Council Directive of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of beet seed

Council Directive No 66/400/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of beet seed (OJ No 125, 11. 7. 1966, p. 2290/66) and the amendments arising out of the Acts set out below:

1. Directive No 69/61/EEC (OJ No L 48, 26. 2. 1969, p. 4);

2. Directive No 71/162/EEC (OJ No L 87, 17. 4. 1971, p. 24);

3. Directive No 72/274/EEC (OJ No L 171, 29. 7. 1972, p. 37);

4. Directive No 72/418/EEC (OJ No L 287, 26. 12. 1972, p. 22);

5. Act of Accession (OJ, Special Edition, 27. 3. 1972, p. 14) and the Council Decision of 1 January 1973; adjusting the documents concerning the Accession of new Member States to the European Communities (OJ No L 2, 1. 1. 1973, p. 1);

6. Directive No 73/438/EEC (OJ No L 356, 27. 12. 1973, p. 79);

are hereby coordinated.

This coordination is without legal status. Hence, the preamble has been omitted.

The numbers in brackets at certain Articles correspond to the above numbering and refer to the last amendment of the basic Act.

Council Directive

of 14 June 1966

on the marketing of beet seed

(1974/C 66/01)

Article 1

This Directive shall apply to beet seed marketed within the Community.

Article 2 (1)

1. For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:

A. Beet: sugar and fodder beet of the species Beta vuigaris L.

B. Basic seed: seed

(a) which has been produced under the responsibility of the breeder according to well-defined practices for the maintenance of the type or variety;

(b) which is intended for the production of seed of the category "certified seed";

(c) which, subject to the provisions of Article 4, satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex I for basic seed; and

(d) which has been found by official examination to satisfy the abovementioned conditions.

C. Certified seed: seed

(a) which has been produced directly from basic seed;

(b) which is intended for the production of beet;

(c) which, subject to the provisions of Article 4 (b), satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex I for certified seed; and

(d) which has been found by official examination to satisfy the abovementioned conditions.

D. Monogerm seed: genetically monogerm seed.

E. Precision seed: seed designed for use in precision drills which, as required under Annex I (B) (3) (b) (bb), gives single seedlings.

F. Official measures: measures taken

(a) by State authorities, or

(b) by any legal person whether governed by public or by private law, acting under the responsibility of the State, or

(c) in the case of ancillary activities which are also under State control, by any natural person duly sworn for that purpose,

provided that the persons mentioned under (b) and (c) derive no private gain from such measures.

2. Member States may, during a transitional period of not more than four years after the entry into force of the laws, regulations or administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive, and by way of derogation from paragraph 1 (C), certify as certified seed, seed produced directly from seed officially controlled in a Member State under the scheme in operation at that time and which affords the same assurances as basic seed certified in accordance with the principles of this Directive [1].

Article 3

1. The Member States shall provide that beet seed may not be placed on the market unless it has been officially certified as "basic seed" or "certified seed" and unless it satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex I (B).

2. The Member States shall ensure that the official examinations of seed are carried out in accordance with current international methods, in so far as such methods exist.

3. Member States may provide for derogations from the provisions of paragraph 1:

(a) for bred seed of generations prior to basic seed;

(b) for tests or for scientific purposes;

(c) for selection work;

(d) for seed as grown, marketed for processing, provided that the identity of the seed is ensured.

Article 4

Member States may, however, by way of derogation from the provisions of Article 3,

(a) authorize the official certification and marketing of basic seed which does not satisfy the conditions laid down in Annex I in respect of germination; to this end all necessary measures shall be taken to ensure that the supplier guarantees a specific germination which he shall state for marketing purposes on a special label bearing his name and address and the reference number of the seed lot;

(b) in order to make seed rapidly available, notwithstanding the fact that the official examination to check compliance with the conditions laid down in Annex I in respect of germination has not been concluded, authorize the official certification and the marketing as far as the first buyer by way of trade of seed of the categories "basic seed" or "certified seed". Certification shall be granted only on presentation of a provisional analytical report on the seed and provided that the name and address of the first recipient are indicated; all necessary measures shall be taken to ensure that the supplier guarantees the germination ascertained at the provisional analysis; this germination shall be stated for marketing purposes on a special label bearing the name and address of the supplier and the reference number of the lot.

