NATIONAL INSTITUTE DE LA YERBA MATE Ley 25.564 Creation of the National Institute of the Yerba Mate, as an entity of non-State public law with jurisdiction throughout the territory of the Argentine Republic. Headquarters. Objectives. Functions. Schools. Management agency. Integration. Supplements. Term of office. Schools. Meetings. Remuneration. Internal oversight agency. Integration. Functions and powers. Heritage and resources. Budget. General provisions. Sanctions.

Sanctioned: February 21, 2002.

Enacted in fact: March 14, 2002.

The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation assembled in Congress, etc. sanction with force of Law:

CREATION OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE

OF THE MATE YERBA

PART I

Of its creation

CHAPTER I

Character and scope

ARTICLE 1 Créase the National Institute of the Yerba Mate, henceforth the INYM, as a non-State law entity with jurisdiction throughout the territory of the Argentine Republic.

CHAPTER II

Headquarters

ARTICLE 2 See as the headquarters of the INYM the city of Posadas, province of Misiones, the Argentine Republic, with delegations in the field of national territory and abroad, which could be created through international agreements.

CHAPTER III

Objectives

Article 3 The objectives of the INYM will be to promote, promote and strengthen the development of the production, processing, industrialization, marketing and consumption of the yerba mate and derivatives in their different consumption and uses patterns, seeking the sustainability of the different sectors involved in the activity. The programmes that the institute will develop should contribute to facilitating actions aimed at improving the competitiveness of the productive and industrial sector.

PART II

Functions

ARTICLE 4 The body established by this Act shall perform the following functions:

(a) Applying and enforcing existing laws, regulatory decrees and provisions and those that may be issued relating to the objectives of this Act;

(b) Implement mechanisms to support and encourage producers, developers, industrialists and marketers based in the country;

(c) Identify, design strategies and implement procedures to optimize the profitability and competitiveness of the sector;

(d) Planning, organizing and participating in any activity or event that contributes to the promotion of the mother ' s and derivatives within and outside the country by concluding cooperation agreements with other official or private institutions in the country and abroad;

(e) Carry out product studies, research and innovations that diversify their uses and increase domestic and external consumption;

(f) To participate in the development of standards by generating the unification of criteria for the characterization of the product and quality standards that it must collect for its marketing;

(g) Coordinate with the relevant food agencies the implementation of good practice plans and programmes in the production, processing, industrialization, marketing and consumption of the yerba mate and derivatives;

(h) Create a data bank for the collection and dissemination of information about the health regulations and quality requirements in current and/or potential markets regarding the math and derivatives yerba;

(i) To carry out and compile statistics, censuses and surveys of the production, processing, industrialization, marketing and consumption of the yerba mate and derivatives, in order to implement measures that facilitate the balance of supply with demand, and, if necessary, to establish jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, measures that limit production;

(j) Creating registers for the identification of the production, processing, industrialization, marketing of the mate yerba and derivatives must be registered in them, as a mandatory producer, developers, acopiadores, molineros, fractionators, importers, exporters, and any other participant in the math yerba business chain and derivatives;

(k) To carry out technical assistance, analysis and advice activities related to the production, processing, industrialization and marketing of the yerba mate and derivatives;

(l) Promote training in all areas that fall within the scope of sector activities;

(m) Facilitate the institutional exchange of technical, professional and appropriate staff through conventions and access to funds for the purpose of awarding scholarships at national or foreign universities and institutions of studies, promotion and training in all areas that fall within the scope of activities to be developed by INYM;

(n) Promote different forms of association between primary producers of yerba mate and, in particular, Yerbatera cooperatives in the producer area;

(o) To advise the national Executive and the provincials of Missions and Currents on their competence;

(p) Mediate to appropriate institutions for the interests of the worker in the sector and include it in the benefits of the National Unemployment Fund;

(q) To collect and allocate its resources for the fulfilment of the objectives of this Act;

(r) Semi-annually agree on the price of raw material among the different INYM sectors. The same will result from an INYM agreement based on the average consumer price of products produced with yerba mate according to the quality conditions and standards set by the regulation, which by relevant record the sectors must respect. Failure to comply with this law shall make the offender liable for graduating fines as specified in Title X of this Act.

If the parties did not agree, the matter would be subject to the arbitration of the Secretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, who should laud, according to the above-mentioned guidelines.

