laws Law n° 2007-50 dated 23 July 2007 amending and supplementing the law n° 2001-36 dated 17 April 2001, relating to the protection of the fabric, trade and services marks (1). In the name of the people, The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors having adopted, The President of the Republic enacts the following law : Article one - Shall be repealed the provisions of the 51st article of the law n° 2001-36 dated 17 April, 2001 relating to the protection of the fabric, trade and services marks, and replaced by the provisions hereafter : Article 51 (new) : Without prejudice to sanctions by special texts, will be punished of a fine from 10000 to 50000 dinars whoever : a) have contravened the provisions of the 22nd and the 23rd articles of this law. b) have imported goods carrying a counterfeited mark. Art. 2 - Are added to the law n° 2001-36 dated 17 April, 2001, relating to the protection of the fabric, trade and services marks, articles 52 (second), 52 (third), 52 (quarter), 52 (quinquies), 52 (sexies), 52 (septies), 52 (octies) and 52 (nonies) : Article 52 second - The infringements envisaged at the point (a) of the 51st and the 52nd articles of this law are noted by the agents enumerated below : - Legal senior police officers quoted with numbers 3 and 4 of article 10 of the penal procedure code. - Agents of economic control indicated in accordance with the particular statute governing the body of economic control, who are sworn in and entitled for this purpose. - Doctors, veterinary surgeons, pharmacists, engineers and high-level technicians who are sworn in and entitled by the Minister in charge of agriculture or the Minister in charge of the public health. - Customs agents. The infringements with the provisions envisaged at the point (b) of article 51 of this law are noted by the customs agents. Article 52 third - With regard to the infringements with the provisions envisaged at the point (a) of articles 51 and 52 of this law, the agents aimed to article 52 (second), after having made known their quality carry out the provisional seizure of the products suspected to be counterfeited. An official report of provisional seizure is established for this purpose and must comprise the following mentions : - Date : hour, day, month and year. - Names and quality of the agents. - Place of the observation. - Identity and quality of the holder of the goods and, if necessary, identity and the quality of the person who is present at the time of the observation. ________ (1) preparatory works : Discussion and adoption by the Chamber of Deputies during its session held on 10 July 2007. Discussion and adoption by the Chamber of Advisors during its session held on 16 July 2007. Page 772 - Legal base. - Identification of the seized product: its denomination, quantity, mark, packing and, if necessary, the weight, the number of the batch and dates of manufacture and validity of the product. - Identity and quality of the person at whom are consigned the seized products. - Signatures of the agents and the person who is present at the time of the observations and, if necessary, the person at whom are consigned the seized products. With the case of refusal to sign, a mention is made in the official report. The official report can comprise all other mentions that the agents policemen consider useful for purposes of the investigations. The duration of temporarily measure of seizure cannot exceed one month. The Public prosecutor can, by writing, extend this duration for the same duration and only once. With the expiry of this time this measurement ceases automatically. During the period of seizure the suspected products are left in guard of their holder, or if necessary, in a place chosen by the agents provided that this place meets the necessary conditions of conservation. The service which the agents concerned belong to is held to inform the owner of the mark or its having right, by any means which can leave record, and to grant the possibility to him of examining the taken samples and of carrying out the expertises enabling him to come to a conclusion about the counterfeit. If it proves that the products seized temporarily are not counterfeited, the measurement of seizure is raised systematically. In the contrary case, the service, which the agents belong to having carried out the provisional seizure, establishes an official report of infringement against the contravener and transmits it to the minister in charge of trade who will transmit it to the Public prosecutor of the competent jurisdiction court, accompanied with the administration requests. Article 52 quater - In the achievement of their missions, the agents in charge of the observation of the infringements are authorized : 1/ to enter, during the usual hours of opening or work, in the professional buildings. They are also authorized to achieve their missions during the carriage of the goods. 2/ to make ail the necessary observations and to obtain, on first requisition and without displacement, documents, parts and registers necessary to their investigations and observations and to take copies of them. 3/ to seize, counters receips, any document, cited in the second paragraph, necessary to prove the infringement or to seek the joint authors of the infringement or their accomplices. 4/ to take samples according to the lawful modes and conditions. Each taking away comprises, unless materially impossible, four identical samples, including two intended for expertise and two others to subject if required to the contradictory expertises. Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia — 27 July 2007 N° 60