Plant Varieties (Proprietary Rights) Act, 1980

Conventions, arrangements etc.

2.—(1) For the purposes of enabling any international convention or agreement for the protection of plant varieties and plant breeders' rights to which the State is a party to be carried into effect, the Government may by order declare one or more foreign countries, which foreign country, or each of which foreign countries, shall be one whose government or any of whose departments of state is a party to the convention or agreement, to be a convention country for the purposes of this Act, and for so long as the order remains in force any foreign country which is one specified in the declaration contained therein shall be a convention country for the purposes of this Act.

(2) An order under this section may provide that the declaration contained therein shall extend to any territory for the foreign relations of which the government of a foreign country specified in such declaration considers itself responsible, and in case an order under this section so provides then for so long as the order is in force as regards that foreign country the territory to which the declaration is so extended shall for the purposes of this Act be regarded as being a convention country.

(3) (a) Where by any agreement to which the Minister is a party an arrangement (in this section referred to as a “reciprocal arrangement”) is made with a country or territory, other than the State, to enable persons who have a place of business (being a business described in section 5 (1) (c) of this Act) in the State to apply under the law of that country or territory, being a law whose provisions correspond to or are analogous to those of this Act, on an equal footing with persons who are resident, or have a place of such business, in the country or territory, the Minister may by regulations declare such country or territory to be a country or territory to which this section applies.

(b) In case an agreement by virtue of the existence of which the Minister was enabled to make the regulations under thissubsection is terminated or otherwise ceases to be in force, the Minister shall, as soon as may be, revoke the regulations.

(4) The Controller may with the consent of the Minister enter into and carry out any agreement or arrangement with an appropriate authority in a foreign country and relating to the granting and protection of plant breeders' rights or the rights under the law of that country which correspond or are analogous to plant breeders' rights.

(5) An order under this section (including an order under this subsection) may be revoked or amended by a subsequent order made by the Government.

(6) In this section “the appropriate authority in a foreign country” means the person who under the law of a country other than the State has assigned to him functions which either correspond to or are analogous to those assigned to the Controller under this Act.