IP/C/W/609/Add.6

12 October 2015

(15-5331) Page: 1/9

Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Original: English Intellectual Property Rights

TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW VARIETIES OF PLANTS (UPOV)

Addendum

At its meeting of 9-10 June 2015, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial cooperation programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.

The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the International Union for The Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) by means of a communication dated 9 October 2015.

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UPOV's mission 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.

Information on membership of UPOV can be found at: http://www.upov.int/members/en/

The main objectives of UPOV are, in accordance with the UPOV Convention, to:

 provide and develop the legal, administrative and technical basis for international cooperation in plant variety protection;

 assist States and organizations in the development of legislation and the implementation of an effective plant variety protection system; and

 enhance public awareness and understanding of the UPOV system of plant variety protection.

Information on the technical and financial cooperation programs of UPOV in relation to UPOV's objectives is provided as follows:

Assistance to States and Organizations in the development of legislation and the implementation of an effective plant variety protection system

Annex I to this report provides information on UPOV's activities in relation to the development of legislation and the implementation of an effective plant variety protection system for the period 2014-2015.

International Cooperation

Annex II to this report provides information on international cooperation facilitated by UPOV.

Annex III contains a list of acronyms and abbreviations used in this report.

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ANNEX I1

UPOV'S ACTIVITIES IN RELATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGISLATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN EFFECTIVE PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR THE PERIOD 2014-2015

Objectives:  To raise awareness of the role of plant variety protection according to the UPOV Convention  To assist States and organizations, particularly governments of developing countries and countries in transition to a market economy, in the development of legislation in accordance with the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.  To assist States and organizations in their accession to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.  To assist States and organizations in implementing an effective plant variety protection system in accordance with the UPOV Convention.

1 ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGISLATION:

The Office provided assistance on plant variety protection legislation to the following UPOV members: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Singapore.

The Office provided advice and assistance on the development of plant variety protection legislation according to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention and/or on the procedure to accede to the UPOV Convention to: ARIPO, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Tajikistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

2 PARTICIPATION IN UPOV AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIVITIES, OR ACTIVITIES INVOLVING UPOV STAFF OR UPOV TRAINERS ON BEHALF OF UPOV STAFF / UPOV AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIVITIES, OR ACTIVITIES INVOLVING UPOV STAFF OR UPOV TRAINERS ON BEHALF OF UPOV STAFF

2.1 Activities organized by, or with, UPOV:

 National training course for DUS experts on "Harmonizing the examination of distinctness, uniformity and stability for new plant varieties in Spanish examination offices accredited by the Community Plant Variety Office of the European Union (CPVO), Spanish, European Union and UPOV regulations", San Fernando de Henares, Spain (February 2014)  Study visit to UPOV headquarters for Groupement technique horticole de Genève (February 2014)  Pre-Congress Workshop on "International systems to develop an enabling environment to provide food security and economic development by strengthening the seed sector", Tunis, Tunisia (March 2014)  Seventh Annual Meeting of the EAPVP Forum, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (August 2014)  Symposium on " and Protection of Breeder's Right are Key to Agricultural Development", Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (August 2014)  Seminar and Workshop on Plant Variety Protection, Quevedo, Ecuador (October 2014)  Workshop on the Implementation and Raising Awareness of Plant Variety Protection, Skopje, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (October 2014)  Regional Workshop on the Draft ARIPO Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, Harare, Zimbabwe (October 2014)

