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AUDIOVISUAL COPRODUCTION TREATY

BETWEEN

THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

AND

THE SWISS FEDERAL COUNCIL

 

THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE SWISS FEDERAL COUNCIL (the “Parties”),

RECOGNIZING that quality audiovisual treaty coproductions contribute to the vitality of their audiovisual industries and to the development of their economic and cultural exchanges;

APPRECIATING that cultural diversity and access to audiovisual culture are nurtured by constant exchanges and interaction between cultures, and that they are strengthened by the free flow of ideas;

CONSIDERING that, in pursuit of international cooperation, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, done at Paris on 20 October 2005, encourages audiovisual coproduction treaties as a means of promoting international cooperation;

AGREEING that these exchanges may enhance their mutual relations;

RECOGNIZING that these objectives may be achieved by granting domestic benefits to qualified audiovisual treaty coproductions;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

 

ARTICLE 1

Definitions

For the purpose of this Treaty:

  1. “authority”:
    1. “administrative authority” means, for each Party, the designated authority that administers this Treaty,
    2. “competent authority” means, for each Party, the authority that has the overall responsibility for the implementation of this Treaty;
  2. “coproduction” means an audiovisual work produced by producers of the Parties that comply with the provisions of this Treaty and recognized as such by each Party;
  3. “coproducing States” means the Parties, and third States, if applicable;
  4. “third State” means a State that has a coproduction treaty or memorandum of understanding with at least one of the Parties and that has a producer involved in the coproduction;
  5. “non-party” means a State other than the coproducing States;
  6. “audiovisual work” means a film, television, or video work (including a non-linear digital work) of any duration on any production support known or not yet known intended for exploitation;
  7. “producer” means a national that manages the production of a coproduction;
  8. “national” means:
    9. - in the case of Canada, any natural or legal person as defined by the laws of Canada,
    - in the case of Switzerland, any natural person of Swiss nationality or residing in Switzerland as defined by the laws of Switzerland; for the purposes of this Treaty, this includes legal persons with head offices in Switzerland.

 

ARTICLE 2

Competent and Administrative Authorities

  1. The Parties shall respectively designate their competent and administrative authorities responsible for the implementation of this Treaty:
    • in the case of Canada:
    1. Competent authority: Department of Canadian Heritage,
    2. Administrative authority: Telefilm Canada;
    • in the case of Switzerland:
    1. Competent and administrative authority: Federal Office of Culture (FOC).
  2. The Parties shall notify each other by diplomatic channels of any subsequent changes to the competent and administrative authorities.

 

ARTICLE 3

Status of a Coproduction

  1. The coproductions shall be entitled to the benefits granted to domestic productions, subject however to the legislative and regulatory provisions in force in the territory of each of the Parties.
  2. Each Party shall grant the benefits referred to in paragraph 1 only to the producers who are its own nationals.
  3. The Parties shall publish the respective benefits granted.

 

ARTICLE 4

Minimum Financial Contribution by Producers

  1. The minimum financial contribution by producers who are nationals of the Parties to a coproduction shall not be lower than fifteen (15) percent of the total production budget.
  2. In the case of a multipartite coproduction, the minimum contribution by each of the producers shall not be lower than ten (10) percent of the total production budget.

 

ARTICLE 5

Provenance of participants

  1. Every participant in a coproduction is a national from a coproducing State.
  2. However, the participation of non-party nationals, for positions other than those identified in Article 6, may be allowed on the basis of the requirements of the coproduction and upon mutual consent of the Parties through their respective administrative authorities.

 

ARTICLE 6

Key Positions

  1. The following positions are considered to be key positions:
    1. fiction: director, screenwriter, music composer, lead actor, second lead, director of photography, art director or production designer, and picture editor;
    2. animation: director, screenwriter, music composer or sound designer, lead actor (voice) or second lead (voice), animation director, storyboard supervisor or picture editor, special effects director or stereoscopy director, and layout director;
    3. documentary: director, screenwriter or researcher, music composer, lead actor or narrator, second lead actor or narrator, director of photography, art director or production designer, and picture editor;
    4. for types of work other than those listed above, such as non-linear digital works, the positions to be included in key positions shall be determined and published by the administrative authorities upon their mutual consent.
  2. The key positions identified in paragraph 1 shall be filled by one or more nationals from each of the coproducing States in reasonable proportion to the financial contributions of the producers.
  3. One of those key positions may be filled by a non-party national.
  4. In exceptional and duly justified cases, and upon mutual consent of the Parties through their respective administrative authorities, a second key position may be filled by a non-party national.

