The protection of new plant varieties as a form
of intellectual property is an important
stimulus to private investment in plant
breeding and the introduction of foreign
protected varieties to the market. In 1994
Myanmar became a party to the convention of
biodiversity and in 1995 a member of WTO.
However, the country is not yet a member of
the International Union for the Protection of
New Varieties of Plant (UPOV). The mission of
UPOV is to provide and promote an effective
system of plant variety protection with the aim
of encouraging the development of new
varieties of plants for the benefit of society.