25/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 23 October, the European Parliament approved the proposal to simplify Community protection procedures for plant varieties by adopting the report by Neil Parish (EPP-ED, United Kingdom) on this theme. A single system for submitting dossiers for all requests will be set up for all countries. There are currently two different systems: one for EU producers and the member states of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and another for third countries. Since it was set up in 1994, UPOV has received more than 27,000 requests for protection. (L.C.)