Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directives 66/400/EEC, 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 66/403/EEC, 69/208/EEC, 70/457/EEC and 70/458/EEC on the marketing of beet seed, fodder plant seed, cereal seed, seed potatoes, seed of oil and fibre plants and vegetable seed and on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (1) (94/C 195/14)

On 20 December 1993 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Articles 43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture and Fisheries, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 7 April 1994. The Rapporteur was Mr Bastian.

At its 315th Plenary Session (meeting of 27 April 1994), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following Opinion by a substantial majority, with one vote against.

Subject to the reservations set out below, the Committee endorses the Commission proposal, which seeks to complete the harmonization of the legislation applying to the technical characteristics of seeds marketed in the European Union.

1. Preliminary comments

1.1. The draft Directive seeks to amend seven Directives adopted between 1966 and 1970. Each of those Directives has been amended many times over the past 20 to 25 years. Directive 66/403, for example, has been amended 23 times, and Directive 69/208 32 times. The Committee should therefore, in theory, refer to between 100 and 150 texts in order to draw up its Opinion.

1.1.1. The Committee would ask the Commission to assemble and coordinate all these texts in a single text as soon as the present draft Directive has been adopted.

1.2. The Committee wishes to be informed of the procedure envisaged for applying the Seeds Directives in the countries of the European Economic Area which will accede to the European Union.

2. Subject of the Commission proposal

2.1. Regulatory context

2.1.1. The general provisions on the marketing of agricultural and garden seeds have been harmonized mainly through Directives since 1966 - i.e. for about 27 years.

2.1.1.1. These Directives concern the two basic characteristics of seeds:

- the genetic nature of the variety as listed in the Catalogue Directives (457 and 458);

- the technological characteristics of the seeds (genetic, purity, germination, generation etc.) covered by the Marketing Directives (400-403, 208 and 458), which in fact also organize the official monitoring of these qualities.

2.1.1.2. These texts, which are very closely interlinked, have two objectives:

(a) to ensure the quality of seeds on the market (protecting the consumer, encouraging genetic progress and organizing the commercial seeds sector); and

(b) ixto make possible the free movement of these goods in the European Union, but also to facilitate trade with third countries which respect the standards and OECD system for seeds.

2.1.1.3. Up to now, these objectives have been achieved to a remarkable extent thanks to the consistency of the regulatory provisions and, probably, the flexibility allowed for application in the light of agro-climatic conditions and agricultural and administrative practice.

2.1.2. The Directives specific to seeds were supplemented in 1977 by the plant health rules, which apply both to seeds and to propagating material. Moreover, the European Union is extending its powers to cover the introduction of genetically modified organisms, new foodstuffs, questions relating to genetic resources and protection of breeders' rights.

2.1.2.1. These new texts, which have not yet all been enacted, do affect the seeds sector. Some consequences are already foreseeable, while others, which may be very important, are not as yet.

2.2. The Commission's objectives

2.2.1. The Commission is concerned about the operation of the internal market and about possible restrictions on free movement of these goods which still exist in the various Seeds Directives, despite more than twenty years of almost completely open frontiers between Member States; it therefore proposes a number of amendments in schematic form designed to prevent Member States adapting or derogating from general provisions, and transfers this task to the Standing Committee and itself.

2.2.2. The Commission also proposes to broaden the scope of these Directives, particularly in order to create legal links with the texts mentioned in point 2.1.2. above.

2.3. Proposed amendments

2.3.1. The proposed amendments can be divided into horizontal amendments, concerning all species of seeds, and specific amendments concerning only one species.

3. The Committee's comments

3.1. General comments

3.1.1. For the first objective (marketing in the European Union), the proposed measures generally appear to derive from the experience acquired and the equilibria arrived at between Member States and with the Commission.

In contrast, the consequences of the second objective (broadening the field of application and creating new legal bases) are less well defined. Moreover, the proposed provisions would entrust powers only to the Standing Committee and the Commission.

In its explanatory note, the Commission states that uniform regulation is necessary. Now, since the seeds in question are intended to produce plants throughout the territory of the European Union, there must be provision for adaptations to suit the agro-climatic conditions, current practice or constraints upon consumers or users in the different Member States or regions. These adaptations would be made on a proposal from the Standing Committee.

3.1.2. The Committee stresses the need for the Advisory Committee on Seeds to be consulted in good time, and for due account to be taken of the opinion and position of that Committee.

3.1.3. The explanatory note also states that the proposal would have little or no impact on small or medium-sized enterprises. This seems incorrect as regards certain questions which can indeed have very considerable effects on the organization of this economic sector, and particularly on relations between seed-producing farmers, producing companies, distributors and users (e.g. for the marketing of seed as grown). Other points can have important effects on the funding of research (e.g. second-generation seeds - R2).

3.2. Comments on the horizontal amendments

3.2.1. Broadening of the scope of the Directives to cover 'production and, where appropriate, use'.

3.2.1.1. For use, the extension is qualified by the words 'where appropriate'. It is probably a matter of covering the regional aspects involved in the derogations on fodder plant seed mixtures, small quantities, or limitations on the marketing of certain varieties. But in this field the Commission should make its intentions clearer in the Directive or the preamble.

3.2.2. Broadening of the scope of the Directives to cover treatment of seeds, conservation of genetic resources, genetically modified organisms and new foodstuffs. The Committee issued an Opinion on new foodstuffs on 24 February 1993 (1).

3.2.2.1. This is simply a matter of establishing a legal basis to enable the Standing Committee and the Commission to coordinate the texts with the Directives on these questions.

