STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 409 of 1981.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (NATIONAL CATALOGUE OF AGRICULTURAL PLANT VARIETIES) REGULATIONS, 1981.

S.I. No. 409 of 1981.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (NATIONAL CATALOGUE OF AGRICULTURAL PLANT VARIETIES) REGULATIONS, 1981.

I, ALAN M. DUKES, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ( No. 27 of 1972 ), for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 70/457 EEC of 29 September, 1970, ¹ as amended by the directives, act and decision specified in Regulation 2(2) following, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (National Catalogue of Agricultural Plant Varieties) Regulations, 1981, and shall come into operation on the 15th day of December, 1981,

2. (1) In these Regulations--

“authorised officer” means an officer of the Minister appointed in writing by the Minister to be an authorised officer for the purposes of these Regulations;

“Common Catalogue” means the Common Catalogue of Agricultural Plant Species published for the time being by the Commission of the European Communities in the Official Journal of the European Communities;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture;

“Member State” means a Member State of the European Communities;

“the directive” means Council Directive No. 70/457/EEC of 29 September, 1970, as amended by the directives, act and decision specified in paragraph (2) of this Regulation;

“National Catalogue” has the meaning specified in Regulation 4(1);

“official”, other than in the expression “official authority” or “official language”, refers to any work or measure carried out or taken by an official authority in connection with such work;

“official authority” means the authority officially designated by a Member State to carry out the work relevant to the provisions of the directive or these Regulations, or any similar authority in a country or territory which is not a Member State;

“seeds” means--

(a) beet seeds,

(b) seed of fodder plants,

(c) cereal seed,

(d) seed potatoes, and

(e) seed of oil plants and fibre plants,

which may be marketed under the provisions of the directives mentioned in Article 1 of the directive;

“variety” means a variety referred to in Article 1 of the directive.

(2) The directives, act and decision referred to in the definition of “the directive” in paragraph (1) of this Regulation are Council Directive No. 72/274/EEC of 20 July, 1972,¹ Council Directive No. 72/418/EEC of 6 December, 1972, ² Act of Accession ³ and Council Decision of 1st January, 1973⁴ Council Directive No. 73/438/EEC of 11 December, 1973 ⁵ Council Directive No. 78/55/EEC of 19 December, 1977, ⁶ Council Directive No. 79/692/EEC of 24 July, 1979, ⁷ Council Directive No. 79/967/EEC of 12 November, 1979,⁸ and Council Directive No. 80/1141/EEC of 8 December, 1980 ⁹

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the directive.

3. The Minister, or any body or other person authorised by the Minister for the purpose, shall be the official authority for the State for the purposes of Article 2 of the directive.

4. (1) Notwithstanding Regulation 15 of these Regulations, the catalogue which immediately before the commencement of that Regulation was being maintained by the Minister under Regulation 3 of the European Communities (National Catalogue of Agricultural Plant Varieties) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 339 of 1972 ), shall continue to be maintained by the Minister in accordance with these Regulations and in accordance with the directive (which catalogue is, in these Regulations referred to as the “National Catalogue”).

(2) There shall be entered in the National Catalogue:

(a) the varieties of plants officially accepted,

(i) for certification only in the State, or

(ii) for certification and marketing in the State,

(b) such particulars with respect to the varieties registered as the Minister considers proper (including, in relation to each variety, particulars with respect to a person accepting responsibility for the maintenance of the variety).

(3) Registration of a variety in the Common Catalogue or in the catalogue of a Member State corresponding to the National Catalogue shall be regarded as qualifying the variety for entry in the National Catalogue if, but only if, the Minister so determines.

(4) Subject to Article 4 (2) of the directive, a variety shall not be accepted for inclusion in the National Catalogue unless it is shown to comply with the requirements for acceptance specified in Article 4(1) of the directive.

(5) Where a variety is accepted for inclusion in the National Catalogue, the person who is entered therein as being responsible for the maintenance of the variety shall--

(a) maintain the variety in accordance with accepted practices for the maintenance of that variety,

(b) keep records relating to the maintenance of the variety and to the production of generations prior to basic seed or propagating material, which records shall be sufficiently adequate to enable an authorised officer to determine whether or not the variety is being adequately maintained,

(c) allow an authorised officer to examine the means by which the variety is being maintained and to examine the records referred to in subparagraph (b) of this paragraph,

(d) allow an authorised officer to take samples of the variety or, if requested to do so, supply samples of seed of the variety to an authorised officer,

(e) give to an authorised officer any information which he may reasonably require and afford such officer reasonable facilities to exercise the powers conferred on him by subparagraphs (c) and (d) of this paragraph.

(6) The Minister shall from time to time publish the National Catalogue.

5. (1) Every application for registration in the National Catalogue shall specify a name as regards the variety to which the application relates, which name shall be that, if any, under which the relevant variety is already known, whether in connection with a grant of plant breeders' rights (whether under the Plant Varieties (Proprietary Rights) Act, 1980 (No. 24 of 1980) , or in any other manner), or by reason of an entry of the variety in a catalogue of a Member State corresponding to the National Catalogue.

