Harmonization of Technical Questionnaires (TQs)

At the Board for plant varieties's request, the CPVO has incorporated additional questions into a number of Technical Questionnaires (TQs). The following crop sepcies are concerned:

Asparagus officinalis L. – asparagus - Asperge

Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. - bottle gourd - fleskalabas

Allium porum L. – leek - prei

Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris var. conditiva Alef. – beetroot - kroot

Phaseolus coccineus L. - runner bean - pronkboon

Apium graveolens L. var. rapaceum (Mill.) Gaud. – celeriac à knolselderij

Apium graveolens L. var. dulce (Mill.) Pers., Apium graveolens L. var. secalinum Alef. - leaf celery - bladselderij

Capsicum annuum L. – pepper – paprika

These CPVO and the Board for plant varieties' Technical Questionnaires are now fully aligned on a one-to-one basis. As a result, when submitting an (online) application for these crop species, applicants will be presented with the same questionnaire for both national and European applications.

A significant benefit for the Board for plant varieties is that additional requests for information concerning CPVO applications will no longer be necessary, as all required information is now collected through the questionnaire.

This harmonisation also offers clear advantages for applicants, as it is now possible to reuse and copy information across different applications.

This will save applicants considerable time and administrative effort.

We are very pleased with the progress that has been achieved through this initiative.