A bill to amend the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C., 2321 et. seq.) to clarify its provisions, and for other purposes.
Public Law 96-574 · H.R. 999 · 96th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 22, 1980 · Agriculture and Food
Sponsor: Rep. Kika de la Garza (D-TX-15)
Cosponsors (19): Rep. Clair Burgener, Rep. Anthony Coelho,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the Plant Variety Protection Act to: (1) make technical amendments; (2) repeal the bonding requirement for designated employees of the Plant Variety Protection Office; (3) extend the term of plant variety protection from 17 to 18 years; (4) authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to issue corrected certificates of plant variety protection instead of the current certificates of correction; and (5) allow application of its provisions to the seeds, plants or transplants of okra, celery, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers, which are currently excluded from the protection of the Act.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Dec 22, 1980Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-574.
- Dec 11, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 10, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Dec 8, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- Nov 19, 1980CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- Nov 17, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up under motion to suspend rules and pass in House.
- Jun 20, 1980CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Agriculture Committee
- Jan 18, 1979CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Agriculture Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.