The more than three-decade-old Plant Variety Rights Act is no longer fit for purpose. Reform was attempted in 2005, but didn't materialise. The current system means that New Zealand is an outlier relative to our key trading partners, being Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, and the US, who are all parties to the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. Aligning our legislation with the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants will give plant breeders a predictable and strengthened intellectual property rights system in order to continue to invest in and provide improved crop varieties for the benefit of New Zealand farmers and our country.