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DUS Testing of New Varieties of Phalaenopsis in Taiwan Has been Certified the International Standard for Service Management System

DUS Testing of New Varieties of Phalaenopsis in Taiwan Has been Certified the
International Standard for Service Management System

Phalaenopsis is the flagship agricultural product in Taiwan. According to the statistics of Council of Agriculture and Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance, the cultivation area of Phalaenopsis is about 176 hectares, and the export value of seedlings is NT$4,312 million in 2017. Due to the vigorous development of Phalaenopsis industry in Taiwan, there are many plant breeders and more than 2000 varieties in commercial circulation each year. New varieties can always be found and display in an International Orchid Exhibition.

The number of applications for plant variety rights protection is 2,272 cases from 1991 to November 2018, especially in Phalaenopsis with the largest number. The applications number of Phalaenopsis varieties are 1,207 accounting for more than 53% of the total applications. In order to strengthen cooperation on protection of plant variety rights, Taiwan and the European Union Plant Variety Protection Bureau (CPVO) signed the “Taiwan and EU Plant Variety Rights Protection Administrative Agreement” in March 2016 for achieving a consensus on mutually accepting the DUS (distinctness, uniformity and stability) technical reports made by both side. As regards cooperation with Japan, the National Center for Seeds and Seedlings (NCSS) signed a cooperation agreement on plant variety protection in December, 2014 with Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS), COA, within DUS testing to promote the quality of DUS testing. Therefore, international cooperation will enable the excellent varieties of Phalaenopsis of Taiwan to be protected internationally and marketed around the world.

In order to improve service quality, efficiency and management capabilities of DUS testing of Phalaenopsis in Taiwan, the international ISO 9001:2015 quality management system has been introduced since 2018, including counseling and audit for the document management procedures for the DUS testing, personnel management procedures, customer feedback correction measures, equipment maintenance management, warehouse management procedures, plant management for DUS testing, quality manual maintenance, etc. In October of the same year, TSIPS got SGS certification and received the official certificate issued by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

In the future, TSIPS will continue to implement the quality management of the DUS testing service as well as providing better services for the seedling industry and promoting high-quality varieties of Taiwan to the world.

Contact: An, Chih-Hao. Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station, COA, Executive Yuan, R.O.C(Taiwan)

TEL:+886-4-25825459, E-mail:lily7423@tss.gov.tw

Contact: Chung, Wen-Chuan. Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station, COA, Executive Yuan , R.O.C(Taiwan)

TEL:886-4-25825402;E-mail:wcchung@tss.gov.tw

 

Figure 1. Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS) obtained SGS certification on DUS testing and received the official certificate issued by UKAS in 2018.
Figure 1. Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation
Station (TSIPS) obtained SGS certification on DUS testing
and received the official certificate issued by UKAS in 2018.

Figure 2. Conduct of DUS testing in Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS).
Figure 2. Conduct of DUS testing in Taiwan Seed Improvement and
Propagation Station (TSIPS).