3.2.2.2. The Committee wishes to be kept informed of developments concerning these general texts. It also wishes the socio-economic interest groups and the Advisory Committee on Seeds to be consulted before the provisions proposed by the Standing Committee and the Commission to implement the draft Directive are drawn up.

3.2.3. Number of generations authorized (first generation - R1, second generation - R2, etc.).

3.2.3.1. The Member States are no longer in a position to forbid the marketing of second-generation seeds for straw cereals and large-seed leguminous fodder plants, particularly peas.

3.2.3.2. But, in the case of cereals, it is possible to forbid the production of these second-generation seeds. Subject to authorization, only varieties listed in the national catalogue can be produced. However, these measures are not laid down for large-seed leguminous plants.

Different treatment for the two groups of species appears completely illogical: in every case they are autogamous plants for which the technical and commercial problems are comparable. It is desirable to avoid the disparity by extending the 'cereals system' to large-seed leguminous plants.

3.2.3.3. The obligation to allow two different generations of a species to be marketed simultaneously can have important economic consequences, thereby disorganizing production. (One's first thought is that second-generation seeds will cost less. However, this is not the case unless one assumes that the breeder would receive lower royalties for them, i.e. that funding of research on varieties would be reduced. Such consequences certainly go beyond the simple aim of removing restrictions on free marketing.)

3.2.3.4. Quality standards for second-generation seeds are lower in varietal purity: this is not progressive, as it adversely affects the final quality of the consumer products.

3.2.3.5. The varieties listed in the catalogue have been examined for the characteristics of first-generation, not second-generation seeds; this is important for species such as triticale or for certain varietal types which are not completely autogamous.

3.2.3.6. It would be preferable by far to limit marketing to the first generation, allowing enterprises in countries where there is still a second generation an adequate adaptation period.

3.2.4. Supplier's labelling

It is not clear from the text whether it is possible to require a supplier's label to be affixed. The drafting should be clarified to make labelling obligatory, to ensure that the consumer is well informed.

3.2.5. Errors or inexactitudes in the text

3.2.5.1. It is laid down that seeds as grown, intended to be certified, must be labelled, but that 'this provision shall not apply to the marketing of small quantities of such seed in the same local administrative area.'

As it is certainly not the Commission's intention to allow 'marketing' to the user of the seeds as grown, this paragraph is baffling. At all events, this provision must not be allowed to encourage abuses.

3.2.6. Progress in harmonizing the rules for listing of varieties

The existing Directives, and the proposed amendment, lay down some general principles for listing in the national catalogues, on which the Community catalogue is based. The varieties listed in the Community catalogue have freedom of movement throughout the European Union. Of course, cultivation techniques and utilization technology influence the listing rules in each Member State, and it seems difficult to draw up a single European technical regulation for listing. Nonetheless, this step forward, involving a certain harmonization of the rules for assessing the cultivation or utilization value, deserves to be welcomed.

3.3. Specific amendments

3.3.1. Beet seed (Article 1): none (but see 3.1)

3.3.2. Fodder plant seed (Article 2)

3.3.2.1. The obligation to allow the marketing of second-generation seeds is introduced. The text should include a measure to enable Member States to restrict production to first-generation seeds in the same conditions as those laid down for cereals (see point 3.1.3 above).

3.3.2.2. The obligation to monitor, in the commercial seed category, fodder species for which certification is not obligatory, has disappeared with the new wording of Article 3 of Directive 401 (point 9.10 of the current draft): this is a serious mistake.

3.3.2.3. Fodder plant seed mixtures: the marketing of such mixtures rightly remains forbidden. The system of derogations is maintained on a Member State basis for national producers, provided that it is used only in 'an area where the current agronomic practice would justify such use'. The concept of area here replaces that of country, and the concept of use replaces that of marketing: it is necessary to know exactly what the Commission means by this new wording.

3.3.3. Cereals (Article 3)

3.3.3.1. Second generation (see point 3.2.3 above)

3.3.3.2. In point 8, the provision making it possible to restrict the certification of production of oats seed, barley seed, rice seed and wheat seed to first-generation seeds must be extended to durum wheat, spelt and triticale.

3.3.3.3. Points 13 and 14 include the obligation to accept mixtures of cereal seeds. This would mean risking a serious technical setback at a time when the purity of the commercial product is of ever increasing importance on the consumer cereals market. The provision is thus out of date. It would be better to allow certain countries to authorize it - if they need to - by derogation, using the Standing Committee procedure.

3.3.4. Potato seed (Article 4): no comment (except horizontal points under 3.1 above).

3.3.5. Seed of oil and fibre plants (Article 5): no comment (except horizontal points under 3.1 above).

3.3.5.1. The obligation is introduced to allow the marketing of second-generation soya seed and oil-linseed. The text should include a measure allowing Member States to restrict production to first generation seed in the same conditions as are laid down for cereals (see 3.1.3 above).

3.3.6. Catalogue of agricultural plants: no comment (except horizontal points 3.2.2 and 3.2.6 above).

3.3.7. Garden seed (Article 6)

3.3.7.1. It must be by mistake that amendments 12 and 13 remove the obligation to certify industrial chicory seed.

3.3.7.2. The proposed wording under amendment 18 (at least in French) refers to mixtures of standard lettuce seed. The French wording should be 'mélanges de salades'.

3.3.7.3. The wording proposed under amendment 20 incorrectly omits standard seed, packets of which could thus no longer bear a weight indication. This would be regrettable from the point of view of consumer information.

Done at Brussels, 27 April 1994.

The Chairman

of the Economic and Social Committee

Susanne TIEMANN

(1) OJ No C 29, 31. 1. 1994, p. 1.

(2) OJ No C 108, 19. 3. 1993, p. 8.