{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-1996-1610/article-1",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-1996-1610/article-1.json",
  "legislation": "eur/1996/1610",
  "legislation_title": "Regulation (EC) No 1610/96 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 concerning the creation of a supplementary protection certificate for plant protection products",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-1996-1610",
  "path": "article/1",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "1",
  "heading": "Definitions",
  "text": "For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:\n1..‘plant protection products’: active substances and preparations containing one or more active substances, put up in the form in which they are supplied to the user, intended to:\n(a)protect plants or plant products against all harmful organisms or prevent the action of such organisms, in so far as such substances or preparations are not otherwise defined below;\n(b)influence the life processes of plants, other than as a nutrient (e.g. plant growth regulators);\n(c)preserve plant products, in so far as such substances or products are not subject to special ... provisions on preservatives;\n(d)destroy undesirable plants; or\n(e)destroy parts of plants, check or prevent undesirable growth of plants;\n2..‘substances’: chemical elements and their compounds, as they occur naturally or by manufacture, including any impurity inevitably resulting from the manufacturing process;\n3..‘active substances’: substances or micro-organisms including viruses, having general or specific action:\n(a)against harmful organisms; or\n(b)on plants, parts of plants or plant products;\n4..‘preparations’: mixtures or solutions composed of two or more substances, of which at least one is an active substance, intended for use as plant protection products;\n5..‘plants’: live plants and live parts of plants, including fresh fruit and seeds;\n6..‘plant products’: products in the unprocessed state or having undergone only simple preparation such as milling, drying or pressing, derived from plants, but excluding plants themselves as defined in point 5;\n7..‘harmful organisms’: pests of plants or plant products belonging to the animal or plant kingdom, and also viruses, bacteria and mycoplasmas and other pathogens;\n8..‘product’: the active substance as defined in point 3 or combination of active substances of a plant protection product;\n9..‘basic patent’: a patent which protects a product as defined in point 8 as such, a preparation as defined in point 4, a process to obtain a product or an application of a product, and which is designated by its holder for the purpose of the procedure for grant of a certificate;\n10..‘certificate’: the supplementary protection certificate;\n11..‘comptroller’ means the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks;\n12..‘court’ means—\n(a)as respects England and Wales, the High Court;\n(b)as respects Scotland, the Court of Session;\n(c)as respects Northern Ireland, the High Court in Northern Ireland;\n13..‘EEA authorization’ means an authorization to place a plant protection product on the market which has effect in an EEA state in accordance with Regulation(EC) No 1107/2009;\n14..‘patent’ means a patent which has effect in the United Kingdom;\n15..“GB authorisation” means an authorisation, to place a plant protection product on the market in England and Wales and Scotland, granted or having effect as if granted under Regulation (EC) 1107/2009;\n16..“NI authorisation” means an authorisation, to place a plant protection product on the market in Northern Ireland, granted or having effect as if granted in accordance with Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 as it has effect by virtue of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in the EU withdrawal agreement;\n17..“prescribed” means prescribed by rules under section 123 of the Patents Act 1977.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Words in Art. 1(1)(c) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Patents (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/801), regs. 1, 20(2); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Art. 1(11)-(14) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Patents (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/801), regs. 1, 20(3) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1050, regs. 1(2), 31 and S.I. 2020/1471, regs. 1(2), 2(3) (with reg. 7)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Art. 1(15)-(17) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Supplementary Protection Certificates (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1471), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 2 (with reg. 7)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/1996/1610/article/1",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T14:59:06.939168+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}