Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1973
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1973/994 |
1973 No. 994
SEEDS
The Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 197331stMay 1973
8thJune 1973
1stJuly 1973
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (being the Secretary of State concerned with agriculture in Northern Ireland), acting jointly, in exercise of the powers vested in them by section 16(1), (1A) and (8) of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964(a) as amended by section 4(1) of and paragraph 5(1), (2) and (3) of Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972(b) (extended to Northern Ireland by the Plant Varieties and Seeds (Northern Ireland) Order 1964(c) and the Plant Varieties and Seeds (Northern Ireland) Order 1973(d)) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, after consultation with the Council on Tribunals in accordance with section 10(1) of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971(e) as applied to the Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal and with representatives of such interests as appear to them to be concerned, hereby make the following Regulations.
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1973 and shall come into operation on the 1st July 1973.
Interpretation
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act 1889(f) shall apply to the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
(2) In these Regulations—
"the Act" means the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964 as amended by section 43 of and Schedule 7 to the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968(g) and by section 4(1) of and paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972;
(a) 1964 c. 14.
(b) 1972 c. 68.
(c) S.I. 1964/1574 (1964 III, p. 3543).
(d) S.I. 1973/609 (1973 I, p. 1934).
(e) 1971 c. 62.
(f) 1889 c. 63.
(g) 1968 c. 34.
"Common Catalogue" means, as the case may be, either the Common Catalogue of varieties of kinds of agricultural plants or the Common Catalogue of varieties of vegetables, published or to be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities;
"the gazette" means the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette published in accordance with section 34(1) of the Act;
"Member State" means a member of the European Communities other than the United Kingdom;
"the Ministers" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State concerned with agriculture in Northern Ireland;
"National List" means a list of plant varieties prepared and published in accordance with Regulation 3 of these Regulations;
"plant breeders' rights" means rights which may be granted in accordance with Part I of the Act;
"plant variety" means any clone, line, hybrid or genetic variant;
"the Tribunal" means the Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal established by section 10 of and Schedule 4 to the Act as respectively amended by paragraph 5(5) of Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972.
National Lists
3.—(1) The Ministers shall for the purposes of these Regulations prepare and publish in the gazette National Lists of the plant varieties (not being plant varieties which are intended for use only as hereditary sources of hybrid or synthetic plant varieties) of the kinds specified in Parts I and II of Schedule 1 to these Regulations.
(2) A plant variety may be entered in a National List when it is first published notwithstanding that the Ministers are not satisfied that it conforms with the requirements of Schedule 2 to these Regulations.
4.—(1) At any time after the publication of a National List the Ministers may—
(a) entertain applications from persons seeking additions to, corrections in or removals from any such list and, subject to the succeeding provisions of these Regulations and to the payment of any fee imposed by Regulations made under the Act, may grant or refuse such applications;
(b) in relation to plant varieties which have been entered in a list of a Member State corresponding to a National List, make such additions to the National List as appear to them to be desirable.
(2) If more than one application for the addition of the same plant variety to a National List is made the Ministers shall entertain the application which was the first to be made.
(3) The Ministers shall publish in the gazette any additions to, corrections in or removals from a National List.
5. The Ministers shall publish in the gazette in respect of each plant variety in relation to which there is an obligation to maintain such plant variety either the name and address of the person responsible for such maintenance or, where a number of persons are so responsible, an indication of the source from which their names and addresses may be obtained.
6. The Ministers may for the purposes of a National List establish or arrange for the establishment of a reference collection of plant material.
7. The Ministers shall conduct or make arrangements for such tests and trials of a plant variety which is the subject of an application for entry in a National List as appear to them to be necessary to establish that it conforms with the requirements of Schedule 2 to these Regulations.
Period of Entry in a National List
8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation and to Regulations 9 and 12 of these Regulations a plant variety entered in a National List shall, subject to the payment of any fee imposed by Regulations made under the Act, remain in that list until the end of the tenth calendar year following the calendar year in which it was so entered and at the end of that period it shall be removed from the list.
(2) Where a plant variety was entered in a National List when it was first published and the Ministers have not been satisfied that it conforms with the requirements of Schedule 2 to these Regulations the plant variety shall, unless it has previously been removed and subject to the payment of any fee imposed by Regulations made under the Act, remain in that list until 30th June, 1980 and no longer.
Renewal of Period of Entry in a National List
9.—(1) The Ministers may, upon an application made not later than two years before the expiry of the period during which a plant variety may remain in a National List, whether such period is that for which the plant variety was first entered in the National List or is an extension of that period, and subject to the payment of any fee imposed by Regulations made under the Act, renew such period for a further period not exceeding ten years from the date when it would otherwise expire provided that they are satisfied that the scale of the cultivation in the United Kingdom of the plant variety is such as to justify such an extension and that the plant variety continues to conform with the requirements of Schedule 2 to these Regulations as regards its distinctness, uniformity and stability or, being a plant variety falling within Regulation 8(2) of these Regulations, conforms with the requirements of the said Schedule 2.
(2) The Ministers may extend the period during which a plant variety may remain in a National List until such time as a decision is made upon an application in accordance with paragraph (1) of this Regulation.
Refusal of Applications for Entry in a National List
10. The Ministers shall refuse an application for the entry of a plant variety in a National List if:—
(a) it appears to them that the plant variety does not conform with the requirements of Schedule 2 to these Regulations; or
(b) it appears to them that the cultivation in the United Kingdom of the plant variety is likely to affect adversely the health of any persons, animals or plants.
Naming of Plant Varieties in a National List
11.—(1) A plant variety shall be entered in a National List under a name submitted by the person applying for the entry of the plant variety in such list, which name shall if it is otherwise suitable be that, if any, under which the plant variety is already known, whether in connection with a grant of plant breeders' rights or by reason of the entry of the plant variety in the list of a Member State corresponding to a National List, and in any other case shall be a name appearing to the Ministers to be suitable.
(2) If the Ministers are not satisfied that a suitable name for the plant variety has been submitted they may refuse to enter the plant variety in a National List until a name appearing to them to be suitable has been submitted by the person making the application.
(3) A person applying for the entry of a plant variety in a National List may propose a name for the plant variety in substitution for one already submitted and a person responsible for the maintenance of the plant variety in accordance with Regulation 13 of these Regulations may, subject to the payment of any fee imposed by Regulations made under the Act, propose a name for the plant variety in substitution for that under which the plant variety is already entered in the National List and the Ministers, if they consider that it is desirable that the proposal should be given effect, may substitute it for the name already submitted or entered.
Removal of a Plant Variety from a National List
12.—(1) The Ministers shall at any time remove a plant variety from a National List:—
(a) if it appears to them that the plant variety does not conform with the requirements of Schedule 2 to these Regulations as regards its distinctness, uniformity and stability, to the extent that such matters were taken into account when the plant variety was first entered in the National List or that the plant variety being a plant variety falling within Regulation 8(2) of these Regulations, does not conform with the requirements of the said Schedule as regards its value for cultivation and use;
(b) upon the application of the person responsible for the maintenance of the plant...
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