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23 NOVEMBER 2015. - An Act to approve the Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and Bioversity International amending the Headquarters Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, signed in Brussels on 15 October 2003, made in Brussels on 3 December 2012 (1)(2)(3)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The House of Representatives adopted and sanctioned the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 74 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and Bioversity International amending the Headquarters Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, signed in Brussels on 15 October 2003, made in Brussels on 3 December 2012, will come out its full effect.
Art. 3. This Act is effective December 3, 2012.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels, 23 November 2015.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Minister of Foreign and European Affairs,
D. REYNDERS
Minister of Security and Interior,
J. JAMBON
Minister of Justice,
K. GEENS
Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health,
Mr. DE BLOCK
Minister of Finance,
J. VAN OVERTVELDT
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
K. GEENS.
____
Note
(1) House of Representatives (www.lachambre.be):
Documents: 54-1021
Full record:
(2) See Decree of the Flemish Community/Flemish Region of 05/07/2013 (Belgian Monitor of 30/08/2013 (Ed.3), Decree of the French Community of 26/01/2017 (Belgian Monitor of 09/02/2017), Decree of the German-speaking Community of 30/05/2016 (Belgian Monitor of 23/06/2016), Decree of the Walloon Region of 09/06/2016 (Belgian Monitor of 17/06/2016), Ordon
(3) Entry into force: 10/04/2017 (art. 6).

Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and Bioversity International amending the Headquarters Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, signed in Brussels on 15 October 2003
The Kingdom of Belgium, referred to as "Belgium",
represented by:
- the Federal Government
- the Government of the French Community
- the Flemish Government
- the Government of the German-speaking Community
- the Walloon Government
- the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region
and
Bioversity International,
Considering that the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) whose secretariat was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was established in 1974 in response to the alarming disappearance of the diversity of cultivated plants and thus ensuring a role in food security;
Considering that this entity became an independent organization on 9 October 1991 in the form of an International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), located in Rome, through a convention that has already been signed by 56 states and considering that its role has been extended to support research programmes promoting the conservation of biodiversity and the use of genetic resources for development purposes;
Considering that the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain Banana (INIBAP) and IGRI have become a single organization operating under the name Bioversity International by modifying the IGRI statutes in 2007, in particular with the aim of improving synergies between research centres;
Considering that the new organization takes over the legal personality of the IGRI and now operates as Bioversity International;
Considering that Bioversity International adopted on 19 September 2008 an amendment to its statutes, as published in the Belgian Monitor of 24 May 2011;
Considering that the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture adopted by the thirty-first session of the FAO Conference on 3 November 2001, covering all exchanges of phytogenetic resources for food and agriculture, entered into force on 29 June 2004;
Considering that one of the main programmes of Bioversity International in Belgium is the support provided for the improvement of banana and plantain banana by the management of a global in vitro collection of genetic resources of banana trees and the financing of research on the conservation and use of genetic resources carried out in Belgium;
Considering the close collaboration in many areas of activity between FAO and Bioversity International and in particular the fact that in the framework of the control and exchange of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, the global collection of banana tree genetic material maintained by Bioversity International is part of the international network of collections established by FAO, and that this collection is now under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources 2006 signed under the Agreements
Considering that Bioversity International as an international research organization is part of the 15 research centres grouped in the consortium of international centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) based, inter alia, by the World Bank under the joint sponsorship of FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the task of coordinating international agricultural research programmes in the field of poverty reduction and
Considering the Headquarters Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, made in Brussels on 15 October 2003, referred to as "the Headquarters Agreement";
Considering that it is necessary to supplement and clarify certain tax privileges conferred on Bioversity International in Belgium in order to harmonize its regime of privileges and immunities with that of other international organizations of the same order having concluded a headquarters agreement with Belgium;
The following agreed:
Article 1
The term "IPGRI" is replaced by the words "Biversity International" in the title and body of the text of the Headquarters Agreement.
Article 2
The name "IPGRI Bureau" is replaced by the name "Biversity International Office" in the body of the text of the Headquarters Agreement.
Article 3
Bioversity International takes over all IGRI rights and obligations in Belgium. Personality and legal capacity are recognized at the Bureau of Bioversity International in Belgium.
Article 4
In Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Headquarters Agreement, the words "from the day that these revenues are subject to tax for the benefit of the said Organization, subject to the recognition by Belgium of the domestic tax system" are deleted.
Article 5
In Article 30 of the Headquarters Agreement, the words "In respect of salaries, emoluments and allowances subject to tax levied for the benefit of the IGRI, this form also mentions the amount of this tax" are deleted.
Article 6
Each Party shall notify the other of the procedures required for the implementation of this Agreement. It will remain in force either during the validity period of Bioversity International or until the expiry of one year from the date on which one of the Parties will inform the other of its intention to terminate it.
In faith, the Representatives of the Kingdom of Belgium and Bioversity International signed this Agreement.
Done in Brussels on 3 December 2012, in duplicate, in French, Dutch and English, the three texts being authentic.