Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Decision 2003/17/EC by extending its period of application and by updating the names of a third country and of the authorities responsible for the approval and control of the production (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2012-06-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Serbia, import (EU), marketing standard, originating product, quality control of agricultural products, quality standard, seed

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 28.6.2012  
COM(2012) 343 final 

2012/0165 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Council Decision 2003/17/EC by extending its period of application and by 
updating the names of a third country and of the authorities responsible for the 
approval and control of the production 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Council Directives on the marketing of fodder plant seed, cereal seed, beet seed and 
seed of oil and fibre plants regulate the internal marketing of seed for sowing of the 
plant  species  as  listed  by  those  Directives.  To  facilitate  trades  and  to  promptly 
respond  to  the  marketing  request,  those  Directives  foresee  the  possibility  for  the 
Council  to  establish  rules  for  authorising  the  importation  of  seed  under  an 
equivalence system from third countries.  

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Council Decision 2003/17/EC1 provided the list of countries to be recognised for the 
application of the equivalence principle for importation, detailed requirements to be 
fulfilled, and in particular to limit the period for which equivalence is recognised to 
five years to be extended if all the relevant requirements are fulfilled. 

That  period  will  expire  on  31  December  2012.  In  order  to  ensure  the  necessary 
supply  of  seed  to  the  EU  market,  these  rules  must  be  prolonged  by  amending  the 
deadline until 31 December 2022. Currently, the temporary extension is foreseen for 
only  5  years.  However,  the  revision  of  the  new  Regulation  on  S&PM  (under  co-
decision  procedures)  will  be  launched  in  September  2012,  only,  with  specific 
implementing measures to be adopted thereafter. Therefore, a time limit of ten years 
seems necessary to avoid the expiration within this process. 

Annex  I  to  Decision  2003/17/EC  lists  Yugoslavia  as  a  country  under  equivalence 
regime. Some new countries replace the former Yugoslavia. Slovenia is a member of 
the  European  Union,  Croatia  is  already  recognised  as  equivalent  by  Decision 
2003/17/EC, Serbia should be added being a member of the OECD Scheme for the 
Varietal  Certification  of  Seed  moving  in  International  Trades  and  member  of  the 
International  Seed  Testing  Association  (ISTA)  as  regards  the  seed  sampling  and 
testing.  Yugoslavia  should  be  deleted.  Other  countries  from  the  former  Yugoslavia 
cannot be added being not member of the OECD and ISTA. In addition, the names of 
some authorities responsible for the approval and control of the production, as listed 
in Annex I to Decision 2003/17/EC have changed.  

1 

OJ L 8, 14.1.2003, p. 10. 

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2012/0165 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Council Decision 2003/17/EC by extending its period of application and by 
updating the names of a third country and of the authorities responsible for the 
approval and control of the production 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 43(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Council  Decision  2003/17/EC  provides  that  for  a  limited  period  field  inspections 
carried out in third countries on seed-producing crops of certain species are considered 
as equivalent to field inspections carried out in accordance with Union legislation and 
that seed of certain species produced in third countries is considered as equivalent to 
seed produced in accordance with Union legislation. 

It appears that those field inspections continue to afford the same guarantees as those 
carried out by the Member States. Those field inspections should therefore continue to 
be considered as equivalent. 

As  Decision  2003/17/EC  will  expire  on  31  December  2012,  the  period  for  which 
equivalence is recognised under that Decision should be extended. It appears desirable 
to extend that period to ten years. 

The  reference  to  Yugoslavia  in  Decision  2003/17/EC  should  be  deleted.  Serbia,  as  a 
member  of  the  OECD  Scheme  for  the  Varietal  Certification  of  Seed  moving  in 
International  Trades  and  member  of  the  International  Seed  Testing  Association  as 
regards the seed sampling and testing, should be added to the list of third countries in 
Annex  I  to  Decision  2003/17/EC.  In  addition,  the  names  of  some  authorities 
responsible  for  the  approval  and  control  of  the  production,  as  listed  in  Annex  I  to 
Decision 2003/17/EC have changed.  

(5) 

Decision 2003/17/EC should therefore be amended accordingly, 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Decision 2003/17/EC is amended as follows: 

Article 1 

(1) 

In  Article  6,  the  date  "31  December  2012"  is  replaced  by  the  date  "31  December 
2022". 

(2) 

Annex I is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Decision. 

This  Decision  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  third  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

It shall apply from 1 January 2013. 

Article 3 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX  

"ANNEX I 

Countries, authorities and species 

Country(*) 

Authority 

Species referred to in the 
following Directives 

3 

1 

AR 

AU 

CA 

CL 

2 

Instituto Nacional de Semillas (INASE) 
Av. Paseo Colón 922, 3 Piso 
1063 BUENOS AIRES 

Australian Seeds Authority LTD. 
P.O. Box 187 
LINDFIELD, NSW 2070 

Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Seed 
Section, Plant Health & Biosecurity Directorate
59 Camelot Drive, Room 250, OTTAWA, ON 
K1A 0Y9 

Ministerio de Agricoltura 
Servicio Agricola y Ganadero, División de 
Semillas 
Casilla 1167, Paseo Bulnes 140 - SANTIAGO 
DE CHILE 

HR 

State Institute for Seed and Seedlings,  

Vinkovacka Cesta 63 
HR-31000 OSIJEK 

IL 

MA 

NZ 

RS 

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development 
Plant Protection and Inspection Services 
P.O. BOX 78, BEIT-DAGAN 50250 

D.P.V.C.T.R.F. 
Service de Contrôle des Semences et des 
Plants, 
B.P. 1308 RABAT 

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 
25 "THE TERRACE" 
P.O. BOX 2526 WELLINGTON 

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water 
Management 
Plant Protection Directorate 
Omladinskih brigada 1, 11070 NOVI 
BEOGRAD 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

2002/54/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

2002/54/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

2002/54/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

2002/54/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

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Country(*) 

Authority 

1 

TR 

US 

UY 

ZA 

2 

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,  
Variety Registration and Seed Certification 
Centre 
Gayret mah. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bulvari 
No:62 
P.O.BOX: 30, 06172 Yenimahalle/ANKARA 

USDA - Agricultural Marketing Service 
Seed Regulatory & Testing Branch 
801 Summit Crossing, Suite C, GASTONIA 
NC 28054 

Instituto Nacional de Semillas (INASE) 
Cno. Bertolotti s/n y Ruta 8 km 29 
91001 PANDO - CANELONES 

National Department of Agriculture, 
C/O S.A.N.S.O.R. 
Lynnwood Ridge, P.O. BOX 72981, 0040 
PRETORIA 

Species referred to in the 
following Directives 

3 

2002/54/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

2002/54/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC 

2002/57/EC 

66/401/EEC 

66/402/EEC – only in respect of 
Zea mays and Sorghum spp. 

2002/57/EC 

(*) 

AR  –  Argentina,  AU  –  Australia,  CA  –  Canada,  CL  –  Chile,  HR  –  Croatia,  IL  – 
Israel, MA – Morocco, NZ – New Zealand, RS – Serbia, TR – Turkey, US – United 
States of America, UY – Uruguay, ZA – South Africa" 

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