Action plan for the review of the Community legislation on the marketing of seed and plant propagating material and related issues

The Action plan for the review of the Community legislation on the marketing of seed and plant propagating material and related issues was approved within DG SANCO in July 2009, and was presented to the Member States in a Council Working Group meeting under the Swedish Presidency on 2 October 2009.

To read more about this action plan, click here .

Further work on the review of the legislation will include the preparation of an impact assessment to underpin the proposal for legal review that the Commission will eventually submit to the Council and the European Parliament. Stakeholders will be consulted during the process.

European Conference on Ensuring Seed Availability in the 21st Century

The purpose of this conference is to communicate and discuss the results of the evaluation of the Community legislation on the marketing of seeds and plant propagation material and the way forward. The idea is to gain a clear view on the position of the various stakeholder groups with regard to the recommendations made in the evaluation report. To read more and to register, please click.

Evaluation of the European legislation governing the marketing of seeds and plant propagating material (S&PM) within the European Union

The current body of European legislation on SPM is made up of 12 basic Directives

• Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed
• Council Directive 66/402/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of cereal seed
• Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species
• Council Directive 2002/54/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of beet seed
• Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed
• Council Directive 2002/56/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed potatoes
• Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants
• Council Directive 68/193/EC of 9 April 1968 on the marketing of material for the vegetative propagation of the vine
• Council Directive 1998/56/EC of 20 July 1998 on the marketing of propagating material of ornamental plants
• Council Directive 92/33/EEC of 28 April 1992 on the marketing of vegetable propagating and planting material, other than seed
• Council Directive 92/34/EEC of 28 April 1992 on the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production
• Council Directive 1999/105/EC of 22 December 1999 on the marketing of forest reproductive material

Many of these Directives date back to the sixties and seventies. As the balance of priorities has changed over the years, with elements such as food safety, traceability, new technologies and environmental aspects becoming more prominent, plus the expansion of the EU to now span 27 Member States, newer legal instruments may be more appropriate to regulate the marketing of S&PM to the benefit of both users and suppliers.

The Commission has therefore decided to review the legislation on the marketing of seeds and plant propagating material, as part of its better regulation initiative.

The first step of this review process consists of an evaluation of the current legislation. This should provide documented answers on the strengths and weaknesses of the current system for achieving the set objectives, or highlight the need to set new objectives in order to respond to new and anticipated challenges.

An equally important aim is to explore the possibilities for simplification and a reduction of administrative burdens on both public authorities and private sector stakeholders.

This evaluation has been carried out by external consultants (the FCEC consortium), assisted by a Steering Group composed of a balanced mix of experts from a number of Member States and from the Commission's services.

The task of the Steering Group was to assist in drafting the terms of reference and the questionnaire, and to ensure the quality of the final report.

The FCEC launched a survey on 18 February 2008 to collect the views of stakeholders regarding the current Community legislation on the marketing of seeds and plant propagating material and to gather suggestions for the future. A copy of this questionnaire can be found as Annex 2 in the Annexes to the final report.

A specific questionnaire relating to the costs aspects of the implementation of provisions of the legislation on the marketing of S&PM has also been developed. On 10/11 March it was sent to relevant sources of information. A copy of this questionnaire can be found as Annex 3 in the Annexes to the final report.

Nearly 700 questionnaires were sent out for the general survey, and nearly 100 for the costs survey. The very high return rate that was obtained not only demonstrates the interest of the various stakeholder groups, but it also ensures that the results of this consultation can be accepted and be used with confidence.

The stakeholder consultations, complemented by a series of interviews and the analysis of the data thus compiled, has yielded a wealth of information that has been brought together in the Final report and its Annexes. The conclusions of the evaluation and the recommendations made by the evaluators will feed into the review of the Community legislation on the marketing of seeds and plant propagating material.

Click on the following links to find more information of the steps taken in the course of the preparation and the finalisation of the report.

• Evaluation in a nutshell Updated 01-04-2009.
• Agreed Terms of Reference for the evaluation
• Accepted offer from the FCEC
• Introduction letter
• Inception report
• Interim Report
• Final report
• Final report – Annexes
• Final report – Executive summary (German translation of the Executive summary will be shortly available.)