244 Plant Breeder s Rights [No. 18 of 2007 (b) in relation to a grantee ofa plant breeder's right, a person to whom the right has been assigned, or transmitted by will or by operation oflaw; " taxonomy" means a classified group of plants; and .. variety" means a plant grouping that is contained within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank and that, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of a breeder's right are fully met(a) can be defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from the genotype or combination of genotypes; (b) can be distinguished from another plant grouping by the expression of at least one of the characteristics; and (c) can be considered as a functional unit because of its suitability for being propagated unchanged. PART II ADMINISTRATION Designation of plant variety protection authority Functions of Institute 3. The Seed Control and Certification Institute within the Ministry responsible for agriculture is hereby designated as the plant variety protection authority and shall be responsible for the administration of this Act. 4. The functions of the Institute are to-(a) register plant varieties; (b) promote and encourage the development of new plant varieties; (c) protect the rights of plant breeders with respect to varieties of plants; (d) document the characterisation of varieties; (e) maintain catalogues of registered varieties of plants, seeds and germplasm; (f) issue licences in accordance with this Act; (g) compile and maintain statistics with regard to plant varieties, seeds and germplasm; and (h) do all such things connected with or incidental to the foregoing.