A bill partially amending the "Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act" (the "Act") (Cabinet Bill No. 47 of 2026) was passed and enacted at a plenary session of the House of Councillors on July 17, 2026 (the "Amendment").

The Amendment extends the term of protection of breeders’ rights and strengthens measures to prevent the outflow of new plant varieties. More specifically, under the Amendment, the term of protection of breeders’ rights has been extended by 10 years (Article 19, paragraph (2) of the Act). In addition, legislative measures have been introduced concerning protection during the pendency of an application for variety registration, tighter regulation of the storage of propagating material for export purposes, the calculation of the amount of damages, the facilitation of proving infringement of breeders’ rights, and protection in relation to the leasing of propagating material. The Amendment is expected both to enable plant breeders to receive appropriate economic benefits and, in turn, to enhance the international competitiveness of plant varieties originating in Japan.

A Bill on the "Promotion of Breeding of Important Varieties and Production of Their Propagating Material" (Cabinet Bill No. 46) was passed and enacted at a plenary session of the House of Councillors on July 17, 2026 (the new law so enacted, the "New Act"). The New Act provides, among other things, that the national government shall establish basic guidelines (Article 5 of the New Act), that prefectures shall formulate basic plans based on those basic guidelines (Article 12, paragraph (1) of the New Act), that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall certify plans for important variety breeding projects (Article 6 of the New Act), and that prefectural governors shall certify plans for business activities relating to the production of propagating material of important varieties (Article 16 of the New Act). The environment surrounding Japanese agriculture is becoming increasingly severe due to climate change, including global warming, and the decline in the number of farmers. In such circumstances, the New Act is expected to promote the breeding and dissemination of important varieties, while taking into account the protection of intellectual property such as breeders’ rights, in order to achieve the sustainable development of agriculture and a stable food supply.