§ 1 Name, Seat and Fiscal Year

The association bears the name "Hanse Agrarforschung e.V.".
The registered office of the association, place of performance and place of jurisdiction are Gettorf. Fiscal year is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose of the Association

The association pursues exclusively and directly non-profit purposes in the sense of §§ 51 ff. of the German Tax Code. Tax Ordinance. The task of the association is the promotion of application-oriented research (according to § 52 Abs. 2 Nr.1 AO) and the transfer of knowledge into agricultural practice. The association dedicates itself to this purpose, since increasingly fewer means for agricultural research purposes are publicly available. The resulting gap in the know-how of agricultural practice bears the danger of an interest-oriented, less environmentally and practice-oriented production. The social interest of an intact environment is thus affected. The purpose of the statutes is realized in particular by

# the realization of scientific research projects,

# awarding research contracts

# financing other scientific work

# the formation of topic-oriented working groups of scientists also

of different research institutions

The association makes the results available to the public. The association is selflessly active, it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes. The funds of the association may only be used for the statutory purposes. The members do not receive any benefits from the association's funds. No person may be favoured by expenditures, which are foreign to the purpose of the association, or by disproportionately high remunerations.

§ 3 Membership

Natural and legal persons and partnerships may become members of the Association. Membership is granted by decision of the Board of Directors on the basis of an application for membership, which may be submitted informally. The refusal of admission does not require a statement of reasons. There is no right of appeal against a refusal. The membership ends by death, notice or exclusion. The termination can only be made in writing with a notice period of two months to the end of the year. The board of directors decides on the exclusion of a member. An appeal against the decision, which must be communicated to the member in writing with reasons, is permitted within two weeks. The next general meeting shall make the final decision on the appeal. Until this decision is made, all membership rights of the expelled member shall be suspended.

§ 4 Contributions

The association levies contributions. The General Meeting shall determine the amount of these contributions. They are due in advance on the first day of each year and must be paid by June 30 of each year at the latest. The annual membership fee shall be paid in full even if membership is acquired or terminated during the course of the year.

§ 5 Organs
Organs of the association are:

1. the general meeting

2. the board of directors

The General Meeting and the Board of Directors of the Association shall pass their resolutions by a simple majority of the members present, unless otherwise stipulated in these Articles of Association. In the event of a tie, the chairman shall have the casting vote. Resolutions may also be passed by written procedure. A majority of all members of the Association or of the Executive Board is required for their adoption. The members of the Association shall be given a period of at least two weeks and at most six weeks from the date of dispatch of the request to cast their votes by written procedure.

§ 6 General Meeting

The general meeting is convened as required - at least once a year - by the board of directors in writing with notification of the agenda with a notice period of at least 14 days. It must be convened if more than 1/3 of the members demand it. Each member has one vote. Representation is only permitted by another member authorized in writing.

The general meeting is responsible for

1. statutory elections

2. acceptance of the activity and financial report

3. discharge of the board

4. fixing the membership fees

5. amendments to the statutes and dissolution of the Association.

All tasks not assigned to the general meeting are the responsibility of the board. The resolutions passed in the general meeting are to be recorded in minutes, which are to be signed by the chairman. The general meeting has a quorum regardless of the number of members present. Amendments to the statutes of the association, including amendments to the purpose of the association, require ¾ of the votes cast at the general meeting, at least a majority of all members of the association.

§ 7 The Board of Directors

The board of the association consists of a chairman and up to two deputies. The board is elected by the general meeting for a period of five years. The chairman and his first deputy, each alone, represent the association judicially and extrajudicially. They have the position of the executive committee in the sense of § 26 paragraph 2 BGB.

§ 8 Dissolution of the association

1. the dissolution of the association can only take place by resolution of the general meeting with a majority of 2/3 of the members present.

2. “In case of dissolution of the Association or in case of loss of tax-privileged purposes, the assets of the Association shall be transferred to the German Agricultural Society, which shall use them directly and exclusively for non-profit purposes.” A distribution to the members of the association is excluded. Decided in the general meeting in Banzkow on 22.01.2004 as well as the changes of §§ 2 and 6 on 28.01.05 in Banzkow and § 8 on 08.04.05 in Werder.