The purpose of this Regulation is to ensure that varieties marketed in Norway are as well adapted as possible to Norwegian conditions. The Regulation shall further contribute to in-situ conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. It applies to plant varieties as covered by Regulation No. 1052 of 1999 concerning seeds and Regulation No. 1447 of 1996 relative to seed potatoes. The National Food Authority shall be the principle authority for purposes of this Decree. A plant variety may be approved if it has passed novelty testing and has undergone value testing with the result that the variety is considered to have satisfactory cultivation and usage value in Norway. A variety may be approved as worth conserving if it is of interest for the preservation of plant genetic resources. A plant variety may be approved as a traditional vegetable variety if it does not have significant commercial production value. The approval is valid until the end of the 10th calendar year following the year in which the approval was granted.