South Africa's new plant breeders' rights system comes into force, with notable parallels to the EU system

Earlier this month, a new plant variety rights system came into force in South Africa. The legislation repeals the Plant Breeders’ Right Act 1976 and introduces many changes, which took effect from 1 June 2025. The framework intends to bring South Africa into compliance with UPOV 1991, but also echoes certain features of the EU plant variety rights system.BackgroundPhoto by Hugo Sykes via