| (1) | The registrar may, if he or she deems it necessary, evaluate the usefulness of a variety for agricultural or industrial purposes. |
| (2) | For the purposes of subsection (1), the registrar may investigate— |
| (a) | any variety in respect of which an application for recognition has been submitted in terms of section 16; or |
| (a) | shall, in the case of a variety referred to in subsection (2)(a), be supplied free of charge to the registrar by the applicant at the prescribed time and place; and |
| (b) | may, in the case of a variety referred to in subsection (2)(b), be procured by the registrar against payment from any person. |
| (4) | The registrar may, in order to enable him or her to evaluate a variety— |
| (a) | investigate the variety in the manner which he or she deems expedient; |
| (b) | cause the variety to be investigated; |
| (c) | use the results of tests and trials conducted with that variety and obtained by him or her in terms of an agreement referred to in section 15A. |
| (5) | The registrar may, as a result of the evaluation of a variety— |
| (a) | if an application for recognition has been filed with him or her, either recognise the variety or refuse the application; or |
| (b) | if the variety has been entered in the varietal list, either retain it in the list or delete it. |
| (6) | If plants or propagating material cannot be supplied or procured as contemplated in subsection (3), the registrar may— |
| (a) | in the case of a variety referred to in subsection (2)(a), refuse the application for the recognition of the variety; or |
| (b) | in the case of a variety referred to in subsection (2)(b), delete the variety from the varietal list. |
| (7) | The registrar may at any time after an investigation in terms of this section has been undertaken, repeat the investigation. |
[Section 22 substituted by section 18 of Act No. 25 of 1996]