1 In English only.

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 OECD/UPOV/ISTA Joint Workshop on Molecular Techniques, Seoul, Republic of Korea (November 2014)  Training course on "Contributing data to the PLUTO database", , (December 2014)  Train the trainer course for Ibero-American countries: plant variety protection under the UPOV Convention and complementary forms of intellectual property protection, Montevideo, Uruguay (December 2014)  Seminar on Plant Breeding in Peru under the UPOV Convention, Lima, Peru (December 2014)  UPOV/ISTA/OECD Pre-Congress Workshop on "International systems to develop an enabling environment to provide food security and economic development by strengthening the seed sector", Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (March 2015)  Training Course on Plant Variety Protection, Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania (April- May 2015)  Train the Trainer Course on Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention, UPOV headquarters, Geneva (May 2015)  ARIPO Expert Committee Meeting, Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania (June-July 2015)  ARIPO Administrative Council, Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania (July 2015)  ARIPO Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of the Draft Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (Plant breeders' rights)", Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania (July 2015)  Eighth Annual Meeting of the EAPVP Forum, Seoul, Republic of Korea (September 2015)  KSVS Symposium on Plant Variety Protection "Application procedure from foreign countries", Seoul, Republic of Korea (September 2015)  Training Course "Contributing Data to the PLUTO Database", UPOV headquarters, Geneva (September 2015)  International Training Course on Plant Variety Protection and Examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) under the UPOV Convention, Mexico City, Mexico (September 2015)

2.2 Activities/meetings in which UPOV participated:

 OECD Seed Scheme meetings, Edinburgh, United Kingdom (January 2014)  Twenty-sixth session of the WIPO IGC, Geneva, Switzerland (February 2014)  Third meeting of the Open-ended Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ICNP-3), Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea (February 2014)  Meeting of the Council for TRIPS, Geneva, Switzerland (February 2014)  High-Level Awareness Raising Session on the Internationally Harmonized Plant Variety Protection System, Putrajaya, Malaysia (February 2014)  Fourteenth AFSTA Annual Congress, Tunis, Tunisia (March 2014)  WTO Workshop on the TRIPS Agreement and IP-Related Matters, Port Louis, Mauritius (March 2014)  CPVO Administrative Council, Nitra, Slovakia (March 2014)  WIPO-UBIS program for a group of Phd. students from the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University of Kazakhstan, Geneva, Switzerland (March 2014)  Twenty-seventh session of the WIPO IGC, Geneva, Switzerland (March 2014)  WFO General Assembly, Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 2014)  CIOPORA Annual General Meeting, The Hague, Netherlands (April 2014)  Information sessions with OAPI officials, Yaoundé, Cameroon (April 2014)  Technical Working Group of the OECD Scheme for the Certification of Forest Reproductive Material Moving in International Trade, , France (April 2014)  Fifth Edition of the WIPO-QUT Master of Intellectual Property Law, Brisbane, Australia (May 2014)  ISF World Seed Congress 2014, Beijing, China (May 2014)  International Conference "On the Most Important Reserves of Implementing the Food Program in Uzbekistan", Tashkent, Uzbekistan (June 2014)  Annual Meeting of the OECD Seed Schemes, Zagreb, Croatia (June 2014)  Meeting of the Council for TRIPS, Geneva, Switzerland (June 2014)  Seventeenth International Course on Plant Variety Protection (Naktuinbouw 2014), Wageningen, Netherlands (June 2014)