These provisions shall not apply to seed imported from third countries, save as otherwise provided in Article 15 in respect of multiplication outside the Community.

Article 5

Member States may, as regards the conditions laid down in Annex I, impose additional or more stringent requirements for the certification of seed produced in their own territory.

Article 6 (2)

The Member States shall provide that the description of the genealogical components which may be required is, if the breeder so requests, treated as confidential.

Article 7 (1)

1. The Member States shall require that, for the checking of varieties and for the examination of seed for certification, samples are drawn officially in accordance with appropriate methods.

2. For the examination of seed for certification, samples shall be drawn from homogeneous lots; the maximum weight of a lot and the minimum weight of a sample are given in Annex II.

Article 8 (1)

(Deleted).

Article 9 (1)

1. The Member States shall require that basic seed and certified seed be marketed only in sufficiently homogeneous lots and in sealed packages bearing, as prescribed in Articles 10 and 11, a sealing device and markings.

2. Member States may, for the marketing of small quantities to the final consumer, provide for derogations from the provisions of paragraph 1 in respect of packaging, sealing and marking.

Article 10 (1)

1. The Member States shall require that packages of basic seed and certified seed be officially sealed in such a manner that when the package is opened the sealing device is damaged and cannot be re-attached.

2. Packages which have been officially sealed shall not be resealed, whether one or more times, except officially. If packages are resealed, the fact of resealing, the most recent date of resealing and the authority responsible therefor shall be stated on the label required under Article 11 (1).

Article 11 (1)(2)(4)

1. The Member States shall require that packages of basic seed and certified seed:

(a) be labelled on the outside with an official label in one of the official languages of the Community conforming to the specification in Annex III; it shall be attached with the official sealing device; the colour of the label shall be white for basic seed and blue for certified seed; the use of adhesive labels shall be authorized; these may be used as official sealing devices; for marketing in other Member States the label shall bear the date of the official sealing; if, as envisaged in Article 4 (a), the basic seed does not satisfy the conditions laid down in Annex I in respect of germination, this fact shall be stated on the label;

(b) contain an official document, in the same colour as the label, giving the same information as that required under Annex III (A) (3), (4), (5), (10) and (11) for the label; this document is not necessary if the information is printed indelibly on the package or if an adhesive label is used in accordance with the provisions laid down under a.

2. Member States may:

(a) require that in all cases the date of the official sealing be stated on the label;

(b) provide in the case of small packages for derogations from the provisions of paragraph 1.

Article 12

This Directive shall not affect the right of Member States to require that, in cases other than those provided for in Article 4, packages of basic seed or certified seed, whether the seed has been produced in their own territory or imported, must, if the seed is to be marketed within their territory, bear a supplier's label.

Article 13

The Member States shall require that any chemical treatment of basic seed or certified seed be noted either on the official label or on the supplier's label and on the package or inside it.

Article 14 (1)(4)

1. The Member States shall ensure that basic seed and certified seed which have been officially certified and whose packages have been officially marked and sealed as prescribed in this Directive are subject to no marketing restrictions as regards their characteristics, examination arrangements, marking or sealing other than those laid down in this Directive.

2. Member States may:

(a) until such time, which should not be later than 1 January 1970, as a common catalogue of varieties can be introduced, restrict the marketing of beet seed to those varieties which are entered in a national list based on value for cropping and use in their territory; the conditions for inclusion in this list shall be the same for varieties coming from other Member States as for domestic varieties;

(b) provide that beet seed may not be placed on the market unless it corresponds to specified sizes;

(c) increase the minimum percentages of clusters giving single seedlings laid down for precision seed in Annex I (B) (3) (b) (bb).

