Agriculture Dept Confirms CP Basil Varieties Registered Legally
Thailand's Department of Agriculture has confirmed that CP Group's registration of four holy basil varieties — Kaew Juree 01 through 04 — was conducted fully in accordance with the Plant Variety Protection Act. A ministerial-ordered investigation found all documentation complete, DUS testing criteria satisfied, and no public objections raised during the mandatory announcement periods. The protection applies only to these specific registered varieties, leaving traditional basil varieties free for continued use by farmers.
The Department of Agriculture has released the findings of its inspection into the plant variety protection registration of four holy basil varieties owned by CP Group, verifying they were conducted lawfully. Ms. Sasina Pantham, Deputy Director-General and department spokesperson, stated that the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives had ordered a review of the registration of four basil varieties — Kaew Juree 01, 02, 03, and 04 — under the Plant Variety Protection Act B.E. 2542. The department conducted a thorough examination of all facts and documents as directed and found the registration of all four new plant varieties was properly executed according to legal requirements.
The inspection followed the Ministry of Agriculture's regulations on criteria and methods for filing, reviewing, and announcing plant variety registrations (B.E. 2546). Officials verified application documents, breeder backgrounds, variety origins and breeding histories, key characteristic details, and benefit-sharing agreements, finding all documentation complete and compliant. Additionally, the department assessed the new varieties against the DUS criteria — Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability — by growing them for two seasons alongside the original CPR1 variety and the similar Green Large Leaf 059 variety. Results showed all four Kaew Juree varieties possessed clearly distinct characteristics in leaf shape, size, and thickness, while meeting uniformity and stability standards.
During the mandatory 90-day public announcement periods — November 14, 2023 to February 12, 2024 for Kaew Juree 01, and December 28, 2023 to March 27, 2024 for Kaew Juree 02-04 — no oppositions were filed. Consequently, the department issued certificates of plant variety protection for all four varieties. The spokesperson emphasized that plant variety protection rights under the Act are not limited to any single private company but are available to any individual, breeder, university, private firm, or agency that develops a new variety meeting the legal criteria, with all applicants subject to the same verification standards. The protection covers only the specific registered varieties and does not extend to local or common basil varieties currently used by farmers and the public, who may continue cultivating and using traditional varieties as normal.