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 WIPO-WTO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property, Geneva, Switzerland (June 2014)  WIPO-UNIGE Summer School on Intellectual Property, Geneva, Switzerland (June 2014)  KOICA/KSVS Training Course on "Plant Variety Protection and DUS Testing", Seoul, Republic of Korea (June-July 2014)  10th Anniversary Celebrations of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Coming into Force, Geneva, Switzerland (July 2014)  Twenty-eighth session of the WIPO IGC, Geneva, Switzerland (July 2014)  AGRA 10K Seed Company Convening, Kampala, Uganda (July 2014)  Seventh Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of FAO CGRFA, Rome, Italy (July 2014)  Meeting at Naktuinbouw headquarters to discuss developments in the Netherlands and UPOV, Roelofarendsveen, Netherlands (July 2014)  JICA training course "Quality Control System of Seeds and Seedlings to Facilitate Distribution of High Quality Seeds", Tsukuba, Japan (August 2014)  Seminar on Plant Breeders' Rights, Mexico City, Mexico (August 2014)  X International Workshop on DUS Examination of Plant Varieties, Mexico City, Mexico (August 2014)  Information session on UPOV at the National Center for Seeds and Seedlings (NCSS), Nishi Nihon Station, Kasakoka, Japan (August 2014)  Technical Working Group Meeting and Annual Meeting of the OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme, Paris, France (September 2014)  Forum francophone de l'innovation, Namur, Belgium (September 2014)  Meeting of Heads of Intellectual Property Offices for Caribbean countries, Geneva, Switzerland (September 2014)  CPVO Administrative Council, Brussels, Belgium (October 2014)  Vegetable Variety Open Day, Valencia, Spain (October 2014)  Meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture and Workshop with the National Seed Association of Chile, Santiago, Chile (October 2014)  Meeting of the Council for TRIPS, Geneva, Switzerland (October 2014)  SAA Workshop on Plant Variety Protection, Sao Paulo, Brazil (via electronic conferencing) (November 2014)  XML4IP Task Force Meeting, London, United Kingdom (November 2014)  APSA Congress 2014, Macau, China (November 2014)  Plant Variety Rights Intensive Module on Plant Variety Protection of the Master of Intellectual Property (Magister Lvcentinvs), Alicante, Spain (November 2014)  KSVS/KPMMRC Joint Symposium on the Current Status and Strategy for Using Molecular Markers in Variety Protection, Seoul, Republic of Korea (November 2014)  Thirty-Eighth Session of the Administrative Council of ARIPO, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (November 2014)  High-Level Round Table meeting on Plant Variety Protection in Africa, Cape Town, South Africa (November 2014)  Eighteenth Annual Meeting between CPVO and its Examination Offices, Angers, France (December 2014)  Workshop on seed quality and plant breeder's rights, Stone Town, Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania (December 2014)  Fifteenth Regular Session of the CGRFA, FAO headquarters, Rome (January 2015)  Technical Working Group of the OECD Scheme for the Certification of Seed Moving in International Trade, Paris, France (January 2015)  Meetings with the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Ghana during a study visit, Amsterdam, Netherlands (January 2015)  International Workshop on the promotion of Public-Private Partnerships for Pre-breeding, Montpellier, France (February 2015)  Expert Forum on International Technology Transfer, Geneva, Switzerland (February 2015)  Meeting of the Council for TRIPS, WTO headquarters, Geneva (February 2015)  Second meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ACSU), FAO headquarters, Rome (March 2015)  Fifteenth Annual Congress of AFSTA, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (March 2015)  CPVO Administrative Council, Angers, France (March 2015)  ASIPI Seminar on "Intellectual Property in Agriculture", Asunción, Paraguay (March 2015)

