Source: http://incs.ro/law_266.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 22:11:16+00:00

Document:
THE PARLIAMENT of ROMANIA adopts this law.
Art.1.  (1) The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry ensures the organizational framework and the compliance with the legal provisions regarding the production, processing, the quality control and certification, the marketing of seeds and propagating material, as well as the registration of plants varieties.
(2) The plant species to which the provisions of this law apply shall be established by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry.
(3) Within the content of this law, by seed is meant also propagating material and by plants are meant agricultural and horticultural plants.
Art.3.  The definition of the specific terms used in this Law are included in the annex hereto, and which can be modified and completed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in accordance with the evolution of the technical knowledge in this field and with the regulations of competent international bodies, in which Romania takes part.
Art.4.  (1) The production intended for marketing, processing and/or marketing of seeds is carried out by economic operators  natural or legal persons  registered for this purpose and having a authorization issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, through seed control and certification territorial authorities.
(2) The natural or legal persons stipulated in paragraph (1) can be registered, on request, which prove to have the required technical-material means, and personnel with appropriate knowledge for the requested activity, according to the legislations in force, included those related to phyto-sanitary quarantine, as the case may be.
(3) The methodology for registration and authorization issuing forseen at paragraph (2) shall be approved by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry.
Art.6 - The authorization granted subsequent to the registration of economic operators for the production, processing and/or marketing of seeds, as the case may be, may be withdrawn by the authority that issued it, temporarily or permanently, if it is assessed that the obligations set out in art.5 have been infriged or if they take no activities in the respective domain during 3 running years.
Art.7.  The registered seed producers may conclude written conventions or agreements with the neighbouring agricultural producers, natural or legal persons, regarding the respect of isolation distances from neighboring crops intended for seed production, according to the established technical norms.
Art.8.  Variety breeders or maintainers shall support the registered economic operators which multiply these varieties in applying the specific technologies for seed production, under the contractual provisions, according to law.
Art.9.  The production of seeds of biological categories pre-basic and basic seed fall under the responsibility of natural and legal persons denominated as maintainer in the Register of registered plant varieties, hereinafter called Register of varieties, and published in the Official Catalogue of Varieties and Hybrids Crop Plants in Romania, for the respective year, hereinafter called Official Catalogue.
Art.10.  Economic operators registered for the production, processing and/or marketing of seeds, shall be responsible for their seed quality and identity and shall bear the damages caused to beneficiaries due to the marketing of improper seeds.
Art.11.  Economic operators registered for the production, processing and/or marketing of seeds, are obliged to store, handle treate and transport them by lots, varieties and biological categories in appropriate packaties, in accordance with the legislation in force.
Art.12.  The technical rules and norms regarding the production intended for marketing, processing, quality control and certification and/or marketing of seeds, as well as the procedure of the registration, supervision, monitoring and accreditation of the activities of suppliers, are approved by order of minister of agriculture, food and forestry, in compliance with the provisions of the present law and of regulations of international bodies in which Romania takes part.
Art.13.  (1) Seeds are marketed packed in specific packages closed and, labeled, and the mentions marked on the label must reflect and attest their identity and quality, according to the norms in force, including phyto-sanitary status.
(2) In case of genetically modified varieties all accompanying labels or documents, shall clearly indicate that the variety has been genetically modified.
(3) The seeds as grown, the identity of which has been attested can be marketed, in view to processing.
Art.14.  (1) Seeds of plant species, domestically produced or imported, established by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry, can be produced with a view to marketing and can be marketed only if the variety is registered in the Official Catalogue or in the Catalogues of the European Community, as the case may be.
(2) - The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry can take measures to forbid, for a part or for the entire territory of the country, the use of a genetically modified variety, if found that the variety is harmful to crops of other varieties or species, or puts at risk to the environment or human health.
b) seed quantities for other tests or trials purposes, provided they belong to varieties for which an application for registration in the catalogue has been submitted. In case of a genetically modified variety, shall respecting the legal provisions for preventing the risks to human health or to environment.
c) seed by genera and species of plant established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in accordance with regulations of international bodies in which Romania takes part.
Art.15.  For preserving the plant genetic resources, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry can establish specific conditions regarding the production, quality control and marketing of seeds from these plants.
Art.16 - By order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry, special conditions can be established to regulate the marketing of certain categories of seeds.
