In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—

‘‘Advisory Committee’’

means the Plant Breeders’ Rights Advisory Committee established by section 45(1);

‘‘agent’’

means a person who is domiciled and resident in the Republic and who has been duly authorised by a breeder or the holder of a plant breeder’s right to act on his or her behalf;

‘‘applicant’’

means a breeder who makes an application for the granting of a plant breeder’s right in terms of section 16;

‘‘breeder’’

in relation to a variety contemplated in section 15, means—

‘‘conditioning’’

in relation to propagating material of a plant variety, means—

undertaken for the purposes of preparing the material for propagation or sale;

‘‘convention country’’

means a country or intergovernmental organisation that is a member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants;

‘‘denomination’’

in respect of a protected variety, means the denomination contemplated in section 23;

‘‘Department’’

means the Department responsible for agriculture;

‘‘employee’’

has the meaning ascribed to it in section 1 of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994), but does not include an employee contemplated in the definition of breeder;

‘‘essential characteristics’’

relation to a plant variety, means heritable traits that are determined by the expression of one or more genes, or other heritable determinants, that contribute to the principal features of the variety;

‘‘kind of plant’’

means a group of plants of the same taxon;

‘‘mark’’

has the meaning ascribed to it in section 2 of the Trade Marks Act, 1993 (Act No. 194 of 1993);

‘‘material’’

in relation to a variety, means—

‘‘Minister’’

means the Minister responsible for agriculture;

‘‘persons’’

includes a trust;

‘‘Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 1976’’

means the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 1976 (Act No. 15 of 1976);

‘‘plant breeder’s right’’

means a plant breeder’s right granted in terms of section 28;

‘‘prescribed’’

means prescribed by regulation;

‘‘propagating material’’

means any reproductive or vegetative material of a plant from which, whether alone or in combination with other parts or products of that plant, another plant with the same characteristics can be produced;

‘‘protected variety’’

means a variety in respect of which a plant breeder’s right has been granted;

‘‘register’’

means the register kept in terms of section 4;

‘‘Registrar’’

means the employee contemplated in section 2(1);

‘‘regulation’’

means a regulation made in terms of section 54;

‘‘sell’’

includes—

‘‘successor’’—

‘‘this Act’’

includes the regulations;

‘‘variety’’

means any plant grouping within a single botanical tax on of the lowest known rank, which grouping, irrespective of whether or not the conditions for the grant of a plant breeder’s right are fully met, can be—