Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species and Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed lay down the legislative basis for the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (situation on August 8th 2009) and the common catalogue of varieties of vegetable species (situation on 16 October 2009). These catalogues are established on the basis of information received from the Member States and published in the Official Journal. They list those varieties whose seed is subject to no marketing restrictions within the Community as regards variety. Varieties must meet standards, notably pertaining to distinctness, uniformity, stability and, in the case of agriculture, value for cultivation and use in order to be listed. In the case of varieties of agricultural plant species, their satisfactory value for cultivation and use is based on yields, resistance to harmful organisms, behaviour with respect to factors in the physical environment and quality characteristics.

Legislation