From flowers to coffee and rice: The ICA's boost for new plant varieties
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
Every new rose variety with a different color or a distinctive shape, a carnation with unique features in the size, color or texture of its blooms, a chrysanthemum with a particular floral structure, a coffee variety with morphological traits that set it apart from others, or a rice variety with visible characteristics that make it distinguishable represents far more than an agricultural advance. Behind each one lie years of research, investment, scientific knowledge and a plant breeding process whose outcome can benefit from adequate legal protection.
In Colombia, that protection takes shape through the plant breeder's rights certificates issued by the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA). Through these certificates, the ICA grants breeders the rights provided for in Decision 345 of the Commission of the Cartagena Agreement with respect to new plant varieties that meet the requirements set out therein. This is an essential tool for encouraging innovation in sectors of great importance to the country, such as floriculture, coffee growing, seed production and the development of new varieties for a range of agricultural crops.
It is no coincidence that these examples come from strategic sectors for Colombia. Roses, carnations and chrysanthemums have earned Colombian floriculture international recognition; coffee is one of the country's most emblematic agricultural products and a global benchmark for quality; and rice holds a fundamental place in national agricultural production and food security. Across all these sectors, the development of new varieties plays an increasingly relevant role in improving productivity, quality, disease resistance and competitiveness.
Against this backdrop, the ICA issued Resolution 5125 of March 26, 2026, updating the requirements for obtaining the Plant Breeder's Rights Certificate and for the National Registry of Protected New Plant Varieties. This is one of the most significant regulatory updates in this field in recent years.
The resolution does not amend the substantive protection regime established by Andean law, nor does it create new intellectual property rights. Its main contribution lies in unifying and organizing the rules governing the administrative procedure by which the ICA reviews and decides applications for protection, providing a clearer, more systematic framework aligned with the sector's current needs.
The resolution was published in Official Gazette No. 53,444 of March 30, 2026 and, under its Article 25, entered into force that same day. It also expressly repealed ICA Resolutions 1893 and 3123 of 1995, along with any other provisions to the contrary, consolidating the procedural rules on the matter into a single regulatory instrument.
Its recitals explain that the update responds to the experience the ICA has accumulated over several decades of applying the protection regime, to technological advances, to the technical guidelines of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), and to the need to harmonize, simplify and bring greater legal certainty to the Colombian regulatory framework.
The new regulation comprehensively addresses the various stages of the administrative procedure. Among other matters, it governs the filing and admission of applications, the formal examination, recognition of the right of priority, publication of applications, opposition proceedings, the conduct of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) testing, issuance of the Plant Breeder's Rights Certificate, the National Registry of Protected Plant Varieties, and the actions relating to the maintenance, term and other aspects inherent to the right granted.
Consolidating these proceedings into a single body of rules brings greater clarity and legal certainty for those who use the system, particularly researchers, innovation centers, plant breeding companies and producers seeking to protect the results of their development processes.
It is worth emphasizing that the substantive requirements for obtaining protection remain unchanged. The new variety must still be commercially new, distinct, uniform and stable, and must have a suitable denomination, in accordance with Andean law. The update focuses essentially on the organization and efficiency of the administrative procedure through which those rights are granted.
The resolution also incorporates tools designed to strengthen the efficiency and consistency of administrative management, in line with technological developments and the current needs of a sector marked by increasingly specialized research processes. This makes it easier for those developing new plant varieties to access a clearer, more transparent and more predictable procedure.
It is also fair to acknowledge the institutional effort made by the ICA in reviewing and updating a procedure that had remained essentially unchanged for several decades. Consolidating the applicable rules into a single regulatory instrument marks an important step forward for both the administration and the system's users, by simplifying access to the regulation and promoting more uniform application.
Since March 30, 2026, Colombia has had an updated procedural regime for the protection of new plant varieties. Beyond its administrative scope, Resolution 5125 reflects the growing importance of plant innovation to the country's competitiveness and helps bring greater clarity, efficiency and legal certainty to one of the most specialized fields of intellectual property applied to the agricultural sector.
Comments