Decree No. 172/2007/ND-CP amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 57/2005/ND-CP dated April 27, 2005 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of plant varieties.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2005/NĐ-CP dated April 27, 2005 of the Government on administrative penalties in the field of plant varieties

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THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Intellectual Property Law on November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to the Plant Variety Ordinance on March 24, 2004;

Pursuant to the Administrative Violation Handling Ordinance on July 1, 2002;

The Government promulgates this Decree on the organization and operation of Fisheries Inspection,

DECREE :

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2005/NĐ-CP dated April 27, 2005 of the Government on administrative penalties in the field of plant varieties

Article 14 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 14. Violations of provisions on establishing rights over plant varieties.
1. A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of violating the obligation to keep confidential information related to the application for protection of plant variety submitted by the applicant.
2. A fine of from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND shall be imposed on one of the following violations:
a) Altering the results of examination leading to the issuance, refusal, suspension, or revocation of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety;
b) Announcing the results of DUS testing regarding distinctness, uniformity, and stability that are not truthful;
c) Not complying with the regulations on DUS testing for registered varieties issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development or accepted.
3. A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts of violating the use of protected plant varieties without the consent of the owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety:
a) Production or propagation;
b) Processing for propagation purposes;
c) Offering for sale;
d) Selling or carrying out market access activities;
e) Exporting;
f) Importing;
g) Retaining for the purpose of committing one of the violations stipulated in points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of this clause;
h) Committing one of the violations stipulated in points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of this clause for plant varieties whose production requires repeated use of the protected plant variety;
i) Committing one of the violations stipulated in points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of this clause for plant varieties that do not clearly differ from the protected plant variety;
k) Committing one of the violations stipulated in points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of this clause for plant varieties derived from the protected plant variety, except where the protected plant variety has its origin from another protected plant variety.
4. Additional forms of penalty

Confiscation of the objects of violation for the acts of violation stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article.
5. Measures to remedy consequences:
a) Compel compliance with the provisions of law for the acts of violation stipulated in Clause 1; point a, c of Clause 2 of this Article;
b) Compel the announcement of accurate testing results for the acts of violation stipulated in point b of Clause 2 of this Article".

Article 15 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 15. Violations of provisions on the rights and obligations of the owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety
1. A fine of from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:
a) Using a plant variety with a name identical or similar to the name of a protected plant variety for a plant variety of the same genus or closely related species;
b) Using a protected plant variety without paying compensation as provided for in Article 189 of the Intellectual Property Law;
c) Altering, erasing, or defacing any of the following documents: Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety; contracts for transfer, assignment, and decisions related to rights over plant varieties;
d) Using a fake Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety; a certificate that has expired; a certificate suspended or revoked to exercise rights over plant varieties;
đ) The breeder of the plant variety does not fulfill the obligation to assist the owner of the Certificate of Protection in maintaining the propagation material of the protected plant variety.
2. A fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following violations:
a) The owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety does not implement the transfer of the right to use the protected plant variety according to the decision of the competent authority;
b) The owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety does not pay remuneration to the breeder of the plant variety as agreed; does not pay the maintenance fee for the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety as prescribed;
c) The owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety does not retain the protected plant variety; does not provide propagation material of the protected plant variety to the state management agency for rights over plant varieties and does not maintain the stability of the protected plant variety as prescribed.
3. A fine of from VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for one of the following violations:
a) Providing false materials, information, and evidence when requesting the competent authority to handle cases of suspension, revocation, or handling of acts infringing upon rights over plant varieties;
b) Failing to cease the act of infringing upon the rights of the owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety after receiving a written notice from the owner of the Certificate of Protection for Plant Variety requesting cessation of such act.
4. Additional forms of penalty

Confiscation of the objects of violation and the relevant documents for the acts of violation stipulated in point a, c, d of Clause 1; point a of Clause 3 of this Article.
5. Remedial Measures Compel compliance with the provisions of law for the acts of violation stipulated in Clause 2; point b of Clause 3 of this Article".

Article 2. Effectiveness

This Decree takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. Articles 14 and 15 of Decree No. 57/2005/NĐ-CP dated April 27, 2005 of the Government on administrative penalties in the field of plant varieties are repealed.

Article 3. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for guiding the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government, organizations, and individuals concerned are responsible for implementing this Decree./.