Section 66Sec./Art. 66

National Plant Variety Protection Board. - There is hereby created National Plant Variety Protection Board which shall be composed of the following or their duly designated representatives:

a) The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, as chairman;

b) The Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, as co-chairman;

c) The Director-General of the Intellectual Property Office, as vice chairman;

d) The Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry;

e) The Director of the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños;

f) The President of the Philippine Seed Industry Association;

g) A representative from a federation of small farmers' organizations to be nominated by the Secretary of Agriculture;

h) A representative from the scientific community to be nominated by the National Academy of Science and Technology; and

i) The Registrar (ex officio).

The members of the Board or their representatives must be Filipino citizens, have good moral character and should not have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.

The Board shall perform the following functions:

a) Promulgate policy guidelines for the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act;

b) Have original and exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all acts of the Registrar;

c) Have original jurisdiction over petitions for compulsory licensing, nullity and cancellation of the Certificate of Plant Variety Protection;

d) Institutionalize database of existing plant varieties, collected from foreign and local databases, within one (1) year from the effectivity of this act;

e) Call on resource persons to provide inputs that will be relevant in the performance of the tasks of the Board;

f) Organize the Registrar as it sees fit;

g) Approve capital expenditure and contracts of experts; and

h) Perform all other functions as may be required in the implementation of this Act.