Art.17 - (1) The economic operators registered for the marketing of seeds can import and export seeds in accordance with domestic norms and with the regulations of international bodies in the domain in which Romania takes part.
(2) The import is allowed with prior approval of the specialised authority of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, in accordance with the present law.
(3) The import of seeds from countries other than those of the European Community of species for which an equivalence of requirements for certification and variety protection is determined, is permitted with respect of the provisions of art.14 and in accordance with the regulations of international bodies, with regard to seeds intended for international trade in which Romania takes part. The equivalence it is been ascertained by the specialized authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
(4) The importers shall communicate the carrying out of the import to the specialized territorial authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, which will check the compliance of the import and placing on the market conditions.
(5) The importing economic operators will record the quantities of imported seeds in their own ins-and-outs register.
Art.18 - The imported seeds cannot circulate on the domestic market unless they are in their original packages and with original labels. Re-packing and re-labeling are allowed only under the control of the official control and certification authority and only by economic operators registered to this end.
Art.19  The seed export is allowed on contractual basis, provided that domestic and international regulations regarding the circulation of seeds intended for international trade, European Community regulations, or, as the case may be, the conditions required by the importer, are observed.
Art.20.  (1) The control, certification of identity and quality of seeds, the registration, supervision, monitoring and accreditation of economic operators supplying seeds, through all the phases of production, processing and marketing, are carried out by the National Inspection for the Quality of Seeds, a specialized service within the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, according to technical rules and norms and with international regulations in force.
(2) The Central Laboratory for the Quality of Seeds and Propagating Material is being set up through the reorganization of the Central Laboratory for the Control of Seed Quality. In a term of 60 days after the present law is in force, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry shall submitt to the Government for the adoption the reorganization and functioning rules of The Central Laboratory for the Quality of Seeds and Propagating Material.
(3) The Territorial Inspectorates for the quality of seeds and propagating material and the Central Laboratory for the Quality of Seeds and Propagating Material operate as units with legal status, financed from extra-budgetary sources and from alocation granted from state budget are subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry through the National Inspection for the Quality of Seeds.
(4) The Territorial Inspectorates for the quality of seeds and propagating material and the Central Laboratory for the Quality of Seeds and Propagating Material are responsible for the documents they issue.
a) registers, issues and withdraws the authorizations of operation for the economic operators that carry out the production, processing and/or marketing of seeds, as the case may be; with respect of provisions art. 4-6.
i) ensures the training and attesting of specialized persons for the specific activities.
(2) For the control, certification, registration, supervision, monitoring and accreditation, as well as for quality tests, the applicant shall pay the value of services once the application has been approved, in accordance to the tariffs established by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry. The obtained amounts shall represent extra-budgetary means and shall be used by the Territorial Inspectorates for the quality of seeds and propagating material and the Central Laboratory for the Quality of Seeds and Propagating Material, for covering capital, material and personnel expenditures. The amounts remained over at the end of the year shall be carried forward to the following year after the regulating with state budget, and shall be used for the same purposes.
(2) The production, control, certification and marketing technical rules and norms could also foresee other seed categories or their subdivisions, characteristics of different species, in accordance with the regulations of the international bodies in this areas to which Romania takes part.
Art.23.  The genera, species and varieties established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry are accepted for official control and/or certification or under official supervision, on the basis of this Law, in accordance with the regulations of international bodies in which Romania takes part.
Art.24.  (1) The marketing of seeds which do not comply with the requirements of the rules and norms in force, including those concerning packing, sealing and labeling, provided by Law, shall be forbidden.
(2)  It is forbidden to impose restrictions for the marketing of seeds, regarding their characteristics, the examining, labeling and sealing conditions other than the ones forseen by this Law or by other speciffic legislation in force.
(3) For certain species and in compliance with the rules established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, small non-professional producers are allowed to market on the local market, directly to the non-professional final user, seed which do not comply with the general requirements regarding packing, sealing and labeling system, without to harm of phyto-sanitary quarantine regulations and with guarantee of seeds quality.
Art.25 - In case of temporary difficulties in the general supply of certified seeds, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry may permit, for a specified period, the marketing of seeds from a category subject to less stringent requirements than those foreseen by the general rules and norms or belonging to varieties other than those accepted according to the Law.
