Article 13

1. Where the Administrative Council entrusts the competent office in a Member State with responsibility for the technical examination for certain genera or species, the President of the Office shall notify such office, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Examination Office’, of that fact, hereinafter referred to as ‘the designation of an Examination Office’. That designation shall take effect on the day of that notification. This provision shall apply mutatis mutandis to the amendment or cancellation of the designation of an Examination Office, subject to Article 15(6) of this Regulation.

1a. The Administrative Council may make the designation of an Examination Office, or an extension of the scope of an existing designation of an Examination Office subject to compliance with the relevant requirements, guidelines and procedures of the Office.

Should an Examination Office make use of technically qualified bodies referred to in Article 56(3) of the basic Regulation, the Examination Office shall ensure compliance with the relevant requirements, guidelines and procedures of the Office.

The Office shall conduct an audit to check whether the Examination Office complies with the relevant requirements, guidelines and procedures of the Office. Following an audit, the Office shall draw up an audit report.

The Administrative Council shall base its decision on the designation of an Examination Office on the audit report drawn up by the Office.

1b. For the extension of the scope of an existing designation of an Examination Office initiated by the Office, the Administrative Council may, in the absence of an audit report, base its decision on a report drawn up by the Office in which compliance with the relevant requirements, guidelines and procedures of the Office is assessed.

For the extension of the scope of an existing designation of an Examination Office initiated by an Examination Office, the Administrative Council shall base its decision on an audit report drawn up by the Office.

1c. Based on an audit report, the Administrative Council may decide to cancel, or reduce the scope of, an existing designation of an Examination Office.

Based on a request by an Examination Office, to which the Office agrees, the scope of an existing designation of an Examination Office may be reduced. The Office shall implement the reduction in the agreement referred to in Article 15(1).

2. A member of the staff of the Examination Office taking part in a technical examination shall not be allowed to make any unauthorised use of, or disclose to any unauthorised person, any facts, documents and information coming to their knowledge in the course of or in connection with the technical examination. They shall continue to be bound by this obligation after the termination of the technical examination concerned, after leaving the service and after the cancellation of the designation of the Examination Office concerned.

3. Paragraph 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to material of the plant variety which has been made available to the Examination Office by the applicant.

The Office may develop guiding principles concerning the use by Examination Offices of plant material that has been submitted for distinctiveness, uniformity and stability testing in the framework of applications for a Community plant variety right. Such guiding principles may include conditions under which such plant material may be transferred between Examination Offices.

4.   The Office shall monitor compliance with paragraphs 2 and 3 and shall decide on the exclusion of or objections raised to members of the staff of Examination Offices in accordance with Article 81(2) of the basic Regulation.