A New EU Plant Reproductive Material Legislation?

Ante scriptum di Andrea Zanoni: "...sulla nuova legislazione UE “Plant reproductive Material law” - Va bene rendere la filiera di settore più sicura ma non si possono sacrificare i coltivatori biologici, i giardinieri domestici e i produttori su piccola scala. La sicurezza dell'agricoltura europea e il commercio internazionale delle sementi non deve andare a scapito della biodiversità e della libertà dei piccoli coltivatori europei di crescere e utilizzare le proprie sementi. Migliorare la sicurezza dell'intera filiera del settore è sacrosanto visto che si tratta di un'attività con un effetto diretto sulla salute dei cittadini europei. Ma non possiamo permettere che a farne le spese siano i coltivatori biologici, i giardinieri domestici e tutti gli operatori attivi su piccola scala..."

...Taking a closer look

Still, there are numerous elements of the proposal that require further clarification and/or change to arrive at a text that can be supported by the entire seed sector.

Most importantly, some basic definitions require precision, such as e.g., the term “marketing” which should be properly re-formulated to assure that movement of pre-commercial PRM for processing (cleaning, seed treatment and packaging) and re-export can continue unimpeded. Similarly, it must be clarified that the supply of trial seed (marketing in advance of listing) is not aimed at commercial exploitation of that seed and must not be unnecessarily restricted.

Euroseeds clearly opposes the provisions that establish an unpredictable carte blanche for Member States to decide on the usefulness of specific traits (e.g., herbicide tolerance) and establish cultivation conditions for varieties carrying such traits. This would create severe legal and commercial uncertainty for breeders and run counter to the need for long-term investments. We also oppose that competent national authorities may renew a variety registration on their own initiative, as the provision is unspecific and lacks clarity regarding responsibility for maintenance and IP status of the variety in question.

Euroseeds will also propose several smaller improvements to the text to clarify definitions and ensure that essential practices for PRM supply are properly specified, e.g., regarding provisional germination tests for autumn-sown crops, differentiation of rules for heterogeneous material that take proper account of the biology of the different species to assure that it does not harm the well-functioning market in key European crops such as forages and grasses.

Most importantly, it needs to be discussed whether the Commission’s approach to a new compulsory VSCU testing for all species is both justified and manageable in practice. On the one hand, the exclusion from such obligations under some of the derogations clearly lacks logic and/or consistency; on the other, it is still very unclear how this new provision could be developed across the highly diverse and often rather small market segments typical for the vegetable sector. Here, it must be ensured that the apparent desire for a “one size fits all” approach is amended in a way that corresponds to the diversity of species and their biology as well as market needs and the overall objective of broad diversity.

To ensure that all these elements are duly taken into consideration in the political discussions over the coming weeks and months, it is imperative that Europe’s seed industry is highly engaged at both the EU and national levels. The time to act is now!

Jared Onsando  - Technical Manager Variety Testing and Registration at Euroseeds  - Source: https://european-seed.com/2023/11/a-new-eu-plant-reproductive-material-legislation/#:~:text=The%20proposal%2C%20published%20on%205,plant%20health%20and%20official%20controls.