The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify him of the receipt, on November 24, 1981, of a written communication from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, relating to the National Collection of Yeast Cultures, indicating that the said depositary institution is located on the territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and including a declaration of assurances to the effect that the said institution complies and will continue to comply with the requirements concerning the acquisition of the status of international depositary authority as specified in Article 6(2) of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, done at Budapest on April 28, 1977.
The National Collection of Yeast Cultures will acquire the status of international depositary authority under the said Treaty as from January 31, 1982, the date of publication of the said communication in the January 1982 issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle (see Article 7(2)(b) of the said Treaty).
December 15, 1981
Text of the Written Communication of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dated November 23, 1981, Relating to the National Collection of Yeast Cultures
COMMUNICATION
1. I have the honour to refer to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, opened for signature at Budapest from the 28th of April to the 31st of December 1977. In accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of the said Treaty, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland nominate the National Collection of Yeast Cultures as an International Depositary Authority. The Government of the United Kingdom furnish their assurances that the National Collection of Yeast Cultures complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2) of the Treaty for an International Depositary Authority. The requisite information concerning this nominated Depositary Institution is set out below.
2. Accordingly I have the further honour to request that you carry out the procedures established by the Treaty and Regulations annexed to it, in connection with the acquisition of the status of International Depositary Authority by the Institution nominated herein.
3. The National Collection of Yeast Cultures (NCYC) is located in the United Kingdom at the Food Research Institute, Colney Lane, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UA, England.
4. The NCYC is the responsibility of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), a body established in the United Kingdom by Royal Charter.
5. The NCYC has been in continuous existence since 1951. Previously housed at the laboratories of the Brewing Research Foundation, it was relocated to the laboratories of the Agricultural Research Council's Food Research Institute in June 1980. The NCYC has a staff of three, two of whom hold University degrees and one an equivalent qualification. Additional administrative and technical support staff are available. This staff is fully competent and adequate to perform the scientific and administrative tasks required under the Budapest Treaty. The NCYC is affiliated to the World Federation for Culture Collections and has a recognised reputation for work concerned with the preservation, testing, authentication and distribution of yeasts other than known pathogens. At present the collection contains about 1500 strains of such micro-organisms. The NCYC performs its work in an impartial and objective way and will be available for the purposes of Deposit under the Treaty to any Depositor under the same conditions.
6. The NCYC has all the facilities necessary for the culturing, checking and long term preservation of yeasts. Cultures are maintained routinely by freeze-drying, with sub-culturing as a back-up method. Storage in liquid nitrogen is expected to replace sub-culturing as a back-up method. Patent cultures and records relating to them are stored in locked drawers and files. Only authorised staff have access to them. To minimise the risk of loss, duplicate cultures are stored in a building separate from that housing the main collection.
7. The NCYC is equipped and run in full accordance with the United Kingdom Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974.
8. The NCYC will accept for deposit yeasts other than known pathogens that can be preserved without significant change to their properties by freeze-drying or, exceptionally, in active culture.
9. In accordance with the Regulations for implementing the Budapest Treaty the NCYC will:
(a) examine the viability of such kinds of organisms and store them;
(b) issue receipt and viability statements as prescribed;
(c) comply with the prescribed secrecy requirements; and
(d) furnish samples under the conditions and in conformity with the prescribed procedures.
10. On behalf of the nominated Depositary Institution, I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with Rule 6.3(a) the NCYC requires before it will accept a micro-organism for deposit:
(i) that a deposit of a micro-organism should be in an appropriate form and adequate quantity to enable NCYC to carry out properly its duties under the Regulations;
(ii) that the Accession Form established by the NCYC for the purpose of administrative procedures be completed;
(iii) that the written statement referred to in Rule 6.1(a) or 6.2(a) be drafted in English;
(iv) that the fee for storage referred to in Rule 12.1(a)(i) be paid; and
(v) that the depositor complete the Application Form of the NCYC in entering into a contract with the NCYC establishing the terms and conditions on which deposit will be accepted.
11. The following fees are payable to the NCYC:
- for storage of the micro-organisms in accordance with the Treaty - £240;
- for issue of a Viability Statement in those cases in which, in accordance with Rule 10.2, a fee may be charged - £25;
- for furnishing of a sample in accordance with Rule 11.2 or 11.3 - £10 plus the actual cost of carriage.
All charges paid within the United Kingdom are subject to Value Added Tax at the current rate.
12. The NCYC conducts all its business in English.