Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 17th June, 2011.

WHEREAS it is enacted by section 40(1) (as amended by section 3 of the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities (Amendment) Act 2006 (No. 10 of 2006)) of the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967 (No. 8 of 1967) that the Government may by order designate an international organisation, community or body of which the State or the Government is or intends to become a member to be an organisation to which Part VIII of that Act applies;

AND WHEREAS the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants is such an international organisation;

NOW, the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by the said section 40(1), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (Designation) Order 2011.

2. The Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants is hereby designated as an organisation to which Part VIII of the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967 (No. 8 of 1967) applies.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government,

7 June 2011.

ENDA KENNY,

Taoiseach.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The purpose of this Order is to give effect within the State to Article 24 of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants of 2 December 1961 as revised at Geneva on 10 November 1972, on 23 October 1978 and on 19 March 1991. Article 24 provides that the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants has legal personality and enjoys on the territory of each Contracting Party, in conformity with the laws applicable in the said territory, such legal capacity as may be necessary for the fulfilment of the objectives of the Union and for the exercise of its functions.