[Lincolnshire Floyd]

Having followed this up with Rebecca Taylor MEP I received the following reply.


Dear Mr Floyd,

You will be glad to hear that the article is incorrect on several fronts.

First of all, it misunderstands the role of the European Commission, which is essentially the civil service of the EU. Indeed the officials working at the Commission are unelected as is the UK civil service and I do not think it would be appropriate it have to vote in civil servants. The Commission's role is to propose legislation not decide it, and indeed it had made a proposal for legislation on seeds, which will be scrutinised by the (elected) European Parliament and the (elected) national governments who will decide between them on the final text (or reject as the case may be) through the co-decision procedure.

Secondly, the proposal consolidates a number of previous directives (some dating from more 20 years ago) into one piece of legislation, so many of the provisions are not new. On a number of fronts the proposal is far more liberal ie less restrictive, than the legislation it will replace.

Thirdly, the rules will only apply to commercial seed growers (not farmers or gardeners) and a number of special conditions or exemptions are included such as:

- no need for testing of traditional seeds

- niche seeds made by micro enterprises will not have to be registered

- micro enterprises will be exempted from registration fees (micro enterprise here being defined as companies with 10 or fewer employees and turnover under €2m).

You can find the proposal on line at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/pressroom/docs/proposal_aphp_en.pdf

The Commission also produced a Q&A on the proposal, which you may find useful:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/plant_propagation_material/review_eu_rules/docs/faq_regulation_proposal_en.pdf

I wrote a blog on this piece of legislation due to all the incorrect information floating around, which you can find at:  http://rebeccataylormep.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/european-commission-not-seeking-to.html

It is unfortunate that there is a tendency in the UK media to misreport (deliberately or negligently) EU affairs, which often ends up worrying people unnecessarily. This happened last year in relation to a proposal on motorbikes, which resulted in lots of worried motorcyclists contacting me and other MEPs. I was able to answer them explaining what the legislation would actually do (rather than what they had read which was either incorrect or very out of date) and many then wrote back thanking me and expressing the view that the legislation seemed rather sensible after all.

If after further examination of the actual proposal, you still have concerns, please do get back to me.

Yours sincerely,


Rebecca Taylor
Liberal Democrat MEP
Yorkshire and the Humber

[Aunt Sally]

Thanks for posting that , Lincolnshire Floyd.

I would disagree with her slightly:

It is unfortunate that there is a tendency in the UK media to misreport (deliberately or negligently) EU affairs, which often ends up worrying people unnecessarily.

If the press were not so proactive in pursuing politicians (and others), how many things would be slipped past us before we became aware of them ?

[mumofstig]

In her blog I liked the comment at the bottom says it all

Firstly, it is worth noting that the commission /has/ changed it's position on this legislation, with several of the exemptions and exceptions you have mentioned not being present in the first draft. Whether or not this is due to public pressure or not, I can't comment.

If people hadn't kicked up a stink, then the exemptions wouldn't even be in there for consideration.
We mustn't forget these are proposals and can still be altered as they see fit in the final document 

[hightide]

It is unfortunate that there is a tendency in the UK media to misreport (deliberately or negligently) EU affairs, which often ends up worrying people unnecessarily.

Well it appears that some politicians can see through the hype, well done to the folks up in Humberside in electing someone with sense. I still think you were all stampeded by Noahs Ark, Global 200, Real Seeds et. al. by the headline 'EU BANS HERITAGE VARIETIES'.
Background?, it all started back in 2005 when two French companies squabbled over sales of 'old varieties'. Graines Baumaux a seed merchant selling old varieties of seed took Kokopelli a seed club to court for selling around 230 old varieties of seed which are not in the EU list, the French Court upheld the claim and found against Kokopelli.
Kokopelli quite rightly appealed, on the grounds that the law discriminated against the biodiversity of plants by restricting sale to only recognised plant reproductive material (seeds).
The European Court of Justice asked their Attorney General to advise them on the current Council Directives regarding the case.
The Attorney General advised the European Court of Justice that 'Article 3(1) of Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed, is invalid as it breaches the principle of proportionality, the freedom to conduct a business within the meaning of Article 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the free movement of goods established in Article 34 TFEU and the principle of equal treatment within the meaning of Article 20 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights'.
In addition, the Attorney General added if the European Court of Justice had studied the rest of the directives they would have found that the later amended directives had allowed 'for acceptance of vegetable varieties which have been traditionally grown in particular localities and regions and are threatened by genetic erosion and of vegetable varieties with no intrinsic value for commercial crop production but developed for growing under particular conditions and for marketing of seed of those varieties'.
The European Court of Justice being lawyers ignored her advice and on 12th July last year upheld the interpretation of the French Court leading to protest from 'Noahs Ark' and other protest groups with the headlines 'EU BANS HERITAGE VARIETIES'.
The real story here is that the European Court of Justice ignored advice from their Attorney General to throw out the case; a really juicy story of discord over EU Law, instead the hacks filed the story as only journalists could.

