, CUCUMIS MELO, CUCURBITA
CLASS 15 ANTHRISCUS, PETROSELINUM
CLASS 16 DAUCUS, PASTINACA
CLASS 17 ANETHUM, CARUM, FOENICULUM
CLASS 18 BROMELIACEAE
CLASS 19 PICEA, ABIES, PSEUDOTSUGA, PINUS, LARIX
CLASS 20 CALLUNA, ERICA
CLASS 21 SOLANUM TUBEROSU
CLASS 22 NICOTIANA RUSTICA, NICOTIANA TABACUM
CLASS 23 HELIANTHUS TUBEROSUS
CLASS 24 HELIANTHUS ANNUUS
CLASS 25 ORCHIDACEAE
CLASS 26 EPIPHYLLUM, RHIPSALIDOPSIS, SCHLUMBERGERA,
ZYGOCACTUS
CLASS 27 PROTEACEAE
CLASS 28 BRASSICA, other than (»BRASSICA NAPUS, BRASSICA
CAMPESTRIC, BRASSICA RAPA, BRASSICA JUNCEA,
BRASSICA NIGRA I SINAPIS, BRASSICA OLERACEA,
BRASSICA CHINENSIS, BRASSICA PEKINENSIS)
CLASS 29 LUPINUS, other than (LUPINUS ALBUS, LUPINUS
ANGUSTIFOLIU, LUPINUS LUTEUS)
CLASS 30 VICIA, other than VICIA FABA
CLASS 31 BETA, other than (BETA VULGARIS.VAR ALBA, BETA
VULGARIS.VAR ALTISSIMA, BETA VULGARIS.VAR
CONDITIVA, BETA VULGARIS.VAR RUBRA, BETA
VULGARIS.VAR CICLA, BETA
VULGARIS.VULGARIS.VAR VULGARIS, BETA
VULGARIS.VULGARIS.VAR CONDITIVA)
CLASS 32 CUCUMIS, other than (CUCUMIS SATIVU, CUCUMIS
MELO, CITRULLUS, CUCURBITA)
CLASS 33 SOLANUM, other than (SOLANUM TUBEROSUM)
CLASS 34 NICOTIANA, other than (NICOTIANA RUSTICA,
NICOTIANA TABACUM)
CLASS 35 HELIANTHUS, other than (HELIANTHUS TUBEROSUS,
HELIANTHUS ANNUUS)