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12 JULY 2012. - An Act to amend the Act of July 12, 1973 on the Conservation of Nature (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Section 5 of the Nature Conservation Act of 12 July 1973 is replaced as follows:
“Art. 5. Without prejudice to the provisions of legislation on hunting, the health police of domestic animals and the protection of plants and without prejudice to the obligations resulting from international conventions, the King may take measures to:
1° regulate, suspend or prohibit import, export and transit of non-native plant species and non-native animal species and their remains;
2° to subject the import, export and transit of non-native plant species and non-native animal species and their remains to an approval, prior authorization, registration or notification, as well as to establish the conditions under which authorizations or registrations may be granted, suspended and withdrawn;
3° to regulate the release of non-native animal species and their introduction to game parks. "
Art. 3. In the same law, an article 5bis is inserted, as follows:
"Art. 5bis. The King may establish by a deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers a Federal Advisory Council that gives its opinion on any matter concerning the importation, export and transit of non-native plant species as well as non-native animal species and their remains. "
Art. 4. In the same Act, an article 5ter is inserted, as follows:
"Art. 5ter. § 1^er. The State may enter into sectoral agreements relating to the import, export and transit of invasive non-native animal or plant species with companies that participate in the dispersion of these species or organizations of such enterprises.
The organizations referred to in the first paragraph must demonstrate that they:
1° are representative of enterprises belonging to the same sector; and
2° have the statutory competence required to conclude such an agreement or are mandated by, at least, three quarters of their members to conclude with the State a sectoral agreement that will bind them in accordance with § 4, 1°.
§ 2. To the extent that a company or organization meets the conditions defined in § 1^er and with the agreement of the State, it can adhere to an existing sectoral agreement.
§ 3. A sectoral agreement cannot replace or derogate from existing legislation or regulations in the sense of less stringent provisions.
§ 4. Sectoral agreements must meet the following minimum requirements:
1° a sectoral agreement links the parties, as soon as it was signed by all the parties concerned.
Depending on its provisions, the sectoral agreement also links all members of the organization or a group of members generally described.
The sectoral agreement is binding, in full law, on companies that adhere to the organization after the signing of the agreement and which are part, if any, of the group of members generally described in a sectoral agreement.
Members of the organization bound by the sectoral agreement cannot avoid the obligations arising from it, leaving the organization;
2° a sectoral agreement shall be entered into for a specified period which shall not, in any case, exceed ten years. Any longer duration is reduced, straightforward, to ten years.
A sectoral agreement can not be renewed in silence. The State and one or more affiliated organizations may extend the sectoral agreement without amendment;
3° it can be put to an end a sectoral agreement:
(a) the expiry of the validity period;
(b) by termination by one of the parties; unless otherwise provided in the agreement, the notice period is six months;
(c) a convention between the parties.
§ 5. The provisions of this Article shall be public. They are applicable to sectoral agreements that will be concluded after the coming into force of the Act of 12 July 2012 amending the Conservation of Nature Act of 12 July 1973.
§ 6. Any sectoral agreement concluded pursuant to this Act, as well as any modification, renewal or termination of or accession to a sectoral agreement concluded pursuant to this Act, shall be published to the Belgian Monitor. This is also the case when it is terminated, anticipateably, to the sectoral agreement by convention between the parties. "
Art. 5. In Article 44 of the Act, § 1^er is replaced by the following:
« § 1^er. It is punishable by imprisonment from fifteen days to three months and a fine of 25 euros to 2,000 euros, or one of these penalties only, that which violates the import, export and transit provisions of non-native plant species as well as non-native animal species and their remains taken pursuant to Article 5. "
Art. 6. In the same law, an article 44bis is inserted, which reads as follows:
"Art. 44bis. § 1^er. Offences to the import, export and transit provisions of non-native plant species and non-native animal species and their remains pursuant to section 5 of this Act are subject to either criminal prosecution or administrative fines, as referred to in this section.
§ 2. verbalizing persons referred to in section 47, paragraph 1^er, send the minutes which notices the offence to the King's attorney as well as a copy to the grievor, holder of a licence or master in law, designated by the King.
§ 3. The King's prosecutor decides whether or not to prosecute criminally. Criminal proceedings exclude the application of an administrative fine, even if an acquittal closes them.
The King's Attorney shall have a period of three months from the date of receipt of the minutes to notify the King's designated official. In the event that the King's prosecutor waives criminal proceedings or fails to notify his or her decision within the time limit, the officer designated by the King, in accordance with the terms and conditions fixed by the King, decides, after placing the person concerned in a position to present his or her defence, if it is necessary to propose an administrative fine of the head of the offence.
The public action is terminated when the King's prosecutor waives criminal proceedings or fails to notify his decision within the specified time limit.
§ 4. The amount of the administrative fine may not be less than half the minimum of the fine provided by the legal provision violated, nor more than one twentieth of the maximum of that fine.
These amounts are increased by additional decimals for criminal fines.
§ 5. In the event of an offence contest, the amounts of administrative fines are accumulated, without their total being able to exceed the maximum provided for in Article 44, § 1^er.
§ 6. Payment of the administrative fine extinguishes public action.
§ 7. If the employee remains in default of paying the administrative fine, referred to in § 3, paragraph 2, within the time limit, the employee shall continue to pay the fine before the competent court.
If the administrative fine fails to be paid within the time limits set out in § 3, the official designated by the King shall take the competent court to decide on the imposition of the fine. "
Art. 7. In section 47 of the Act, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:
"Without prejudice to the powers of judicial police officers, offences relating to the import, export and transit of non-native plant species and non-native animal species and their remains under section 5 of this Act are sought and recognized by members of the federal and local police, by customs officers and by members of the public health community, "
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 12 July 2012.
ALBERT
By the King:
Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of the Interior and Equal Opportunities,
Ms. J. MILQUET
The Secretary of State for Environment, Energy and Mobility, Deputy Minister of the Interior and Equal Opportunities,
Mr. WATHELET
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
(1) Session 2011-2012.
House of Representatives
Documents. - Bill No. 53-1894./1. - Amendment, No. 53-1894/2. - Report made on behalf of the Commission, No. 53-1894/3. Text adopted by the Commission, No. 53-1894/4. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, No. 53-1894/5.
Full report. - 7 June 2012.
Senate
Document. - Project not referred to by the Senate, No. 5-1660/1.