PART III

Powers

ARTICLE 5o Faccinate the INYM to:

(a) Apply and enforce existing phytosanitary, brotharological and environmental standards for the development of the product and those of technical suitability in the production, processing, industrialization and marketing of the yerba mate and derivatives, and in which they will enter from the outside without prejudice to the international norms governing the matter and can act for it alone by having to articulate counter-lor actions with the competition agencies;

(b) Require as an indispensable requirement for the marketing of processed yerba mate and its derivatives the obtaining of the laboratory analysis certificates of the INYM or those that enable it;

(c) To promote and extend the certification and/or designation of quality of origin to the product that is cultivated, prepared, stationed, industrialized and packaged in the producer area in accordance with the national and international legislation in force in the field;

(d) To establish before the various municipal, provincial and/or national bodies their competence in all matters relating to their functions and powers;

(e) To establish funds for specific purposes that will be integrated and administered directly by INYM in accordance with its objectives;

(f) Implement and administer a consignatory market of raw materials of the national yerba mate, for which design may require the participation of other agencies and entities of the national State. The financing of this consignatory market can be carried out through the Bank of Argentina. (Convention by art. 1 Act No. 26.532 B.O. 19/11/2009)

PART IV

From its management agency

CHAPTER I

From its integration

ARTICLE 6 The directory will be the highest decision-making body of INYM and will consist of:

(a) A representative designated by the National Executive, with real residence in the province of Missions not less than five (5) years;

(b) A representative designated by the Executive Branch of the Province of Missions;

(c) A representative appointed by the Executive Branch of the province of Corrientes;

(d) Two representatives designated by industrial sector entities;

(e) Three representatives designated by the entities that nucleate the primary producers of Yerbateros;

(f) Two representatives from agricultural cooperatives participating in the farm business;

(g) A representative designated by the entities that nuclee rural workers who serve in the Yerbate sector;

(h) A representative of entities that nucleate dryers.

The entities represented must have updated legal status, and present memory and balance.

CHAPTER II

Alternates

ARTICLE 7 Together with the members, the same number of alternates shall be appointed, by identical procedure and duration, by subrogating the powers of the member in the absence of the member.

CHAPTER III

Term of office

ARTICLE 8 The members of the board designated by the entities will last (2) years in their functions and their mandates will continue to expire until their replacements are appointed, and this extension cannot be extended for a longer period of (6) months. The designation and removal of these shall be in accordance with a regulatory procedure agreed upon by the entities in the knowledge of INYM. Article 9 Please note that these board members may be re-elected for a consecutive period and may only participate again when one (1) period of abstention has elapsed. ARTICLE 10. Los The members of the board designated by the National Executive and Provincial Executive Powers shall remain in their functions until the respective governments designate replacements.

CHAPTER IV

Their powers

ARTICLE 11. El The directory will dictate and approve, with the vote of the absolute majority of its members, its statute, internal and manual rules of missions and administrative functions and its organigram. ARTICLE 12. -- Designate, promote, remove, suspend and remove your staff. ARTICLE 13. . Develop and approve the general and annual budget, memory, overall balance sheet and INYM results statements. ARTICLE 14. : Manage and dispose:

(a) Property resources;

(b) Fix the specific policies of the Institute accordingly with the specific guidelines;

(c) To comply with and enforce the law of its creation and other laws and decrees relating to its functioning;

(d) To establish as many subcommissions as necessary for the consideration of specific topics.

CHAPTER V

Meetings

ARTICLE 15. Las Board meetings will be convened at least once a month or at the request of most of its members. They will session with the presence of the simple majority, the issues under consideration by a simple majority must be resolved.

PART V

Remuneration

ARTICLE 16. . The members of the board will hold their posts in ad honórem form and will only be able to receive vitics for specific functions that could be entrusted to them, whose amounts will be established by the directory, based on what they perceive at similar levels officials of national autopsy organisms.

PART VI

From the internal control agency

CHAPTER I

From its integration

ARTICLE 17. El The internal control agency will be composed of: a syndicate and an auditor with an enabling university degree who will be appointed by the directory and will emerge from a background contest called for this purpose.

CHAPTER II

Their functions and powers

ARTICLE 18. de The functions and powers of the internal control agency will be:

(a) Fiscalize the administration of the Institute by examining books and documentation whenever it deems appropriate and at least once every three months;

(b) To verify the availability and minimum periodicity of the qualifications, values, obligations and performances in the same way, requiring the preparation of check balances and performing the controls that are advisable for their performance;

(c) You will be able to attend board meetings, commissions and subcommissions, limiting your participation to the verification and control tasks inherent in your functions;

(d) To present to the directory, for its elevation to the provincial and national executive branches, a written and founded report on memory, inventory, balance and state of results;

(e) Examine compliance with INYM ' s objectives in accordance with this law, regulations, provisions and manual of functions, by issuing the relevant reports of its evaluation whenever it deems appropriate.

PART VII

Heritage and resources

CHAPTER I

From the heritage

ARTICLE 19. . It will be constituted by the total heritage of the former Regulatory Commission of the Mate Yerba.

