10 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM T o learn more about how seed compa- nies are experiencing the new UPOV- PRISMA application tool, European Seed spoke with Astrid Schenkeveld, Specialist Variety Registration & Protection at Rijk Zwaan, and Jan Knol, Plant Variety Protection Officer at Nunhems, who both have been using the UPOV PRISMA tool from the beginning. EUROPEAN SEED: WHY WAS IT NECESSARY TO START THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UPOV PRISMA TOOL? ASTRID SCHENKEVELD (AS): We are living in a world in which electronic exchange of documents is more rule than an exception. It improves efficiency and hopefully it will encourage standardiza- tion of the forms. JAN KNOL (JK): I think the UPOV PRISMA tool might simplify the PVP landscape, where every authority is start- ing to make its own online filing tool, we would have one filing tool that is relevant for all countries. ES: WHY IS UPOV PRISMA IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BREEDING COMPANY? JK: For us as a company, to have one fully functional filing tool, which would be easy in use, is really an advantage. AS: Rijk Zwaan is an international breed- ing company with subsidiaries in 30 countries and we have sales worldwide. Our vegetable varieties travel across the world. A tomato variety can be grown in Southern Europe, but also in South America, a cucumber or sweet pepper can be grown in Canada as well as in the Netherlands. One lettuce variety can be grown in Europe as well as in Australia, in the US or in Asia. Our head office is situated in the Netherlands, from where all PBR applications are coordinated and prepared. We need the help of our subsid- iaries or agents to translate and submit the forms. It is something they have to do on the side, because their main job is to provide seeds and services to our cus- tomers. So, they are not as specialized as we are, in the 'UPOV' language. That is why my department needs to prepare the forms as much as we can. The UPOV PRISMA tool is important to us because it has the potential to pro- vide us with an efficient and reliable tool to submit our PBR applications. The effi- ciency depends on the reusability of the data, so the layout of the questions. When SEED COMPANIES COMMENT ON UPOV’S NEW PBR APPLICATION TOOL. BY: MARCEL BRUINS How breeders feel about PRISMA a country mostly follows the UPOV TG and uses drop down menus, then the data can be reused, and answers can be automat- ically translated. This saves us time and money and makes our application more reliable, because there can be no misin- terpretation by the translator. However, when a country uses open text in its forms or deviates greatly from the UPOV TG, then this would make the system far less efficient. Because the system requires an extra fee, it can create an obstacle for the applicant to use the system. Of course, there is always the advan- tage of having the latest version of the forms available in the system and an Astrid Schenkeveld Jan Knol “The UPOV PRISMA tool improves efficiency and will encourage harmonization of the PVP application forms.” – Astrid Schenkeveld