The administrative burden that would kill small producers of biodiverse seed
The Umbrella Organisation for Cultivated Plant and Livestock Breed Diversity in German
Speaking Countries (Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e. V.) issued a press release calling for Member States’ representatives to advocate against those resolutions of the EU Parliament which, if approved, would have a huge impact on producers of biodiverse seed.
Under current legislation, the sale of biodiverse seed varieties for non-commercial use is expressly permitted in limited quantities in some Member States, while in most other countries it is not considered an ofference and therefore allowed. However, under pressure from the seed industry, the reformed legislation would require standardisation, imposing the same administrative burdens on those selling even the smallest quantities of seed as the large and multinational companies.
While the EU Parliament speaks highly of agrobiodiversity conservation, their resolutions would in practice destroy the structures that are in place to support it most effectively. In fact, biodiverse seed is often sold by professionals who produce the seed themselves, concentrating on a limited number of species and varieties, grown , harvested, cleaned, stored, packaged and labelled with artisanal methods. Seeds are then sold direct on their websites or at events and seed festivals, which builds professional networks and favours the exchange of experiences, both integral parts of preserving diversity.
Beside failing to protect cultivated plant diversity in the fields and gardens of the EU, the EU Parliament’s decision would not fulfil the requirements of the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) which the EU is a party of, or those of Article 19 (‘Right to Seed’) of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).
The opportunity is still there to stop such detrimental legislation from coming into force, by calling for the exemption of agrobiodiversity conservation as a whole, including specialised micro-enterprises, from the new EU seed regulation. This must be done during the trialogue negotiations between the Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers.
Read the press release in English and in German.
