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Exchange of Notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France constituting an Agreement amending the Agreement concerning Cinematographic Relations, signed May 30, 1983, as amended February 8, 1989 and September 8, 1992, the Agreement on Television Relations, signed July 11, 1983, as amended February 8, 1989 and September 8, 1992, the Agreement concerning the Promotion of Film and Video Co-production Projects in the Field of Animation, signed January 10, 1985, as amended September 8, 1992 and the Agreement regarding the Development of French Language Audiovisual Co-production Projects for Television, signed March 14, 1990 [1997] CATSer 33 (25 October 1997)

E103390 - CTS 1997 No. 46

EXCHANGE OF NOTES BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC CONSTITUTING AN AGREEMENT AMENDING THE AGREEMENT CONCERNING CINEMATOGRAPHIC RELATIONS, SIGNED MAY 30, 1983, AS AMENDED FEBRUARY 8, 1989 AND SEPTEMBER 8, 1992, THE AGREEMENT ON TELEVISION RELATIONS, SIGNED JULY 11, 1983, AS AMENDED FEBRUARY 8, 1989 AND SEPTEMBER 8, 1992, THE AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE PROMOTION OF FILM AND VIDEO CO-PRODUCTION PROJECTS IN THE FIELD OF ANIMATION, SIGNED JANUARY 10, 1985, AS AMENDED SEPTEMBER 8, 1992 AND THE AGREEMENT REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH LANGUAGE AUDIOVISUAL CO-PRODUCTION PROJECTS FOR TELEVISION, SIGNED MARCH 14, 1990

I

The Secretary of State for External Affairs to the Ambassador of France in Canada

May 21, 1993

Excellency,

I have the honour to refer to the following Agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France:

(i) The Agreement concerning Cinematographic Relations signed in Ottawa on May 30 1983, as amended by an Exchange of Notes done in Ottawa on February 8, 1989 and on September 8, 1992;

(ii) The Agreement concerning the promotion of film and video co-production projects in the field of animation, signed in Paris on January 10, 1985, as amended by an Exchange of Notes done in Ottawa on September 8, 1992;

(iii) The Agreement on television relations, signed in Paris on July 11, 1983 as amended by an Exchange of Notes done in Ottawa on February 8, 1989 and on September 8, 1992; and

(iv) The Agreement concerning the development of French language audiovisual co-production projects for television, signed in Ottawa on March 14, 1990.

At the meeting of the Joint Cinematographic Commission held in Paris on September 17 and 18, 1992, representatives of our two countries agreed to amend these Agreements. I have the honour, on the instructions of my Government, to propose amendments to those agreements in accordance with the Annex to this Note.

If the proposed amendments are acceptable to the Government of France, I have the honour to propose that this Note, which is authentic in English and French, and your Excellency’s reply to that effect shall constitute an agreement between our two Governments amending the four agreements listed in the opening paragraph of this Note, which shall enter into force on the date of your reply.

Please accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.

Elisabeth Châtillon

Director General International Relations Branch
Department of Communications

for the Secretary of State for External Affairs

i) Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France concerning Cinematographic Relations.

A) Paragraph (1) of Article III shall be modified by adding the underlined sentence below in the location indicated:

"(1) The scriptwriters and directors of cinematographic productions, as well as technicians and performers participating in the production, must be nationals of France or Canada, or nationals of member States of the European Economic Area, or residents of France or permanent residents of Canada;"

B) The agreement shall be modified by adding the following appendix on financial coproduction:

"APPENDIX on financial co-production.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article IV of the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France concerning Cinematographic Relations, productions produced under the framework of a financial co-production may be considered, with the consent of the competent authorities, to be co-productions and qualify for the benefits of such.

In order to be approved by the competent French and Canadian authorities, these productions must meet the following conditions:

1) entail a minority contribution that may be limited to a financial contribution, without necessarily excluding any artistic and technical contribution, pursuant to the co-production contract, but that is not less than 20% of the cost of production;

2) consist in an equal number of films with majority French financial contribution and films with majority Canadian financial contribution, the financial contributions made by each party balancing out over a period of two years;

3) be of such technical quality and have such artistic value as entertainment as to be of acknowledged interest to French and Canadian filmmaking; competent authorities in France and Canada will determine whether or not the films have those characteristics;

4) be the subject of co-production contracts containing equitable provisions concerning the distribution of receipts;

5) be accessible to experienced producers who have demonstrated continuing relations with foreign partners.

