Implementing Agreement To The Agreement On An International Energy Program Of November 18, 1974 On The Technical Exchange Of Information In The Field Of Reactor Safety Research And Development
Source: United States Treaties and Other Inter-national Agreements, vol. 28, pp. 2483 (TIAS 8571).
The Contracting Parties
CONSIDERING that the Contracting Parties have a mutual interest in co-operating on an international basis with each other in respect of the safety of nuclear reactors and believe that research on nuclear safety can be improved by encouraging and extending wherever practical the present exchange of technical information among the Contracting Parties;
CONSIDERING that the Contracting Parties, being either governments or parties proposed by their respective governments pursuant to Article III of the Guiding Principles for Co-operation in the Field of Energy Research and Development adopted by the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (the "Agency") on 28th July, 1975, wish to take part in the Technical Exchange of Information in the Field of Reactor Safety Research and Development (the "Technical Exchange") as provided in this Agreement;
CONSIDERING that the Contracting Parties which are governments and the governments of the other Contracting Parties (referred to collectively as the "Governments") participate in the Agency and have agreed in Article 41 of the Agreement on an Inter-national Energy Program (the "I.E.P. Agreement") [1] to undertake national programmes and to promote the adoption of co-operative programmes in the areas set out in Article 42 of the I.E.P. Agreement, including the area of energy research and development in reactor safety;
CONSIDERING that in the Governing Board of the Agency on 28th July, 1975, the Governments approved the Technical Exchange as a special activity under Article 65 of the I.E.P. Agreement;
CONSIDERING that the Agency has recognised the establishment of the Technical Exchange as an important component of international co-operation in. the field of reactor safety research and development;
CONSIDERING that the Nuclear Energy Agency ("NEA") of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") has agreed to assist in carrying out the Technical Exchange;
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Article 1
OBJECTIVES
(a) The Contracting Parties agree to exchange technical information related to research in reactor safety in their respective countries and in international organisations, by appropriate means such as the following: contribution to the Nuclear Safety Research Index of the Agency and the NEA, exchange of technical and progress reports and joint meetings of experts.
(b) Each Contracting Party is encouraged to exchange with all other Contracting Parties such additional information in the field of reactor safety research as may be in its possession or available to it, and which it has the right to disclose, in such specific detail as it may determine to be appropriate.
(c) The obligations of the Contracting Parties under this Agreement may be further implemented by other multilateral or bilateral exchange agreements which are undertaken to enhance more comprehensive co-operation in projects of specific mutual interest.
(d) The Contracting Parties support the widest possible dissemination of information developed under this Agreement to all States which participate in the International Energy Program as participating countries of the Agency ("Agency Participating Countries") subject to the need to protect intellectual property and to the following limitations:
(1) No Contracting Party shall be required to provide information treated as proprietary or privileged under the laws of its own country;
(2) In respect of any information exchanged or transferred between Contracting Parties, the Contracting Party transmitting such information shall not be held to warrant the suitability of such information for any particular use or application; and
(3) Any information transmitted under this Agreement and which is subject to limited dissemination in order to protect intellectual property, should be appropriately marked and identified, and such information so marked shall not be published by the recipient Contracting Parties without the consent of the originating Party, except as required by a final order of a judicial or other body having the right so to order.
Article 2
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
(a) With respect to intellectual property made, conceived, or developed from information transmitted under this Agreement by personnel of a recipient Contracting Party or by any person receiving such information from a recipient Contracting Party, which intellectual property was made, conceived, or developed, as a direct result of the information received ("resulting intellectual property"), the recipient Contracting Party or its Government shall determine the allocation of all rights to such resulting intellectual property in all countries; provided however that the Contracting Party transmitting the original information shall, without prejudice to any rights of inventors under the national law of the recipient Contracting Party, be granted a non-exclusive licence (with the right to sub-license) to such resulting intellectual property in all countries of the Contracting Parties other than the country of the making, conceiving, or developing Contracting Party for use in the production or utilisation of special nuclear material or atomic energy.
(b) Each Contracting Party will take all necessary steps to protect and respect intellectual property and protect proprietary information in accordance with the laws of its respective country and international law.
(c) Each Contracting Party shall, without prejudice to any rights of inventors under its national law, provide all necessary co-operation from its authors and inventors required to carry out the provisions in this Agreement regarding intellectual property.
(d) Each Contracting Party or its Government shall assume the responsibility to pay awards or compensation required to be paid to its employees according to the laws of its country.
(e) In this Article "intellectual property" shall mean intellectual property as defined in Article 2 (viii) of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation, signed on 14th July, 1967[1] as well as proprietary information. "Proprietary Information" shall mean information of a confidential nature (including e.g. "know-how" and "software") and information appropriately marked which is not yet patented or is not patentable but is subject to property rights or to commercial or other restrictions of a contractual, customary or legal nature.
Article 3
IMPLEMENTATION
(a) Each Contracting Party shall appoint one or more co-ordinators whose duty it will be to develop and co-ordinate the arrangements and procedures for implementing an effective exchange of information under this Agreement. A co-ordinator or co-ordinators may be appointed for each reactor type.
