1998D0320 — EN — 16.04.2002 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSIONDECISION
of27April1998
on the organisation of a temporary experiment on seed sampling and seed testing pursuant to
CouncilDirectives 66/400/EEC,66/401/EEC,66/402/EECand69/208/EEC
(98/320/EC)
(OJ L 140, 12.5.1998, p. 14)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionDecision2002/280/EC of 15 April 2002 L 99 22 16.4.2002
▼B
COMMISSIONDECISION
of27April1998
on the organisation of a temporary experiment on seed sampling
and seed testing pursuant to Council Directives 66/400/EEC, 66/
401/EEC,66/402/EECand69/208/EEC
(98/320/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/400/EEC of 14 June 1966 on
the marketing of beet seed(1), as last amended by Directive 96/72/
EC(2), and in particular Article 13a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June 1966 on
the marketing of fodder plant seed(3), as last amended by Directive
96/72/EC, and in particular Article 13a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/402/EEC of 14 June 1966 on
the marketing of cereal seed(4), as last amended by Directive 96/72/
EC, and in particular Article 13a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 69/208/EEC of 30 June 1969 on
the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants(5), as last amended by
Directive 96/72/EC, and in particular Article 12a thereof,
Whereas, pursuant to Directives 66/400/EEC, 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC
and 69/208/EEC, seed can be officially certified only where the condi-
tions to be satisfied by the seed have been established in official seed
testing on samples of seed drawn officially for the purpose of seedtesting;
Whereas it has been claimed that seed sampling and seed testing under
official supervision may constitute improved alternatives to the proce-dures for official seed certification, without a significant decline in thequality of the seed;
Whereas that claim cannot yet be confirmed at Community level on the
basis of the information available;
Whereas it is therefore appropriate to organise a temporary experiment
under specified conditions with the aim of assessing whether that claim
can be sustained at Community level and in particular whether therewill be any significant decline in the quality of the seed comparedwith that achieved under the system of official seed sampling andseed testing;
Whereas the conditions applying to that experiment should be specified
in such a manner as to enable the maximum amount of information tobe collected at Community level with a view to drawing appropriateconclusions for possible future adaptations of the Community provi-
sions;
Whereas, for the purpose of that experiment, Member States should be
released from certainobligation s laid downinthe Directives
concerned;
Whereas the measures provided for inthis Decisionare inaccordan ce
with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Seeds and PropagatingMaterial for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry,1998D0320 — EN — 16.04.2002 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2290/66.
(2) OJ L 304, 27. 11. 1996, p. 10.
(3) OJ 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2298/66.
(4) OJ 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2309/66.
(5) OJ L 169, 10. 7. 1969, p. 3.
▼B
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. A temporary experiment is hereby organised at Community level
with the aim of assessing whether seed sampling for the purpose ofseed testing and seed testing under official supervision may constituteimproved alternatives to the procedures for official seed certification
required within the meaning of Directives 66/400/EEC, 66/401/EEC,
66/402/EEC and 69/208/EEC, without a significant decline in thequality of the seed.
Any Member State may participate in the experiment.
2. Member States which participate inthe experimen t are hereby
released from the obligations laid down in the Directives referred toinparagraph 1 inrespect of official seed samplin g an d official seedtesting, subject to the conditions set out in Articles 2 and 3 respec-tively.
Article 2
1. Seed sampling shall be carried out by seed samplers who have
beenauthorised for that purpose by the competen t seed certificationauthority of the Member State concerned under the conditions set out
inparagraphs 2, 3 an d 4.
2. Seed samplers shall have the necessary technical qualifications
obtained in training courses organised under conditions applicable toofficial seed samplers and confirmed by official examinations.
They shall carry out seed sampling in accordance with current interna-
tional methods.
3. Seed samplers shall be:
(a) independent natural persons,
or
(b) persons employed by natural or legal persons whose activities do
not involve seed production, seed growing, seed processing or
seed trade,
or
(c) persons employed by natural or legal persons whose activities
involve seed production, seed growing, seed processing or seedtrade.
Inthe case referred to inpoin t (c), a seed sampler may carry out seed
sampling only on seed lots produced on behalf of his employer, unlessit has beenotherwise agreed betweenhis employer, the applican t forcertification and the competent seed certification authority.
4. In respect of their responsibilities vis-à-vis the competent seed
certificationauthority, seed samplers shall be assimilated to officialseed samplers. Their performance of seed sampling shall be subject toproper supervisionby the competen t seed certificationauthority.
5. For the purposes of the supervisionreferred to inparagraph 4 a
proportion of the seed lots entered for the official certification underthe experiment shall be check-sampled by official seed samplers. Thatproportion shall in principle be as evenly spread as possibly overnatural and legal persons entering seed for certification, but may also
be orientated to eliminate specific doubt. That proportion shall be at
least 5 %.