If it appears, in the course of a particular year, that the condition set out in subparagraph 2) above cannot be met, the competent authorities in the country to whose detriment the imbalances will be, shall request a meeting within three (3) months between the competent government authorities to consider ways of restoring the necessary balance. Until an agreement on this point is reached, the country in whose favour the imbalance exists may no longer show majority films.

This Annex shall be in force for a period of two (2) years. A tacit renewal of the agreement for like periods shall take place unless one or the other of the contracting parties gives notice of termination within six (6) months before the expiry date. However, co-productions in progress at the time of notice of termination of the Agreement by either party, shall continue to benefit fully from the conditions of this Agreement until their completion."

ii) Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the French Republic concerning the Promotion of Film and Video Co-Production Projects In the Field of Animation.

A) Paragraph (3) of article III shall be modified by adding the underlined sentence in the location indicated:

III (3) The selective financial assistance of each party, calculated on the basis of the portion of the production budget assumed by the co-production under the jurisdiction of that party, shall be determined as follows:

- in the case of a majority participation project carried out by a Canadian co-producer: a maximum of 200,000 Canadian dollars from Canada;

- in the case of a majority participation project carried out by a French co-­producer: a maximum of 1,200,000 FF from France.

The selective financial assistance provided by the country of the minority co-producer must be proportionately equitable to the selective assistance provided by the country of the majority co-producer. This percentage may not be greater than 20%.

(iii) Agreement on Television Relations between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France

A) Paragraph d) of Article II shall be modified by adding the underlined sentence below in the location indicated:

“d) To be produced with the participation of scriptwriters, directors, technicians and performers who are nationals of Canada or France or nationals of members states that are parties to the European Economic Area or permanent residents of Canada or of France.”

B) The Annex of the agreement is modified by adding the underlined sentence below in the location indicated:

ANNEX OF THE AGREEMENT ON TELEVISION RELATIONS (ON TWINNING)

2) there shall be respective reciprocal investments and an overall balance with respect to the conditions of sharing the receipts of co-producers in productions benefiting from twinning.

3) producers, scriptwriters, performers, directors and technicians who participate in such twinned productions shall be nationals of Canada or France or nationals of a member State of the EC or of other European States that are parties to the European Economic Area, or permanent residents of Canada or of France. The competent authorities may, however, in exceptional cases, make exceptions to this rule, having regard to the nature of the twinned productions.

5) the twinned productions must be broadcast under comparable conditions in France and in Canada.

7) twinned productions may be produced either at the same time or consecutively, on the understanding that, in the latter case, the time between the completion of the first production and the start of the second does not exceed one (1) year.

The competent French and Canadian authorities must ensure an overall balance between the financial contributions of each party on a biennial basis.

(iv) Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of Canada regarding the development of French language audiovisual co-production projects for television.

A) Paragraph (4) of Article III shall be deleted.

B) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of article IV shall be deleted.

II

The Ambassador of France to the Director General of Internal Relations and Intergovernmental Affairs

(Translation)

FRENCH EMBASSY IN CANADA

OTTAWA, October 25, 1997

Mr. Denny Gelinas
Director General of International Relations
and Intergovernmental Affairs
Department of Canadian Heritage

Dear Mr. Gelinas:

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter, dated May 21, 1993, proposing amendments to the following agreements between the Government of the Republic of France and the Government of Canada:

- the Agreement concerning Cinematographic Relations signed in Ottawa on May 30, 1983, as amended by an Exchange of Notes done in Ottawa on February 8, 1989 and on September 8, 1992;

- the Agreement concerning the promotion of film and video co­-production projects in the field of animation, signed in Paris on January 10, 1985, as amended by an Exchange of Notes done in Ottawa on September 8, 1992;

- the Agreement on television relations, signed in Paris on July 11, 1983, as amended by an Exchange of Notes done in Ottawa on February 8, 1989 and on September 8, 1992; and

- the Agreement concerning the development of French-language audiovisual co-production projects for television, signed in Ottawa on March 14, 1990.

I am pleased to inform you that the Government of the Republic of France is agreeable to the proposals contained in your letter. I also wish to confirm that your letter, the French and English texts of which are equally authentic, constitutes an agreement between our Governments.

However, while it was decided at the meeting of the Joint Cinematographic Commission of September 17 and 18, 1992, that the Agreement concerning Cinematographic Relations would be amended by adding an annex on financial co-production, I suggest that you add a provision to the effect that the application of annex B on financial co-production of film will be stayed until further notice.

Under these terms, the present Agreement will come into force on November 1, 1997.

Sincerely,

Loïc Hennekinne