International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants

 

Article 14

(1) The right accorded to the breeder in pursuance of the provisions of this Convention shall be independent of the measures taken by each member State of the Union to regulate the production, certification and marketing of seeds and propagating material.

(2) However, such measures shall, as far as possible, avoid hindering the application of the provisions of this Convention.

Article 15

The permanent organs of the Union shall be
(a) the Council;
(b) the Secretariat General, entitled the Office of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. That Office shall be under the high authority of the Swiss Confederation.

Article 16

(1) The Council shall consist of representatives of the member States of the Union. Each member State of the Union shall appoint one representative to the Council and an alternate.

(2) Representatives or alternates may be accompanied by assistants or advisers.

(3) Each member State of the Union shall have one vote in the Council.

Article 17

(1) States which have signed but not yet ratified this Convention shall be invited as observers to meetings of the Council. Their representatives shall be entitled to speak in a consultative capacity.

(2) Other observers or experts may also be invited to such meetings.

Article 18

(1) The Council shall elect a President and a first Vice-President from among its members. It may elect other Vice-Presidents. The first Vice-President shall take the place of the President if the latter is unable to officiate.

(2) The President shall hold office for three years.

Article 19

(1) Meetings of the Council shall be convened by its President.

(2) A regular session of the Council shall be held annually. In addition, the President may convene the Council at his discretion; he shall convene it, within a period of three months, if a third of the member States of the Union so request.

Article 20

(1) The Council shall lay down its rules or procedure.

(2) The Council shall adopt the administrative and financial regulations Of the Union, after having consulted the Government of the Swiss Confederation. The Government of the Swiss Confederation shall be responsible for, ensuring that the regulations are carried out.

(3) A majority of three-quarters of the member States of the Union shall be required for the adoption of such rules and regulations and any amendments to them.

Article 21

The duties of the Council shall be to :
(a) study appropriate measures to safeguard the interests and to encourage the development of the Union;
(b) examine the annual report on the activities of the Union and lay down the programme for its future work;
(c) give to the Secretary-General, whose functions are set out in article 23, all necessary directions, including those concerning relations with national authorities;
(d) examine and approve the budget of the Union and fix the contribution of each member State in accordance with the provisions of article 26;
(e) examine and approve the accounts presented by the Secretary-General;
(f) fix, in accordance with the provisions of article 27, the date and place of the conferences referred to in that Article and take the measures necessary for their preparation;
(g) make proposals to the Government of the Swiss Confederation concerning the appointment of the Secretary-General and senior officials; and
(h) in general, take all necessary decisions to ensure the efficient functioning of the Union.

Article 22

The Council’s decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the members present, except in the cases provided for in articles 20, 27, 28 and 32, and for the vote on the budget and the fixing of the contributions of each member State.
In these last two cases, the majority required shall be three-quarters of the members present.

Article 23

(1) The Office of the Union shall have the task of carrying out all the duties and tasks entrusted to it by the Council. It shall be under the direction of the Secretary-General.

(2) The Secretary-General shall be responsible to the Council; he shall be responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Council.
He shall submit the budget for the approval of the Council and shall be responsible for its implementation.
He shall make an annual report to the Council on his administration and a report on the activities and financial position of the Union.

(3) The Secretary-General and the senior officials shall be appointed, on the proposal of the Council, by the Government of the Swiss Confederation, which shall determine the terms of their appointment.
The terms of service and the remuneration of other grades in the Office of the Union shall be determined by the administrative and financial regulations.

Article 24

The Government of the Swiss Confederation shall supervise the expenditure and accounts of the Office of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. It shall submit an annual report on its supervisory function to the Council.

Article 25

The procedures for technical and administrative cooperation between the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants and the Unions administered by the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Industrial, Literary and Artistic Property shall be governed by rules established by the Government of the Swiss Confederation in agreement with the Unions concerned.

Article 26

(1) The expenses of the Union shall be met from:
(a) annual contributions of member States of the Union;
(b) payments received for services rendered; and
(c) miscellaneous receipts.

(2) For the purpose of determining the amount of their annual contributions, the member States of the Union shall be divided into three classes
First class . . . five units
Second class . . three units
Third class. . . one unit

Each member State of the Union shall contribute in proportion to the number of units of the class to which it belongs.

(3) For each budgetary period, the value of the unit of contribution shall be obtained by dividing the total expenditure to be met from the contributions of member States by the total number of units.

(4) Each member State of the Union shall indicate, on joining the Union, the class in which it wishes to be placed. Any member State of the Union may, however, subsequently declare that it wishes to be placed in another class.
Such declaration must be made at least six months before the end of the financial year preceding that in which the change of class is to take effect.

Article 27

(1) This Convention shall be reviewed periodically with a view to the introduction of amendments designed to improve the working of the Union.

(2) For this purpose, conferences shall be held every five years, unless the Council, by a majority of five-sixths of the members present, considers that the convening of such a conference should be brought forward or postponed.

(3) The proceedings of a conference shall be effective only if at least half of the member States of the Union are represented at it. A majority of five-sixths of the member States of the Union represented at the conference shall be required for the adoption of a revised text of the Convention.

(4) The revised text shall enter into force, in respect of member States of the Union which have ratified it, when it has been ratified by five-sixths of the member States of the Union. It shall enter into force thirty days after the deposit of the last of the instruments of ratification. If, however, a majority of five-sixths of the member States of the Union represented at the conference considers that the revised text includes amendments of such a kind as to preclude, for member States of the Union which do not ratify the revised text, the possibility of continuing to be bound by the former text in respect of the other member States of the Union, the revised text shall enter into force two years after the deposit of the last of the instruments of ratification. In such case, the former text shall, from the date of such entry into force, cease to bind the States which have ratified the revised text.

Article 28

(1) The English, French and German languages shall be used by the Office of the Union in carrying out its duties.

(2) Meetings of the Council and of revision conferences shall be held in the three languages.

(3) If the need arises, the Council may decide, by a majority of three-quarters of the members present, that further languages shall be used.

Article 29

Member States of the Union reserve the right to conclude among themselves special agreements for the protection of new varieties of plants, in so far as such agreements do not contravene the provisions of this Convention.

Member States of the Union which have not taken part in making such agreements shall be allowed to accede to them at their request.

Article 30

(1) Each member State of the Union shall undertake to adopt all measures necessary for the application of this Convention.
In particular, each member State shall undertake to
(a) ensure to nationals of the other member States of the Union appropriate legal remedies for the effective defence of the rights provided for in this Convention;
(b) set up a special authority for the protection of new varieties of plants or to entrust their protection to an existing authority; and
(c) ensure that the public is informed of matters concerning such protection, including as a minimum the periodical publication of the list of titles of protection issued.

(2) Special agreements may also be concluded between member States of the Union, with a view to the joint utilisation of the services of the authorities entrusted with the examination of new varieties in accordance with the provisions of article 7 and with assembling the necessary reference collections and documents.

(3) It shall be understood that, on depositing its instrument of ratification or accession, each member State must be in a position, under its own domestic law, to give effect to the provisions of this Convention.

Article 31

(1) This Convention shall be open for signature until December 2, 1962, by States represented at the Paris Conference for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.

(2) This Convention shall be subject to ratification; instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Government of the French Republic, which shall notify such deposit to the other signatory States.

(3) When the Convention has been ratified by at least three States, it shall enter into force in respect of those States thirty days after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification. It shall enter into force, in respect of each State which ratifies thereafter, thirty days after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

 

Author: international

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International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.