 

ARTICLE 7

Location and Technical Services

  1. A coproduction shall be coproduced in the coproducing States.
  2. The administrative authorities may, upon mutual consent, allow a work to be filmed in a non-party for storyline or creative purposes.
  3. The administrative authorities may, upon mutual consent, allow technical services, including post-production, to be provided in one or more non-parties if the producers demonstrate that these services are unavailable in any of the coproducing States, and if the value of these services does not exceed fifteen (15) percent of the total production budget of the

 

ARTICLE 8

Proportionality

The expenditures of a producer who is a national of the Parties committed in its own country and the expenditures associated with its creative and technical personnel (including key positions) committed in other countries and for which the producer is responsible shall in principle be proportional to the producer’s financial contribution.

 

ARTICLE 9

Production and Reproduction Material

  1. Any coproduction shall be made up of the production (video master) and reproduction material, in duplicate.
  2. Each producer is the owner of one copy of the production and reproduction material and has the right to use it to make other copies. Furthermore, each producer has a right to access the original material in accordance with the conditions agreed between the producers.

 

ARTICLE 10

Dubbing and Subtitling

  1. The original soundtrack of each coproduction shall be either in German, English, French, Italian or Romansch, or in the language of a third State, if applicable. Dialogue in other languages may be included in the coproduction when the story requires.
  2. Dubbing or subtitling in German, English, French, Italian or Romansch of each coproduction shall be performed in the coproducing States.
  3. Any exception to paragraphs 1 and 2 must be approved in advance by the administrative authorities of the Parties if the producer can reasonably demonstrate that the dubbing capacity does not exist in any of the coproducing States.

 

ARTICLE 11

Credits

  1. The credits of a coproduction must be presented as a “Canada-Switzerland coproduction” or “Switzerland-Canada coproduction”, based on the provenance of the majority producer or based on an agreement between the producers.
  2. In the case of a multipartite coproduction, the credits of the coproduction must be presented as a “Canada‑Switzerland-[third State] coproduction” or “Switzerland‑Canada‑[third State] coproduction” or “[third State]-Canada-Switzerland coproduction” or “[third State]-Switzerland-Canada coproduction”, based on the provenance of the majority producer or based on an agreement among the producers.

 

ARTICLE 12

Temporary Entry and Residence

Subject to their respective laws and regulations, the Parties shall facilitate:

  1. the temporary entry and residence for the creative and technical personnel engaged by the producer of the other Party for the purpose of the coproduction; and
  2. the temporary entry and re-export of any equipment necessary for the purpose of the coproduction.

 

ARTICLE 13

Rights and Revenues

Each Party, through its administrative authority, shall ensure that the distribution of rights on the coproduction and revenues is, in principle, proportional to each producer’s financial contribution, and no less than the minimum financial contribution identified in Article 4.

 

ARTICLE 14

Distribution

  1. Each Party, through its administrative authority, shall ensure that its producer demonstrates the existence of a distribution or broadcasting commitment for the coproduction in the territory of each of the coproducing State.
  2. The Parties may, upon mutual consent of their respective administrative authorities, accept an alternative distribution commitment to the commitment described in paragraph 1.

 

 

 

ARTICLE 15

Mutual Information

  1. Each Party, through its competent authority, shall promptly notify the other Party of any amendment or judicial interpretation of domestic law that may affect benefits from the application of this Treaty.
  2. Each Party shall ensure that its producer promptly notifies its administrative authority of any material change to a coproduction that may affect its qualification for benefits from the application of this Treaty.
  3. Each Party, through its administrative authority, shall collect and share statistical information on the performance, distribution or exhibition of a coproduction receiving benefits from the application of this Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 16

Overall Balance of Participation

  1. The Parties shall endeavour to achieve an overall balance of coproductions, particularly in relation to financing, and the proportion of minority and majority coproductions produced under this Treaty.
  2. The evaluation of balance shall be undertaken by the Parties, and shall be based on the five years proceeding the year of evaluation. Longer evaluation periods may be determined by the Parties.
  3. Meetings between the Parties shall be held in principle every five years to discuss and review the provisions of this Treaty. To the extent possible, these meetings shall be held by videoconference or teleconference.
  4. A meeting may also be convened at the request of one of the Parties, particularly in the case of an amendment to domestic legislation concerning the audiovisual industry or if the application of this Treaty encounters serious difficulties, particularly when the balance defined in in paragraph 1 is not reached.