(2) If the Minister is not satisfied that the name specified in an application referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation is suitable, he may either refuse to register the variety in the National Catalogue until a name appearing to him to be suitable has been submitted by the applicant or substitute for the name so specified another name.

6. (1) Applications for registration of a varety in the National Catalogue shall be made in writing to the Minister, on a form supplied by the Minister and be accompanied by such particulars as the Minister shall direct.

(2) If more than one application for registration of the same variety in the National Catalogue is made, the Minister shall entertain only the application which is first received by him.

(3) (a) There shall be charged such fees in respect of registration in the National Catalogue as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(b) Fees under these Regulations shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of that Minister.

(c) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees.

7. (1) When a variety is registered in the National Catalogue, subject to the payment of any fees imposed pursuant to these Regulations, the variety shall, and shall only, remain in the National Catalogue until the expiration of the year specified in Article 12 (1) of the directive.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any of the Regulations specified in paragraph (3) of this Regulation, seed of a variety the entry of which has, by virtue of paragraph (1) of this Regulation, ceased to remain in the National Catalogue may be marketed at any time during the period beginning immediately after such ceaser and ending on the 30th day of June in the third year after the year in which such cesser takes place.

(3) The Regulations referred to in paragraph (2) of this Regulation are the European Communities (Seed Potatoes) Regulations, 1980 ( S.I. No. 343 of 1980 ), the European Communities (Beet Seed) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 37 of 1981 ), the European Communities (Seed of Oil Plants and Fibre Plants) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 38 of 1981 ), the European Communities (Cereal Seed) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 48 of 1981 ), and the European Communities (Seed of Fodder Plants) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 112 of 1981 ).

8. (1) The Minister may, upon an application in writing made not later than two years before the expiry of the period during which a variety is to remain in the National Catalogue, extend such period for a further ten years from the date on which it would otherwise expire provided that--

(a) the Minister is satisfied that the variety is cultivated on a scale sufficient to justify the extension, and

(b) the requirements as to distinctness, uniformity and stability are still satisfied.

(2) The Minister may provisionally extend the period during which a plant variety is to be included in the National Catalogue until such time as a decision is taken as regards an application under paragraph (1) of this Regulation as regards the variety.

9. (1) The Minister shall cancel any entry in the National Catalogue regarding any variety which:

(a) is proved, on official examination, to be no longer distinct, stable or sufficiently uniform,

(b) subject to the provision specified in Article 13 (1) (b) of the directive, if the person or persons responsible for the variety so request, and

(c) if the requirements of paragraph (a) or (b) of Regulation 4(5) of these Regulations are not complied with.

(2) Whenever the Minister proposes--

(a) to refuse an application under Regulation 6(1) or 8 of these Regulations,

(b) under paragraph (1) of this Regulation to cancel an entry in the National Catalogue,

he shall, before doing so, notify in writing the applicant, or, in the case of an application under the said Regulation 8 or of such a proposed cancellation, the successor in title of such applicant or the person by whom the relevant variety is maintained, of the proposal and of the reasons therefor and, if any representations are made to the Minister by any of the said persons within the period of 28 days beginning on the date of the notice, the Minister shall before determining the matter consider the representations.

10. (1) In addition to the powers conferred on him by Regulation 4 (5) of these Regulations, an authorised officer may, at any reasonable time, enter and inspect any place where he has reasonable grounds for believing that the maintenance of a variety is carried on or any place in which he so believes records relating to the maintenance of a variety are kept and any such officer may carry out all such examinations as he considers to be necessary and may take samples of any seed which he finds in the course of his examinations.

(2) Where a sample is taken pursuant to this Regulation, the following provisions shall apply:

(a) the authorised officer concerned shall notify forth-with the person appearing to him to be in charge that the sample is being taken, and

(b) if so required by such person at the time of the giving of such notification, the said officer shall take a second sample which shall be similar to the sample already so taken, and he shall also mark the second sample and leave it with the person by whom the requirement was made.

11. Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer in the course of exercising a power canferred on him by these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

12. The Minister shall furnish an authorised officer with a certificate of his appointment and, when exercising any power conferred by these Regulations, the officer shall, if requested by any person affected, produce that certificate to that person.

13. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

14. Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as affecting a provision of any statute, whether passed before or after the making of these Regulations, which is a provision for the protection of human life or health, animal life or health, plant life or health, or industrial or commercial property.

15. The European Communities (National Catalogue of Agricultural Plant Varieties) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 339 of 1972 ), are hereby revoked.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This Note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The Regulations provide that the Minister for Agriculture shall maintain a National Catalogue of Agricultural Plant Varieties, in which the varieties of agricultural plants officially accepted for certification and marketing shall be registered.

1. O.J. No. L225/1 12 October, 1970.

1. OJ No. L171/37, 29 July, 1972

2. OJ No. L287/22, 26 December, 1972

3. OJ Special Edition, P. 14, 27 March, 1972

4. OJ No. L2/1, 1 January, 1973

5. OJ No. L356/79, 27 December, 1973

6. OJ No. L16/23, 20 January, 1978

7. OJ No. L205/1, 13 August, 1979

8. OJ No. L239/16, 20 November, 1979

9. OJ No. L341/27, 16 December, 1980.