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United States became a party to that Act by Executive Agreement. 

 UPOV presently has 24 member countries, including most of our 

 important trading partners. The Convention was again 

 significantly revised in 1991 to provide plant breeders with 

 improved protection for innovative plant varieties. 

 Representatives of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce and 

 State participated in the negotiations that resulted in the 1991 

 UPOV Act of the Convention. Although the United States is a 

 signatory to that Act, the PVPA must be amended to enable the 

 United States to adhere or become party to the 1991 version. 



Development of new plant varieties is important for reasons 

 beyond increasing the production of food and fiber. The 

 ever-changing picture of plant pests and diseases is a 

 frightening one. New pests, like the Russian wheat aphid, are 

 sometimes introduced into this country despite our best 

 efforts at quarantine. New strains of fungus, like the newest 

 forms of barley stem rust and leaf rust, evolve and threaten 

 cereal production. The most environmentally-sound method of 

 coping with these threats is to develop new resistant varieties 

 of crop plants. 



Increasing pressure on the environment also necessitates the 

 development of new plant varieties which are more efficient 

 consumers of resources and producers of food and fiber. 

 Drought -tolerant varieties of buf f alograss, for example, may hold 

 out promise of turf that needs less watering than more 

 conventional grass. Increased production per acre remains a goal 