The Member States which participate inthe experimen t shall compare
the seed samples drawnofficially with those of the same seed lot
drawn under official supervision.
6. The certificationn umber required for the official labels prescribed
under the Directives referred to in Article 1(1), or other appropriatealternatives, shall enable the Member States and the Commission toidentify seed lots which have been sampled under official supervision.1998D0320 — EN — 16.04.2002 — 001.001 — 3
▼B
7. Where a Member State participates inthe experimen t, anappro-
priate proportionof the samples supplied by that Member State forCommunity comparative trials shall represent samples drawn under
the experiment. The details shall be determined in the respective tech-
nical protocols for the Community comparative trials.
Article 3
1. Seed testing shall be carried out by seed testing laboratories
which have beenauthorised for that purpose by the competen t seedcertification authority of the Member State concerned under the condi-tions set out in paragraphs 2 to 5.
2. The laboratory shall have a seed analyst-in-charge who has direct
responsibility for the technical operations of the laboratory and has thenecessary qualifications for technical management of a seed testinglaboratory.
Its seed analysts shall have the necessary technical qualifications
obtained in training courses organised under conditions applicable toofficial seed analysts and confirmed by official examinations.
The laboratory shall be maintained in premises and with equipment
officially considered by the competent seed certification authority tobe satisfactory for the purpose of seed testing, within the scope of the
authorisation.
It shall carry out seed testing in accordance with current international
methods.
3. The laboratory shall be:
(a) an independent laboratory,
or
(b) a laboratory belonging to a seed company.
Inthe case referred to inpoin t (b), the laboratory may carry out seed
testing only on seed lots produced on behalf of the seed company towhich it belongs, unless it has been otherwise agreed between theseed company to which it belongs, the applicant for certification and
the competent seed certification authority.
4. In respect of their responsibilities vis-à-vis the competent seed
certification authority, the seed analysts referred to in the first and
second subparagraphs of paragraph 2 shall be assimilated to corre-
sponding official analysts.
5. The laboratory's performance of seed testing shall be subject to
proper supervisionby the competen t seed certificationauthority.
6. For the purposes of the supervisionreferred to inparagraph 5 a
proportion of the seed lots entered for the official certification underthe experiment shall be checktested by official seed testing. That
proportion shall in principle be as evenly spread as possible over
natural and legal persons entering seed for certification but may alsobe oriented to eliminate specific doubts. That proportion shall be atleast 7 % inthe case of seeds of cereals an d 10 % inthe case of seedsof other species.
The Member States which participate inthe experimen t shall compare
the seed samples tested officially with those of the same seed lot testedunder official supervision.
7. The reference number of the lot required for the official labels
prescribed under the Directives referred to in Article 1(1), or otherappropriate alternatives, shall enable the Member States and theCommission to identify seed lots which have been tested under official
supervision.
8. Where a Member State participates inthe experimen t, anappro-
priate proportionof the samples supplied by that Member State forCommunity comparative trials shall represent samples tested under the1998D0320 — EN — 16.04.2002 — 001.001 — 4
▼B
experiment. The details shall be determined in the respective technical
protocols for the Community comparative trials.
Article 4
The experiment and the release referred to in Article 1 shall expire on
►M131 July 2004 ◄.
Article 5
1. Member States shall inform the Commission and the other
Member States within three months of the date of notification of this
Decision:
(a) whether they have decided to participate inthe experimen t,
(b) inthe case of participationsolely inrespect of seed samplin g or
solely inrespect of seed testin g, the scope thereof,
(c) inthe case of participationsubject to restriction s to certainspecies,
categories, regions or to other restrictions, the scope thereof.
If Member States decide to cease participating in the experiment, they
shall inform the Commission and the other Member States within threemonths.
2. Member States shall report to the Commissionbefore the en d of
each year the results of the checks carried out inaccordan ce with
Article 2(5) and Article 3(6).
3. Inthe light of the results referred to inparagraph 2 as well as the
results from the comparative trials referred to inArticle 2(7) an dArticle 3(8), the proportionof seed lots to be check-sampled by officialseed samplers within the meaning of Article 2(5) or the proportion ofseed lots to be check-tested by official seed testing within the meaningof Article 3(6) may be revised inaccordan ce with the procedure laid
downinArticle 21 of Directives 66/400/EEC, 66/401/EEC an d 66/
402/EEC and Article 20 of Directive 69/208/EEC.
Article 6
This Decisionis addressed to the Member States.1998D0320 — EN — 16.04.2002 — 001.001 — 5