 

ARTICLE 17

Settlement of Disputes

The Parties shall endeavor to resolve, through consultations and by mutual consent, any dispute regarding the interpretation or application of this Treaty.

 

 

 

ARTICLE 18

Procedure

  1. To be eligible for benefits under this Treaty, the producers who are nationals of the Parties must submit an application for recognition as a coproduction to the administrative authority of their country.
  2. The respective competent authorities of the Parties shall jointly establish the coproduction rules of procedure, taking into consideration the law in force in Canada and Switzerland. These rules are annexed to this Treaty.
  3. The Parties shall, through their respective administrative authorities, exchange the recognition of coproductions.

 

ARTICLE 19

Entry into Force

  1. Each Party shall notify the other Party in writing of the completion of internal procedures required for the entry into force of this Treaty. This Treaty enters into force on the first day of the first month following the date of reception of the second of these notifications.
  2. This Treaty remains in force for a period of five years from the date of its entry into force.
  3. This Treaty renews automatically at the end of five years from the date of its entry into force and at the end of every subsequent five-year period.
  4. The Party wishing to terminate this Treaty shall give written notice of termination to the other Party at least six months before the end of the fifth year following the entry into force of this Treaty or, if this Treaty is renewed, at least six months before the end of any subsequent five-year period.

 

ARTICLE 20

Amendments

  1. This Treaty may be amended by the Parties upon mutual written consent. Each Party shall notify the other Party in writing of the completion of the domestic procedures required for the entry into force of the amendments. The amendments enter into force on the first day of the first month following the date of reception of the second of these notifications.
  2. The Parties may, through the mutual written consent of their respective competent authorities, amend the Annex, provided that these amendments do not conflict with this Treaty.

 

ARTICLE 21

Transitional Provisions

  1. The Parties shall not discontinue benefits granted for a coproduction for a period of two years following the termination of this Treaty, solely due to that termination.
  2. Following its entry into force, this Treaty repeals and replaces the Agreement on Film and Video Relations between the Government of Canada and the Swiss Federal Council, done at Berne, on 22 October 1987. The Parties may continue to confer benefits to the producers whose coproduction qualifies for benefits from the application pursuant to the said Agreement to the producers of the coproduction concerned, provided that these producers notify their respective administrative authorities, in writing, within six months from the date of the entry into force of this Treaty, that they elect to continue receiving such benefits from the application of that Agreement.

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Treaty.

 

DONE at Montreal, on this 3rd day of November 2023, in duplicate, in the English and French languages, each version being equally authentic.

 

Mélanie Joly

__________________________________

FOR THE GOVERNMENT

OF CANADA

Alain Berset ____________________________________

FOR THE SWISS FEDERAL

COUNCIL

 

ANNEX

Rules of procedure

 

  1. This Annex concerns the procedure for recognizing coproductions under this Treaty. The rules of procedure for each Party are published by its respective administrative authority.
    1. The producers must submit a completed application to the administrative authority of their respective country within a reasonable time frame as defined by the administrative authorities;
    2. In principle, the filing deadline should not be set at less than two months before the start of principal photography.
    1. After mutual consultations between the administrative authorities, the administrative authority of the Party of the majority producer shall submit its decision to the administrative authority of the Party of the minority producer as soon as possible after the filing of the completed documents mentioned in paragraph 4;
    2. The administrative authority of the Party of the minority producer shall forward its decision to the administrative authority of the majority producer’s Party as soon as possible;
    3. The administrative authority of the Party of the minority producer may grant recognition only after having received the decision from the administrative authority of the Party of the majority producer.
  4. Applications must include the following documents in particular, written in French or English for Canada, and German, French, Italian or Romansch for Switzerland:
    1. Synopsis;
    2. Document attesting to the acquisition of the rights;
    3. A copy of the coproduction contract signed by the producers. This contract will include:
      1. The title of the coproduction,
      2. The distribution among the producers of rights concerning the coproduction,
      3. The distribution of revenues,
      4. The filming start date,
      5. The distribution or broadcast contract or commitment,
      6. The list of personnel (including key positions) listing their provenance,
      7. The detailed budget reflecting the division of expenditures among the producers,
      8. The funding plan.
  5. The administrative authorities of the Parties may also require additional documents and information if they find it necessary. The list of documents required to file an application shall be published by the administrative authorities.
  6. The definitive recognition of coproduction status may be granted once the coproduction is completed and after assessment by the Parties of the final documentation of the production.

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