CHAPTER II

Resources

ARTICLE 20. El The INYM will have the following resources:

(a) Contributions received from the Nation, from provinces and funds that are perceived as grants, legacies, cessions, inheritance or donations, provided that they do not harm or condition the objectives and interests of INYM;

(b) The production of periodic and occasional subscriptions of persons or institutions wishing to contribute to the purposes of the Institute;

(c) Income from holding INYM conferences, seminars, courses and publications, rents and usufructs and interests of their goods;

(d) Identification, management and administration of financial resources from provincial, national or foreign sources directly;

(e) Income originating from its own actions, collection of fees and fines by judicial or extrajudicial means, on the basis of the corresponding record of debts issued by INYM;

(f) Reimbursements or compensations received for the implementation of activities or provision of services that make to their institutional objectives;

(g) Income received by usufructs of intellectual property rights, trademarks and/or patents and/or that were transferred or registered to it;

(h) Income from provincial and/or national taxes could be allocated to funds created for specific purposes by INYM;

(i) The income that, from the productive and/or industrial sector, could be generated for cumulative funds of specific destination and administered by INYM;

(j) Income from the inspection and control rate established in article 21 of this Act;

(k) Income from all other sources according to the legal and objective character of INYM.

ARTICLE 21. . Buy an inspection and control rate of between $ 0.04 and $ 0.08 (weights four to eight cents) per kilogram of yerba mate elaborated in all its modalities, national and imported packaging, composite or not, to be marketed in the national territory. In case of variation in the price of yerba mate, the value of that rate will be the equivalent of 2.5% to 5% (two and a half to five percent) of the average selling price to the consumer of the kilogram of yerba mate. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food will determine the amount of this rate according to the budget prepared by INYM.

The funds collected will be deposited fortnight in an account of the Banco de la Nación Argentina, on behalf of the Yerba Mate National Institute.

Any container containing yerba mate molida, including the so-called "composite yesterdays", for its sale to the public, at its exit from the industrial or fractional plant, must carry attached an official control stamp that will certify the payment of the rate established in this article, in such a way that its detachment is not possible without, when it occurs, that instrument is unused. The industrial sector will discriminate in the corresponding sales billing the value of the inspection and control rate represented by the stamp.

Explain the pattern regime to the matte yerba broken into saquitos, extracts, drinks and concentrates of yerba mate.

It is prohibited and subject to immediate confiscation of the display, transport or possession of ground yerba mate and packaged outside the fractional or molinera plant without the corresponding stamping. The sales of items that are made without the stamps referred to shall be deemed fraudulent, except as evidence, to the contrary, the penalties set out in article 28 of this Act apply.

The Ministry of Economy ' s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Secretariat shall implement the system of application, perception and control of this rate and stamping, for which it is sufficiently empowered to dictate the necessary rules and mechanisms in order to complete its collection.

ARTICLE 22. Todos All funds shall be owned by the said Institute and shall in no case be subject to appropriation by the National Treasury. INYM funds will only be used to finance the Institute's objectives.

PART VIII

From your budget

ARTICLE 23. . Annually the INYM will draw up the overall budget of the agency, which will include all the resources and erogations planned and will consist of an operating and other operating budget. ARTICLE 24. . The funds allocated for administration costs may not exceed 5 per cent (five per cent) of the Institute ' s total expenditures.

PART IX

General provisions

ARTICLE 25. . Annually it will make memory, general balance and state of results that will be elevated to the provincial and national executive branches respectively for approval. ARTICLE 26. . National and international public bodies with which agreements are made should consult the INYM before taking action on matters related to the counter-lor, promotion or economy of the production, industry and trade of the math yerba. ARTICLE 27. El The national executive branch, within the nineties (90) days of the enactment of this law, shall issue the necessary regulations.

PART X

Sanctions

ARTICLE 28. Las The breaches of this law, or its regulation, and the provisions that are determined by the Executive Branch and/or the Board of Directors of the National Institute of the Mate Yerba, and without prejudice to the application of the penal provisions that may correspond, shall be punished as follows:

(a) Appreciation;

(b) Fine up to the equivalent of 1,000,000 kg of yerba mate canchada at the average price in force in producer area at the time of the corresponding fine;

(c) Forfeiture of the product;

(d) Unuse of the product;

(e) Destruction of the product or destination set by the Institute;

(f) Closure of the infractor establishment.

ARTICLE 29. . In cases of infringement or alleged violation of this law, its general rules or regulations, the Institute shall instruct the corresponding administrative case to ensure the right of defence, and the penalties shall be appealed to the competent judicial authority within 10 days of notice, upon payment of the fine. ARTICLE 30. El The Yerba Mate National Institute will create the register of offenders, which will be constituted with its own data and the relevant agencies. In the event of recidivism in the offences set forth in this Act, its general rules or regulations, the Institute shall be entitled to disqualify the establishment and all or some of its components for the activities of the party, in a temporary or definitive manner. ARTICLE 31. . Enabled officials may accompany officials of the relevant agencies to carry out inspections and to extract samples of the products, for the purpose of their counter-reference in production, transit or trade locations. ARTICLE 32. . Contact the executive branch.

IN THE SESSION OF THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN GOOD AIRES, TO THE TWENTY DAYS OF THE FEBRUARY YEAR.

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EDUARDO A. CHANGE. . JUAN C. MAQUEDA. . Eduardo D. Rollano. . Juan C. Oyarzún.