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**June 1998**

**GeneralTrade Summary**

U.S. planting seed exports during July1997-April 1998 totaled 780,588 metric tons valued at $803.3million, a decrease of 24 percent in volume but nearly unchangedin value over the same period in 1996/97. Imports for the periodtotaled 223,302 tons (about 15 percent above a year ago); valuereached $367.9 million (20 percent above last year).

**Attache Reports**

Following are excerpts from U.S. AgriculturalAttache reports recently received in FAS/Washington. Copies ofthe complete reports may be found on the FAS homepage atwww.fas.usda.gov.

**Bulgaria (Report number BU8021)****:**Bulgaria's total seed imports in 1998 are expected to reachnearly 3,000 metric tons. This is higher than the import quota of2,132 tons, and is more than double the volume of imports in1997, which totaled 1,282 tons. Much of the expected increase inseed imports this year is due to an improvement in the Bulgarianeconomy, increased farmer incomes, and higher domestic seedprices, which have made the higher-quality imported seeds moredesirable. Factors which are likely to influence Bulgaria's seedsimports in the near term are the privatization of the vegetableprocessing industry, and a growing demand for vegetable seedssuitable for the production of vegetables for freezing.Currently, the leading planting seeds imported by Bulgaria arepotato, corn, and feed grasses. Much of Bulgaria's seeds areimported from the European Union and the United States. 

**Chile (Report number CI8017)****:**Chile's southern hemisphere growing season continues to attractmultinational seed breeders to contract with domestic growers.Sixty percent of total production is exported, making Chile botha competitor and a consumer of U.S. seed. For example, in seedcorn, Chile was a net exporter in MY 96/97, importing $7.8million from the United States; exporting $41 million to theUnited States; and exporting another $12 million to othercountries. Seed corn leads all other categories in acreage, inexports, and in imports. Chile is an open economy withexport-oriented policies. Its well developed program ofmultiplication of foreign cultivars for re-export is knowworldwide. The Ministry of Agriculture regulates and approvestransgenics for the seed industry and has approved the feeding oftransgenic varieties to livestock. Phytosanitary certificates arerequired on some seeds imported into Chile, with some requiringfumigants and fungicide treatments. Chile follows ForeignAgriculture Organization, European Union, and International SeedTrade Association regulations.

**Turkey (Report number TU8018)****:**Turkey imported $22 million and exported $7 million in seeds inCY1997. Local production is not expected to meet demand in thenext three to five years, making Turkey a significant importer ofseeds for planting. Corn and cotton seed are among those mostneeded. About 90 percent of Turkey's seed corn is imported fromthe United States. Major U.S. seed companies are established inTurkey to produce parent seeds mostly for domestic consumption.The Government of Turkey subsidizes seeds to support input coststo farmers. Agricultural infrastructure investment andagricultural bank subsidies are also helping to expand acreageand production in grains, cotton, and fodder. Crops receiving themost support are sunflower, soy, cotton, potatoes and alfalfa.

Import licenses are required from the Ministryof Agriculture. However, before seeds may be imported, they mustbe grown locally with Ministry approval on trial plots.U.S.-owned and joint venture seed companies are experiencingdelays in obtaining import licenses for bio-genetically alteredcotton and potato seed samples. The Ministry is currentlystudying whether it will continue to allow bio-geneticallyaltered seeds into Turkey for testing. There are no directsubsidies on seed exports from Turkey.

**Philippines (Report number RP8019)****:**The Philippine domestic seed industry is mainly being inhibitedby two factors: the inability to patent inventions and the use of"home-saved" seeds. New plant varieties are still notconsidered as patentable inventions, despite the new IntellectualProperty Rights (IPR) code enacted in 1997. The absence of such alaw will continue to be a disincentive to both private andgovernment scientists to breed and release more varieties. Theuse of "home-saved" seeds--seeds from an earliercrop--contribute to low farm yield. According to an official ofthe Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), only about 30 percent of thetotal area planted to rice uses certified seeds, while theremainder is planted with the home-saved seeds. For corn, privateseed producers estimate that only about 20 percent of the totalarea planted uses hybrid seeds. There are no clear estimates forthe use of home-saved seeds for vegetable production, because itvaries widely. 

The use of home-saved seeds in vegetableproduction is expected to decline in the short-term, as El Ni�ohas affected output. Seed production by local seed companies willalso be down due to the harsh growing conditions. The expecteddecline in usage of both home-saved and certified seedsrepresents positive prospects for seed imports, primarilyvegetable seeds. 

Small farmers receive credit assistance forseeds, fertilizers, and other inputs. Also, Republic Act number8435, which was signed into law December 1997, calls for amassive rural infrastructure development program. 

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For more information on U.S. Planting Seed Trade you maycontact Mark Rasmussenat (202) 720-9497

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| *Last modified: Friday, July 24, 1998* |