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 ISF Breeders' Committee, Lausanne, Switzerland (March 2015)  WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on Intellectual Property for Government Officials, WIPO headquarters, Geneva (March 2015)  Joint WIPO-EU/CARIFORUM Sub-Regional Workshop on Geographical Indications/Origin- Linked Products and Branding, Bridgetown, Barbados (March 2015)  WIPO Seminar on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions: Regional, National and Local Experiences, WIPO headquarters, Geneva (March-April 2015)  Master Curriculum in Plant Breeding of Institut Polytechnique LaSalle: lectures on plant variety protection under the UPOV Convention, Beauvais, France (April 2015)  Workshop on Plant Breeders' Rights and Intellectual Property Rights of Plants – Implementation in Turkey and in the World (mainly the European Union), Antalya, Turkey (April 2015)  Presentation on UPOV at Instituto Pensar Agropecuaria, Brasilia, Brazil (April 2015)  National training course for DUS experts entitled "Armonización de los trabajos de distinción, homogeneidad y estabilidad de nuevas variedades para los centros acreditados por la OCVV, Normativa Española, de la UE y de la UPOV", San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), Spain (April 2015)  CIOPORA Annual General Meeting, , Germany (April 2015)  APSA Intellectual Property Rights Workshop, Bangkok, Thailand (May 2015)  Launch of the DuPont/Economist World Food Security Index at the Expo Milano 2015; panel discussion on food security at the event "Food and agriculture: rural and urban innovations, a forum to highlight innovations in the food security challenge", Milan, Italy (May 2015)  ISF World Seed Congress 2015, Krakow, Poland (May 2015)  Presentation on the "Origin Green program: Ireland's natural advantages, developing the sustainability charter and current status", Permanent Mission of Ireland, Geneva (May 2015)  Annual Meeting of the OECD Seed Schemes and OECD Forum 2015 "Investing in the Future: People, Planet, Prosperity", Paris, France (June 2015)  KOICA/KSVS Training Course "Plant Variety Protection and DUS Testing", Kimcheon, Republic of Korea (June 2015)  XML4IP Task Force Meeting, UPOV headquarters in Geneva (June 2015)  Meeting of the Council for TRIPS, WTO headquarters, Geneva (June 2015)  "Jornada de la Protección de las Variedades Vegetales y otros Derechos de Propiedad Industrial en el Desarrollo de la Agricultura", organized by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), Madrid, Spain (June 2015)  Eighteenth International Course on Plant Variety Protection (Naktuinbouw 2015), Wageningen, Netherlands (June 2015)  JICA training course "Quality Control System of Seeds and Seedlings to Facilitate Distribution of High Quality Seeds", Tsukuba, Japan (June 2015)  WIPO-WTO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property, WIPO headquarters, Geneva (June 2015)  WIPO Seminar on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions: The Regional and International Dimensions, WIPO headquarters, Geneva (June 2015)  WIPO-UNIGE Summer School on Intellectual Property, WIPO headquarters, Geneva (June 2015)  Sixth Edition of the WIPO-QUT Master of Intellectual Property Law, Brisbane, Australia (July 2015)  Conference at the Expo Milano 2015 on "Climate change and food security: challenges for plant health, plant breeding and genetic resources", Milan, Italy (July 2015)  OAPI Information and Awareness Seminar on the protection of new varieties of plants for experts from agricultural research centers and decision-makers in the field of agriculture, Buea, Cameroon (July 2015)  WECARD launching workshops for the ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS Regional Seed Committee (COASem & CRSU) and Alliance for Seed Industry in West Africa (ASIWA), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (August 2015)  Second Bolivian Seed Congress, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (August 2015)  Third Meeting of the Platform for the Co-Development and Transfer of Technologies, FAO headquarters, Rome (September 2015)

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 SAA Fifth Seed Congress of the Americas, Cancun, Mexico (September 2015)  Expo Milano 2015 event "International Geneva Food Talks", Milan, Italy (September 2015)

3 PARTICIPATION IN UPOV DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES DL-205 "INTRODUCTION TO THE UPOV SYSTEM OF PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION UNDER THE UPOV CONVENTION" AND DL-305 "EXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR PLANT BREEDERS' RIGHTS" (INCLUDING DL-305, DL-305A AND DL-305B)

3.1 Countries from which there were participants in the UPOV distance learning course DL-205 (2014 and 2015)

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, OAPI, Oman, Paraguay, People's Democratic Republic of Lao, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Vietnam (total: 72 countries and 2 organizations)

3.2 Total number of participants in the DL-205 course (2014 and 2015)

Category Number of participants Government officials of members of the Union 196 Officials of observer States / intergovernmental organizations 7 Total: 203

3.3 Special sessions of the DL-205 course "Introduction to the UPOV System of Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention" (in 2014 and 2015)

