Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

No C 52 / 20 Official Journal of the European Communities 19 . 2 . 94

Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation ( EEC ) on the conservation, characterization

and utilization of genetic resources in agriculture (*)

( 94 / C 52 / 07 )

On 27 September 1993 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Articles 43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
on the abovementioned proposal .

The Section for Agriculture and Fisheries, which was responsible for preparing the Com ­
mittee 's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 8 December 1993 . The Rapporteur was
Mr Proumens .

At its 311th Plenary Session ( meeting of 21 December 1993 ), the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously .

The Committee endorses this proposal for a Regulation .

It not only regards it as a positive step to coordinate
the information covered by the proposal, but also sug ­
gests that the Commission ensure widespread aware ­
ness of its initiative and its work, while referring at

international level even to pursuing the ai ms advocat ed
at the Rio Conference .

However, it has a number of comments and recommen ­
dations to make ( see below ).

1 . General comments

1.1 . This proposal seeks essentially to introduce a
system of information and consultation between Mem ­
ber States .

1.2 . The scope of the proposal excludes, ipso facto,
all forms of funding of basic research .

1.3 . However, at Member State level, the data col ­
lected will make possible interesting development work,
and the Commission appears to be best placed to discuss
this with other international organizations such as the
FAO .

1.4 . Although the Commission 's draft does not ear ­
mark funds for research the Committee would encour ­
age Member States to pursue activities based on the
inventory . The aim would be to produce modern, high ­
quality but also more profitable animal breeds without
at the same time neglecting ancient and traditional
breeds whose gradual disappearance would, according
to a recent FAO report, constitute an inestimable gen ­
etic loss .

1.5 . In this connection, the idea of organizing sem ­

inars, exchanges of experts, study visits and scientific
and technical reports is to be welcomed .

1.6 . The proposal also provides for a management
committee, composed of representatives of the Member
States .

1.7 . The emphasis is mainly on plant genetic
resources, since three quarters of the budget for conser ­
vation, characterization and utilization of resources is
devoted to these ( leaving a quarter for animal genetic
resources ).

1.8 . The total budget for the five-year period covered
by this proposal is ECU 20 million .

2 . General remarks

2.1 . The Committee welcomes the initiative but
hopes that the system will not be too oriented towards
essentially administrative aspects .

2.2 . In that case — and the Commission must be
very attentive to this and avoid a growth in management
expenditure at the expense of productive expenditure
— the budget would be too large for the real objectives

achieved .

2.3 . On the other hand — and this seems to be the
Commission 's wish, shared by the Committee — if the
proposal were to lead to practical results the planned
budget would be justified .

2.4 . The Committee accordingly feels that the Com ­
mission should ensure that the system set up over the
five-year period can be continued thereafter .

2.4.1 . To ensure that present and future develop ­
ments go well, the Commission should lay down the
rules for drawing up the inventory at the time when it
begins its work .

2.5 . Of course, that will depend on the results achiev ­
(!) OJ No C 266, 1 . 10 . 1993, p . 2 . ed and on proper operation of the system at Community

19 . 2 . 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 52 / 21

level, while enabling the Member States to develop
their own activities and initiatives, possibly cooperating
among themselves, and respecting subsidiarity, without
the national budgets being reduced .

2.5.1 . However, respect for subsidiarity and the
diversity of the work should not lead to a decline in
the work 's quality or a pointless rise in costs .

2.6 . In this context, the Committee notes that there
should be clear differentiation, taking account of the
specific features of regions, their soil types, and plant

( and even animal ) species traditionally cultivated or
bred there .

2.7 . All this does not mean fixing current projects in
a Malthusian status quo, but rather promoting any
applications of results obtained by other Member States
where the climatic conditions, the state of the soils and
the traditional crops can be studied in a bolder or more
innovative spirit .

2.8 . In the Committee 's view the essential aims to
be pursued are :

— quality,

— biodiversity,

— diversification of species and uses .

2.9 . In this spirit the Committee urges that less tra ­
ditional, or even unexplored, applications be con ­
sidered, particularly at the utilization stage . For exam ­
ple, certain plants used for food or animal feed should
also be considered for medicinal, cosmetic or energy
uses, or tests could be carried out on parts of plants
( or animal organs ) not used hitherto, which could turn
out to be of interest for new uses .

2.10 . The various potential fields of work should not
fail to include those relating to biological protection,
and particularly data on ladybirds, wasps and other

Done at Brussels, 21 December 1993 .

insects useful in this respect, as well as certain fungi or
micro-organisms .

2.11 . The Committee suggests that to avoid any
ambiguity in the wording of Article 1(2 ), medicinal and
aromatic plants should be added to the list .

3 . Specific comments

3.1 . The information collected by the Commission
should be made available to all interested sectors, such
as farmers, the agro-foodstuffs sector, seed producers,
nursery growers and centres with zootechnical and
breeding responsibilities .

3.2 . It goes without saying that the trade associations
in these sectors should be particularly well informed .
It is up to them to ensure proper dissemination of the
information collected to users and future users .

3.3 . An important problem may arise for the practi ­
cal applications of patented or potentially patented
work on genetics . The Member States and the Com ­
mission should be able to include in the inventory an
indication of the patent with details of the patent
holder . The same must apply to the concept of ' intellec ­
tual property '.

3.4 . Cultivar producers should be able to ask the
Commission to keep some of the information communi ­
cated confidential, particularly to protect them against
competition .

3.5 . When planning the inventory the Commission
should provide a cross-referenced index to facilitate
consultation of the inventory based on the interest of
any given subject .

4 . Information

In view of the present and future interest in the project,
the Committee recommends that the Commission
inform the general public of the development and results
of the work covered by this proposal for a Regulation .

The Chairman

of the Economic and Social Committee

Susanne TIEMANN