For a more balanced view why don't you read the comments of a respected Heritage Seedsman & Bulb Merchant, Mr Thomas Etty Esq.

[Aunt Sally]

For a more balanced view why don't you read the comments of a respected Heritage Seedsman & Bulb Merchant, Mr Thomas Etty Esq.

If you can give a link to his view it would be good.

I found his site but it seems to be being revised and updated at present:

http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/seeds/index.html

[Aunt Sally]

Ah... Perhaps this is what you are referring to:


http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/newsletters/Thomas_Etty_Newsletter.pdf

[Aunt Sally]

I've just had another reply from the people who ran the petition (google translation from German):


EU Seed Regulation: An Initial Analysis
Dear *,

shortly after the publication of the proposal for the new EU regulation to seed positive mood in politics was spreading: The proposal offers sufficient opportunities for old and rare varieties and diversity in agriculture is thus considered good. We took the new proposal once again under the microscope.

The result: the diversity is threatened.

After all, the sticking point remains that the new legislation will now also regulate the non-commercial sector. Seeds may be distributed only subject to conditions. Even individuals must comply with labeling requirements if they want to pass on to seed money. For farmers, it is still strictly regulated, they are not even gave away seeds without conditions. A major hurdle is the official registration. Our authorities should determine which varieties will be available, and which are not. Without registration, seed may be sold only in small quantities. Especially for farmers and small businesses an impossible hurdle is created. Thus, the old and rare varieties remain in the niche market, the variety is pushed and agricultural concerns dictate their products unit, which is on our plate.

Therefore, we must continue to work to ensure that old and rare varieties are excluded from this regulation unreasonable.

In detail, you can view changes, criticisms and suggestions to the EU Regulation on seed global2000.at and saatgutpolitik.arche-noah.at.

We stay tuned!

Greetings
Victoria Zedlach on behalf of NOAH'S ARK and GLOBAL 2000;

PS: NOAH'S ARK and GLOBAL 2000 will hold on 06/13/2013 from 16 clock Vielfalts a flash mob at the Sigmund Freud park; seeds and cuttings can also of course the ARCHE NOAH stand on the spot to be replaced. Quickly, easily and efficiently.

[mumofstig]

I got that as well - but in German  (perhaps my name confused them  )
so thanks for the translation 

[Aunt Sally]

The messages are all in German but I (google) translate them.

Received this one today:

EU Regulation seed: it is negotiated
Dear *,
on Monday launched the negotiations on the EU Regulation seed. If all goes according to plan, tailored to mid-April 2014 on the seed regulation. GLOBAL 2000 and NOAH'S ARK appeal to MEPs and the new Austrian government that variety of fruit, vegetables and grains is not the exception but the rule. And we are also the future Minister of Agriculture / Minister of Agriculture, the future remember the variety to defend.
What is next? Well, the other countries are in demand. We are mobilizing to lend more weight to the issue within the EU. The petition "Freedom for Diversity" will be soon to sign in multiple languages​​.
Next Event: The NOAH'S ARK fruit season in Schiltern. We look forward to your visit! More information about the festival
Together for diversity.
With kind regards
Victoria Zedlach for GLOBAL 2000 and NOAH'S ARK

[gobs]

About 400 Hungarian produce disappeared from the shelves in not much time. And I'm not mad for economical reasons simply, they were dead good and I'm missing them badly.

[surbie100]

Also reported on in the Grauniad last week:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2013/sep/26/eu-regulation-garden-plants

[arugula]

They're on the ball.

[mumofstig]

Yes, I posted about it here
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=110060.msg1242218#msg1242218

 

[arugula]

You did.

[surbie100]

Didn't see that one.