3. Those Member States which have provided for exemptions in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 (3) (a) shall ensure that selected seed of generations prior to basic seed are subject to no marketing restrictions on account of their characteristics, examination arrangements, marking and sealing:

(a) if it has been officially controlled by the competent certification authority in accordance with the provisions applicable for the certification of basic seed;

(b) if it is packed in accordance with the provisions of this Directive, and

(c) if the packages bear an official label giving at least the following particulars:

- certification authority and Member State or their distinguishing abbreviation,

- lot reference number,

- species,

- variety,

- the description "pre-basic seed",

- number of generations preceding seed of the category "certified seed".

The label shall be white with a diagonal violet line.

Article 15 (1)

The Member State shall provide that beet seed produced directly from basic seed certified in one Member State and harvested in another Member State or in a third country may be certified in the State which produced the basic seed if that seed has undergone field inspection, satisfying the conditions laid down in Annex I (A) and if official examination has shown that the conditions laid down in Annex I (B) for certified seed are satisfied.

Article 16 (3)(6)

1. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, shall determine whether:

(a) in the case provided for in Article 15, the field inspections in the third country satisfy the conditions laid down in Annex I (A);

(b) beet seed harvested in a third country and affording the same assurances as regards its characteristics and the arrangements for its examination, for ensuring its identity, for marking and for control is equivalent in these respects to basic seed or certified seed harvested within the Community and complying with the provisions of this Directive.

2. Member States may themselves take decisions under paragraph 1 concerning a third country, in so far as the Council has not yet taken any decision with regard to that country within the framework of this Directive. This right shall expire on 1 July 1975.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall also apply in respect of any new Member State from the date of its Accession to the date on which it is to bring into force the laws, regulations or administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive.

Article 17 (1)(4)

1. In order to remove any temporary difficulties in the general supply of basic seed or certified seed that occur in one or more Member States and cannot be overcome within the Community, one or more Member States may be authorized, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21, to permit, for a specified period, the marketing of seed of a category subject to less stringent requirements, or of seed varieties not included in the "Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species" or their national catalogues of varieties.

2. For a category of seed of any given type or variety, the official label shall be that provided for the corresponding category; in all other cases it shall be brown. The label shall always state that the seed in question is of a category satisfying less stringent requirements.

Article 18

This Directive shall not apply to beet seed shown to be intended for export to third countries.

Article 19 (4)

1. The Member States shall make suitable arrangements for beet seed to be officially controlled during marketing, at least by check sampling, as regards its compliance with the requirements of this Directive.

2. The Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that the following particulars are presented during the marketing of quantities exceeding 2 kg of seeci coming from another Member State or from a third country:

(a) species,

(b) variety,

(c) category,

(d) country of production and official control authority,

(e) country of dispatch,

(f) importer,

(g) quantity of seed.

The manner in which these particulars must be presented may be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21.

Article 20 (2)

1. Community comparative tests shall be carried out within the Community for the post-control of samples of certified beet seed taken during check sampling. Satisfaction of the conditions with which the seed must comply may be checked during the post-control tests. The arrangements for holding the tests and their results shall be submitted to the Committee referred to in Article 21.

2. These comparative tests shall, during a first stage, be used to harmonize the technical methods of certification so as to obtain results which are equivalent. As soon as this aim is achieved, annual progress reports shall be made on the comparative tests and sent in confidence to the Member States and to the Commission. The Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21, set the date for the first report.

3. The Commission acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21, shall make the necessary arrangements for the comparative tests to be carried out. Beet seed harvested in third countries may be included in the comparative tests.

Article 21 (5)

1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to be followed, matters shall be referred by the Chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State, to the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry (hereinafter called the "Committee") set up by the Council Decision of 14 June 1966.

2. Within the Committee, the votes of the Member States shall be weighted as provided in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The Chairman shall not vote.

3. The representative of the Commission shall submit a draft of the measures to be adopted. The Committee shall deliver its Opinion on such measures within a time limit set by the Chairman according to the urgency of the matter. Opinions shall be delivered by a majority of forty-one votes.

4. The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with the Opinion of the Committee, they shall forthwith be communicated by the Commission to the Council. In that event the Commission may defer application of the measures which it has adopted for not more than one month from the date of such communication.

The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within one month.

Article 21a (6)

Amendments to be made to the content of the Annexes in the light of the development of scientific or technical knowledge shall be adopted according to the procedure laid down in Article 21.

