CHAPTER II

ACCEPTANCE OF CONSERVATION VARIETIES

Substantive requirements
Article 4
1
In order to be accepted as a conservation variety, a landrace or variety referred to in Article 1(1)(a) shall present an interest for the conservation of plant genetic resources.
2
By way of derogation from Article 1(2) of Directive 2003/90/EC, Member States may adopt their own provisions as regards distinctness, stability and uniformity of conservation varieties.
In such cases Member States shall ensure that for distinctness and stability at least the characteristics shall apply which are referred to in:
a
the technical questionnaires associated with the test protocols of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/90/EC, which applies to those species, or
b
the technical questionnaires of the guidelines of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) listed in Annex II to Directive 2003/90/EC, which applies to those species.
For the assessment of uniformity, Directive 2003/90/EC shall apply.
However, if the uniformity level is established on the basis of off-types, a population standard of 10 % and an acceptance probability of at least 90 % shall be applied.