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COOPERATION AGREEMENT

between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation on Research and Development in the field of wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,

hereinafter referred to as 'the Community',

and

THE SWISS CONFEDERATION

hereinafter referred to as 'Switzerland',

Hereinafter referred to as the 'Contracting Parties',

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Decision of the Council of the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as 'the Council', of 18 February 1985, Switzerland and the Community cooperated, for a period up to 31 December 1985 on research and development in the field of wood as a renewable raw material; whereas the Contracting Parties have both benefited from this cooperation;

WHEREAS, by its Decision of 19 May 1982, the Swiss Federal Council adopted, for the period ending in April 1988 and extended to the end of 1990, a national programme on wood as an energy source and renewable raw material, herinafter referred to as 'the Swiss programme', which is implemented and financed in Switzerland by the Swiss National fund for Scientific Research;

WHEREAS, by its Decision of 10 June 1986, the Council adopted, for a period of four years from 1 January 1986, a research programme on materials (raw materials and advanced materials), which includes a subprogramme on wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material, hereinafter referred to as 'the Community programme'; whereas Article 6 of that Decision provides for the conclusion of ageements with third States, in particular those involved in European cooperation in the field of scientific and technical research (COST);

WHEREAS the Community and Switzerland concluded a Framework Agreement for scientific and technical cooperation which entered into force on 17 July 1987;

WHEREAS cooperation between the Swiss and Community programmes would continue to ensure that the respective research undertaken is complementary and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Community and Switzerland shall cooperate on the Community and Swiss programmes as described in Annexes A and B.

Article 2

Each Contracting Party shall bear the cost of implementing its own programme.

The costs arising from inter-programme cooperation activities shall be defrayed by the Contracting Parties, each party being responsible for the amounts which concern it.

Article 3

The objective of the cooperation referred to in Article 1 is to coordinate the Community and Swiss programmes and to provide a stimulus for carrying out the programmes with a view to deriving greater benefit from the respective research efforts.

The aims of this coordination are, in particular:

- to select and define research projects,

- to monitor the implementation of projects,

- to evaluate the results and identify new research priorities.

It shall be carried out through:

- a detailed exchange of information on the respective programmes,

- participation of representatives of one Contracting Party in the seminars and symposia of the other,

- organization of visits by specialists from one Contracting Party to research institutes of the other,

- regular close contacts between those responsible for the Community and Swiss programmes. Article 4

The Commission of the European Communities, of the one part, and the bodies designated by the Swiss Federal Council, of the other part, shall ensure that cooperation takes place between the Community and Swiss programmes.

To this end, the person responsible for the Community programme shall invite the person responsible for the Swiss programme to attend meetings of Community working parties and groups of experts, as necessary, and the person responsible for the Swiss programme shall invite the person responsible for the Community programme to attend meetings of Swiss working parties and groups of experts, as necessary.

These persons may be accompanied by experts at the meetings to which they are invited.

Article 5

Knowledge resulting from the implementation of the Community programme during the period of validity of this Agreement shall be communicated to Switzerland and to its bodies (organs, undertakings or persons) carrying out research or production work justifying access to this knowledge, under the same conditions as to the Member States of the Community.

Knowledge resulting from the implementation of the Swiss programme during the period of validity of this Agreement shall be communicated to the Member States of the Community and to their relevant bodies under the same conditions as to the relevant Swiss bodies.

If in the implementation of the respective programmes patentable inventions, which will be protected by patents, are made or conceived, the Contracting Parties shall encourage as far as possible the granting by the holders of such patents of non-exclusive licenses to persons and undertakings established in the Community and Switzerland. Any such licenses shall be granted on non-discriminatory terms.

Article 6

This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty, and on the other hand, to the territory of the Swiss Confederation.

Article 7

1. This Agreement shall be concluded for the duration of the programme of the Contracting Party which expires first.

Unless notice of termination of the Agreement is served in the month following a decision to revise the programme of one of the Contracting Parties, Annex A or B shall be amended to take account of the revision. The Contracting Parties shall inform one another of decisions to revise the programmes.

2. Unless notice of termination is served in the month following the decision to adopt a new programme by one of the Contracting Parties, this Agreement shall be extended for the duration of the programme of the Contracting Party which expires first.

The provisions of the second subparagraph of the paragraph 1 above shall be applicable mutatis mutandis.

3. This Agreement shall be deemed not to have expired solely by the fact of a delay in the adoption of a subsequent programme of one of the Contracting Parties.

4. With the exception of the provisions set out in paragraphs 1 and 2, each Contracting Party may at any moment terminate the Agreement by serving six months notice.

Article 8

Annexes A and B shall form an integral part of the Agreement.

Article 9

This Agreement shall be approved by the Contracting Parties under the procedures in force for each of them. It shall enter into force as soon as the Contracting Parties have notified one another of completion of the procedures necessary to this effect.

Article 10

This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, each text being equally authentic.

1.2 // For the Swiss Confederation // On behalf of the Council of the European Communities

ANNEX A

Community programme on wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material (1986 to 1989)

The Community programme shall cover the following research areas:

1.2 // 1. // Wood production // 1.1. // Forest-tree breeding and gene resource conservation // 1.2. // Protection against damage from biotic and abiotic agents and fire // 1.3. // Better use of land resources (coordination action only) // 1.4. // Forest inventories (coordination action only) // 2. // Wood harvest, storage and transport // 2.1. // Organization of harvesting operations and development of harvesting machinery // 2.2. // Harvesting, treatment, storage and transport // 3. // Wood as a material // 3.1. // Properties, protection and improvement of wood and wood-based panels // 3.2. // Development of testing and grading procedures // 4. // Mechanical wood processing and use of finished wood products // 4.1. // Mechanical conversion and manufacturing processes // 4.2. // Drying processes // 4.3. // Use of wood and wood-based materials in construction // 4.4. // Other uses of finished products made of wood // 5. // Pulp and paper manufacturing and processing and wood chemicals // 5.1. // The physical and organic chemistry of wood defibring // 5.2. // Chemi-mechanical pulping (high-yield pulping) // 5.3. // Pulping processes with low-grade wood // 5.4. // Substitutes for wood fibres and material additives // 5.5. // Fibre recycling // 5.6. // The process of manufacture of paper and board // 5.7. // Products derived from wood as a source of chemicals

The programme shall be implemented by means of shared-cost research contracts and coordination and training activities.

ANNEX B

Swiss programme on wood as an energy source and a renewable raw material (1982 to 1990)

1. National supply requirements:

- Forestry policy and forestry law in a situation of chronic scarcity,

- Increased production with the help of sylvicultural means,

- Claims and conflicts as regards operation,

- Utilization for forestry purposes of forage areas released,

- Making mountain forests accessible,

- Basic data for the management of forestry undertakings,

- Optimizing the management of forestry undertakings,

- The timber market.

2. Vital wood products:

- Increased processing of wood in Switerland,

- Optimum distribution of raw materials,

- Exports and imports,

- The properties of Swiss wood,

- Sorting facilities in small and medium-sized undertakings,

- Optimizing craft trade undertakings,

- Construction-timber joining techniques,

- Deformation and long-term resistance of construction components and load-bearing structures,

- Processes for impregnating large sections,

- Exterior wood covering,

- Wood in interior decoration,

- Organic components of sulphur-free waste solutions,

- Biodegradation of lignin,

- Process control system in the timber industry.

3. Wood as an energy source:

- Wood as an energy source in times of crisis,

- Energy potential of the wood used as material for civil engineering purposes,

- Transport and distribution of wood as an energy source.

4. Economic effects of forest dieback:

- Simulation model of economic losses.