Article 22

This Directive shall be without prejudice to the provisions of national laws justified on grounds of the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants or the protection of industrial and commercial property.

Article 23 [2]

The Member States shall, not later than 1 July 1968, bring into force the laws, regulations or administrative provisions necessary to comply with the provisions of Article 14 (1) and, not later than 1 July 1969, those necessary to comply with the other provisions of this Directive and its Annexes. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

Article 24

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

[1] Provisions identical in substance to those of Article 2 (2) shall apply to the new Member States up to 30 June 1977.

[2] 1 July 1968 and 1 July 1969 were the dates fixed in Directive No 66/400/EEC. The amendments to that Directive have been or shall be the subject of national measures of application within the following time limits:Member States of the Community as originally constituted:New Member States:5.The legislative, regulatory and administrative pro visions, amended in accordance with the Directive in question shall be applicable:from 1 July 1973, as regards the provisions necessary to comply with the provisions of Article 14 (1);from 1 July 1974, at the latest as to the provisions relating to basic seed;from 1 July 1976, as regards the remaining pro visions.Member States of the enlarged Community:

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ANNEX 1 (1)

CONDITIONS FOR CERTIFICATION

A. THE CROP

1. The crop shall have sufficient identity and purity of variety.

2. The seed producer shall submit all the multiplications of a given variety of seed for examination by the certification authority.

3. There shall be at least one official field inspection and in the case of basic seed at least two such inspections, one of stecklings and one of the seed-producing plants.

4. The cultural condition of the field and the stage of development of the crop shall be such as to permit identity and varietal purity to be adequately checked.

5. The minimum distances from neighbouring seed producing crops shall be:

| Basic seed | Certified seed |

(a)Sugar beet from: | | |

other varieties of sugar beet | 500 m | 300 m |

fodder beet and other sub-species of Beta vulgaris | 1000 m | 600 m |

(b)Fodder beet from: | | |

other varieties of fodder beet | 500 m | 300 m |

sugar beet and other sub-species of Beta vulgaris | 1000 m | 600 m |

These distances apply also to isolation from plants or fields of beet grown for root production and flowering at the same time as the plants in the seed production fields.

The distances can be disregarded if there is sufficient protection from any undesirable foreign pollination.

B. THE SEED

1. The seed shall have sufficient identity and purity of variety.

2. Diseases which reduce the usefulness of the seed shall be at the lowest possible level.

3. The seed shall also satisfy the following conditions:

| Minimum analytical purity (% by weight) | Minimum germination (% clusters or pure seed) | Maximum moisture content % by weight) |

Sugar and fodder beet: | | | |

(aa)Monogerm seed, precision seed, natural seed of varieties with more than 85 % diploids | 97 | 73 | 15 |

(bb)Other seeds | 97 | 68 | 15 |

(a) The percentage by weight of other seeds shall not exceed 0,3, including not more than 0,1 of weed seeds. For this purpose at least 200 grammes of the sample shall be examined.

(b) Special conditions for monogerm seed and for precision seed.

(aa) Monogerm seed:

At least 90 % of the germinated clusters shall give single seedlings.

(bb) Precision seed:

In the case of varieties with a precentage of diploids exceeding 85, at least 58 % of the germinated clusters shall give single seedlings. In the case of all other seeds, at least 63 % of the germinated clusters shall give single seedlings. The percentage of clusters giving three or more seedlings shall not exceed 5, calculated on the germinated clusters.

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ANNEX II (1)

Maximum weight of a seed lot: | 20 metric tons, |

Minimum weight of a sample: | 500 grammes. |

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ANNEX III (1) (4)

LABEL

A. Required information:

1. "EEC rules and standards".

2. Certification authority and Member State or their initials.

3. Reference number of lot.

4. Sugar or fodder beet.

5. Type or variety.

6. Category.

7. Country of production.

8. Declared net or gross weight or declared number of grains.

9. (deleted).

10. In the case of monogerm seed: the word "monogerm".

11. In the case of precision seed: the word "precision".

B. Minimum dimensions:

110 mm × 67 mm.

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