WRITTEN QUESTION E-0175/03

by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Commission

(30 January 2003)

Subject: EU support for maintaining biological diversity

Technological developments such as selection and genetic modification have led to the development of high-yielding agricultural crops which are becoming increasingly widespread throughout the world. As a result, the diversity of agricultural crops is decreasing as traditional local crops are disappearing. However, this also poses a threat to the genetic data of these ancient crops.

It would, however, be of great benefit to future generations if there continued to be the greatest possible diversity of crops as their genetic data is an important source for creating new crops. In the future, climate change and changing economic, social and environmental circumstances will continue to require new crops with new characteristics. It is thus of literally vital importance that old crops should survive.

An organisation such as De Oerakker (Foundation for biodiversity in agriculture) in the north of the Netherlands collects seeds from as many different crops as possible. Some species can be kept in deep-freeze cells at the Agricultural University of Wageningen, whereas others have to be sown and harvested each year. The foundation has managed this very successfully so far but it can no longer continue to do so on financial and human resources grounds (it is staffed by volunteers).

1. Does the Commission share my view that maintaining the genetic data of old crops is extremely important for future generations?

2. Does it agree that this matter is of such great importance to society that it is essential to have an approach that will guarantee continuity?

3. What possibilities are there at European level to support projects of this kind, be it in financial or organisational terms, through exchanges with similar projects elsewhere in Europe, or otherwise?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 2003)

The Commission regards biological and genetic diversity in agriculture as essential to the sustainable development of agricultural production and rural areas. Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/94 of 20 June 1994 on the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture(1) made it possible to carry out an initial programme spread over the period 1994-1999 relating mainly to ex situ conservation of genetic resources. This approach constitutes a key element of any strategy to conserve biodiversity to the extent that it enables safeguarding of older local varieties relatively neglected by farmers for food production. Thanks to the work undertaken by the institutions responsible for conserving genetic material, the data and genetic characteristics of these local varieties have been preserved and enhanced. Their conservation is essential to the future of modern agriculture.

In accordance with the recommendations contained in the report(2) to the Commission by the independent expert group on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1467/94, the Commission drafted a new Regulation which has been discussed on several occasions in the relevant bodies at the Council and Parliament. In the light of those discussions, the Commission is amending its proposal with a view to presenting it again during the first half of 2003.

The forthcoming implementation of this new Regulation introducing a Community programme for the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture should make it possible to provide financial support for activities such as those undertaken by the De Oerakker Foundation (ex situ and in situ conservation of certain seed species), provided that they are carried out in cooperation with institutions or bodies located in other Member States.

The Community's Biodiversity Action Plan for Agriculture (BAP-AGRI) supports the development of a successor regulation to Regulation (EC) No 1467/94 as the key Community instrument for the conservation of genetic resources in agriculture. The BAP-AGRI calls for this future programme to extend beyond the ex situ focus of Regulation (EC) No 1467/94 and to make a major contribution also to in situ conservation and on-farm management, and specifies that this entails greater integration of non-governmental organisations and farmers in the genetic resource conservation process.

The BAP-AGRI also highlights the importance of Council Directive 98/95/EC of 14 December 1998(3) which created the legal framework needed to open up the possibility of allowing the marketing of seed of landraces and like varieties, which are naturally adapted to the local and regional conditions and threatened by genetic erosion, with the aim of contributing to in situ conservation. The Commission has established draft guidelines for the implementation of the Directive and is now taking steps to prepare measures regarding Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed(4) and Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species(5).

The Second Report on the Implementation of the Community Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, due in 2003, will review the extent to which the targets of the BAP-AGRI have been achieved. This review may lead to new recommendations with regard to the conservation of genetic resources in agriculture.

In the 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (RTD) (FP6), it is foreseen that in the specific programme for Thematic Priority 5: Food Quality and Safety, there may be a call for proposals in 2004 on Exploitation of Plant Biodiversity to reduce pesticide application for disease control. The objective would be to make use of stored biodiversity, in particular for the development of disease-resistant plants that will lead to a decrease in the use of plant protection products and the associated risks to human health and the environment.

In the 6th Framework Programme, in the specific programme for Policy-Oriented Research, it is indicated that the list of tasks for further calls includes biodiversity. The objective would be to develop and apply tools to determine the relative biodiversity within and between Community local breeds of animals, and to develop and apply tools to determine the useful characteristics of crop germplasm conserved in the Community.

Lastly, it should be pointed out that the Commission is likewise engaged in the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources at world level, in particular as a signatory of the International Treaty on phytogenetic resources for food and agriculture under the auspices of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and through its input to the Advisory Group on International Agricultural Research (AGIAR) system, which mainly benefits developing countries.

(1) OJ L 159, 20.6.1994.

(2) COM(2001) 617 final.

(3) Council Directive 98/95/EC of 14 December 1998 amending, in respect of the consolidation of the internal market, genetically modified plant varieties and plant genetic resources, 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 OJ L 25, 1.2.1999.

(4) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002.

(5) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002.