(b) Each Contracting Party shall notify the other Contracting Parties and the Executive Director of the Agency of the co-ordinator or co-ordinators chosen to represent it.
(c) The co-ordinators shall organise at least one annual meeting and such other meetings as may be mutually agreed upon to consider past achievements, problems, methods for improving the effectiveness of this Agreement and the design of future programmes, all with the objective of improving the exchange of information. The co-ordinators shall provide all Participating Countries with a periodic report on the progress of the Technical Exchange and shall report to the Governing Board as requested.
(d) In carrying out the Technical Exchange under this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall co-ordinate their activities with those of other services set up under the auspices of the OECD, as necessary, in order to avoid duplication of activities. In particular, the annual meeting of the co-ordinators shall be organised in conjunction with the plenary meeting of the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations of the NEA.
(e) The Contracting Parties shall, in operating the Technical Exchange, take account, as appropriate, of the Guiding Principles for Co-operation in the Field of Energy Research and Development, and any modification thereof, as well as other decisions of the Governing Board in that field. The termination of those Guiding Principles shall not affect this Agreement which shall continue in force in accordance with the terms hereof.
Article 4
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
(a) Each Contracting Party shall bear the costs it incurs in providing information for the Technical Exchange.
(b) The participation of each Contracting Party in the Technical Exchange shall be subject to the laws and regulations applicable to the Contracting Party and to the appropriation of funds by the appropriate governmental authority.
Article 5
ADDITION AND WITHDRAWAL OF CONTRACTING PARTIES
(a) Participation in the Technical Exchange as a Contracting Party shall, with the agreement of the Contracting Parties, be open to the government of any Agency Participating Country (or a national agency, public organisation, private corporation, company, or other entity proposed by such government) which requests participation in the Technical Exchange, signs this Agreement and assumes the rights and obligations of a Contracting Party.
(b) The government of any other Member of the OECD may, on the proposal of the Contracting Parties, be invited by the Governing Board of the Agency to participate in the Technical Exchange as a Contracting Party (or to propose a national agency, public organisation, private corporation, company, or other entity to do so), to sign this Agreement and to assume the rights and obligations of a Contracting Party.
(c) The Commission of the European Communities may take part in this Agreement in accordance with Article IV (c) of the Guiding Principles for Co-operation in the Field of Energy Research and Development adopted by the Governing Board of the Agency on 28th July, 1975.
(d) Any Contracting Party may withdraw from this Agreement at any time by giving six months written notice to that effect to the Executive Director of the Agency.
Article 6
FINAL PROVISIONS
(a) This Agreement shall remain in force for an initial period of five years from the date hereof. It may be extended thereafter by agreement of the Contracting Parties.
(b) This Agreement may be amended at any time by the Contracting Parties. Such amendments shall come into force in a manner determined by the Contracting Parties. All amendments to this Agreement shall be communicated in writing to the Executive Director of the Agency.
(e) The original of this Agreement shall be deposited with the Executive Director of the Agency and a certified copy thereof shall be furnished to each Contracting Party. A copy of this Agreement shall be furnished to each Agency Participating Country, to each Member country of the OECD and to the European Communities.
Done in Paris, this 20th day of May, 1976.
For the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA: DR. CARL H. BOBLETER For the CENTRE D'ÉTUDE A. LONNOY DE L'ÉNERGIE NUCLÉAIRE for and on behalf of M. FREROTTE the Government of Belgium: For ATOMIC ENERGY OF CANADA, Limited P.M. TowE (proposed by the Government of Canada): For the BUNDESMINISTERIUM FOR WOLF J. SCHMIDT-KÜSTER FORSCHUNG UND TECHNOLOGIE DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND: For COMITATO NAZIONALE ENERGIA EZIO CLEMENTEL NUCLEARE (CNEN) (proposed by the Government of Italy): For the JAPAN ATOMIC ENERGY EIJI MUNEKATA RESEARCH INSTITUTE (proposed by the Government of Japan): For STICHTING REACTOR CENTRUM NEDERLAND J. PELSER (proposed by the Netherlands): For the NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE FOR GEORG KRISTIANSEN NUCLEAR ENERGY for and on behalf of the Government of Norway: For the JUNTA DE ENERGIA NUCLEAR FRANCISCO J. VALLAURE for and on behalf of the Government of Spain: For the SWEDISH NUCLEAR POWER INSPECTORATE LEIF BELFRAGE (proposed by the Government of Sweden): For l'OFFICE FÉDÉRAL DE C. ZANGGER l'ÉCONOMIE ÉNERGÉTIQUE for and on behalf of the Government of Switzerland: For the UNITED KINGDOM ATOMIC P.J. SEARBY ENERGY AUTHORITY (proposed by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland): For the UNITED STATES WILLIAM C. TURNER NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION for and on behalf of the Government of the United States of America: The Legal Advisor of the International Energy Agency hereby certifies that the present copy conforms to the original text deposited with the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency RICHARD F. SCOTT.