Month/ Name of Course Number of Year participants June 2014 Naktuinbouw International Course on Plant Variety Protection 11 Course (Netherlands) July 2014 KOICA Training Course on Plant Variety Protection (Republic of 13 Korea) July 2014 JICA Training Course on "Internationally Harmonized Plant 10 Variety Protection System" (Japan) October 2014 Arusha PVP Training Course (United Republic of Tanzania) 10 September 2014 International Seminar on Plant Variety protection and 219 International Workshop on Plant Variety Characteristics: fine cocoa aroma (Ecuador) November 2014 Training Course for Ibero-American Countries on the Protection 2 of New Varieties of Plants (Uruguay) June 2015 Naktuinbouw International Course on Plant Variety Protection 14 Course (Netherlands) May 2015 Train the Trainer Course, Geneva 12

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Month/ Name of Course Number of Year participants May 2015 KOICA Training Course on Plant Variety Protection (Republic of 6 Korea) June 2015 Chile participants 37 July 2015 JICA Training Course on "Internationally Harmonized Plant 10 Variety Protection System" (Japan)

3.4 Total number of participants in the DL-305 course "Examination of Applications for Plant Breeders' Rights" (in 2014 and 2015)

Participants from Number of participants Government officials of members of the Union 198 Officials of observer States / intergovernmental organizations 4 Total: 202

3.5 Total number of participants in the DL-305A course "Administration of Plant Breeders' Rights" (in 2015)

Category Number of participants Government officials of members of the Union 58 Officials of observer States / intergovernmental organizations 2 Total: 60

3.6 Total number of participants in the DL-305B course "DUS Examination" (in 2015)

Category Number of participants Government officials of members of the Union 62 Officials of observer States / intergovernmental organizations 2 Total: 64

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ANNEX II1

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FACILITATED BY UPOV

UPOV facilitates cooperation in the examination of plant varieties as follows:

a. Document C/49/5 "Cooperation in Examination" contains a synopsis of offers for cooperation in examination made by authorities, of cooperation already established between authorities and of any envisaged cooperation. (see http://www.upov.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=36742)

b. Document TC/51/4 "List of Genera and Species for which Authorities have Practical Experience in the Examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability" provides information on plant genera and species for which authorities have practical experience in the examination of Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS). (see http://www.upov.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=35045)

c. UPOV has developed "Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability," or "Test Guidelines", for many individual species or other variety groupings (see http://www.upov.int/test_guidelines/en/). The purpose of these Test Guidelines is to provide practical guidance for the harmonized examination of DUS and, in particular, to identify appropriate characteristics for the examination of DUS and production of harmonized variety descriptions. In 2014, the adopted Test Guidelines covered 90% of all entries concerning plant variety protection in the PLUTO Plant Variety Database (238,388 of 263,614).

d. The GENIE database provides a dynamic source of information on the cooperation explained above. (see http://www.upov.int/genie/en/)

The PLUTO Plant Variety Database provides information concerning plant breeders' rights. (see http://www.upov.int/pluto/en/)

1 In English only.

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ANNEX III1

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

UPOV terms

DL-205 UPOV distance learning course "Introduction to the UPOV System of Plant Variety Protection under the UPOV Convention" DL-305 UPOV distance learning course "Examination of Applications for Plant Breeders' Rights" DUS Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability Office Office of the Union TC Technical Committee

Acronyms

AFSTA African Seed Trade Association APSA Asia and Pacific Seed Association ARIPO African Regional Intellectual Property Organization ASIPI Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property ASIWA Alliance for Seed Industry in West Africa CGRFA Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture CIOPORA International Community of Breeders of Asexually Reproduced Ornamental and Fruit Varieties CPVO Community Plant Variety Office of the European Union EAPVP Forum East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ICNP Open-ended Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing IGC WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore ISF International Seed Federation ISTA International Seed Testing Association JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency KOICA Korea International Cooperation Agency KSVS Korea Seed and Variety Service NCSS National Center for Seeds and Seedlings (Japan) OAPI African Intellectual Property Organization OECD Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development OEPM Spanish Patent and Trademark Office QUT Queensland University of Technology SAA Seed Association of the Americas TRIPS Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights UNIGE University of Geneva WECARD West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development WFO World Farmers' Organization WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization WTO

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1 In English only.