This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Plant Variety Rights Bill. It elaborates on the meaning of “[authorising] another person to undertake … restricted acts” in clause 14(2). It provides that the scope of authorisation includes situations where the authorising party is outside New Zealand but the infringement occurs within New Zealand. This ensures that where actors solicit or fund restricted acts that infringe upon a plant variety right, they are liable for their actions regardless of their location.

This amendment reflects the decision of the Court of Appeal in Gao v Zespri Group Ltd [2021] NZCA 442, which clarified that restricted acts occurring in New Zealand, even if authorised by parties overseas, are within both the scope of New Zealand courts’ jurisdiction and the territorial nature of plant variety rights as contemplated by the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (1991).