Art.26.  (1) Economic operators, natural or legal persons, registered for the production of seeds, shall benefit from financial aid for the production of seeds obtaining on a multiplication contract or a declaration basis registered to the designated authority, according to the legislation.
(2) - The financial aid is granted for the production of seed intended for sowing, officially certified as pre-basic, basic or certified seed, for species established by Government decision, in order to insure a fair income for the producers and the assurance of a balanced seed market.
(3) The value of the financial aid foreseen by paragraphs (1) and (2) is set before August 1st, for two marketing years, as a fixed amount for 100 kg of seed or number of plants, for each species. The Government may adjust the value set for the second marketing year. The marketing year begins on July 1st of each year and ends on June 30th the following year.
(3) The rules for granting, verifying and paying the financial aid foreseen by paragraph (1) and the competent institutions shall be established by Government decision.
Art. 27  (1) For certain species, the import can be performed based on an import license, conditioned by setting up a bank deposit to guarantee the carrying out of the import during the validity period of the license. The deposit may be totally or partially penalized in case the import is not completely carried out within the respective period.
(2) For the species or the hybrid type imported based on a license, the Government may set a compensation tax equal with the difference between the reference price calculated for a 3-year period, and the free price at the border including the custom duties. The payment of compensation tax is compulsory for the natural and legal persons who carry out the import with lower price than the reference price.
Art.28 - (1) The seed imports within effected based on registered multiplication contracts are excepted from the provisions of art. 27.
(2) No quantitative restrictions or other measures or taxes having equivalent effect to a custom duty can be applied.
(3) The list of products, implementation rules, including the payment conditions of compensation tax as well as its destination, information sources and the institutions assigned to apply the above-mentioned provisions of paragraph (1) and (2) shall be established by Government decision.
(4) If, due to imports or exports, the seed market is seriously disturbed, the Government shall take the necessary measures in the trade with other countries, applicable until such disturbances or the possibility of their occurrence has ceased.
Art.29. - The varieties of species registered in the Official Catalogue of the European Community or in the catalogue of a member state are equivalent to those registered in the Varieties Register and Official Catalogue, with regard to distinctivity, uniformity and stability.
Art.30.  The seeds of species deleted from the Official Catalogue in the forseen cases at art. 36 may still be certified and marketed in the following 2, and respectively 3 years after their deletion, in order to liquidate the existing stocks.
Art.31.  (1) The registration of a variety in the Register of Varieties and its publishing in the Official Catalogue is done by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry, after it has been established that, as it resulted from the technical examination performed by the State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties, it satisfies the requirements of distinctivity, uniformity and stability and that, for species established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, the variety has a satisfactory agricultural and/or utilization value.
(2) Economic operators may be accredited through an order of the minister of agriculture, food and Forestry to carry out tests and to propose registration of certain species or varieties in the Official Catalogue, under the supervision of the State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties.
Art.32 - A genetically modified variety may not be tested or registered until the applicant has proven that it meets the legal conditions regarding the protection of environment, human and animal health.
Art.33. When registering in the Register of Varieties, each variety must be distinguished by an accepted denomination which should enable its identification in accordance with the regulations of competent international organizations in which Romania takes part.
Art.34.  Registration of varieties with a view to examination is effected based on an application of the breeder or its representative having a legal mandate, accompanied by a standardized description of the variety and by sufficient quantities of seeds needed for examination.
Art.35.  For a local variety, from a well determined region, or in the case the breeder no longer exists, registration and extension of registration may be done ex officio by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry which shall also establishes the maintainer of the respective variety.
(2) The regulations for the organization and functioning of the State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties shall be approved by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry.
Art.38.  The Technical Council for Plant Varieties and Seeds is organized as consultative body of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Its members and their tasks shall be established by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry.
Art.39.  (1) For the technical examination of varieties, the applicant or the owner of the registration certificate shall pay, once approval is given for the examination or for testing or for undertaking the checking tests for the control of maintaining the varietal purity of the registered variety, the amount foreseen in the tariffs established by order of the minister of agriculture, food and forestry.
(2) The obtained amount shall constitute extra-budgetary income and shall be used by the State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties, for covering capital, material and personnel expenditures. Amount left over at the end of the year shall be carried forward to the following year after the regulating with the state budget and shall be used for the same purposes.
Art.40.  Varieties that fulfill the conditions set out in articles 31 and 33 shall be considered registered and shall be entered in the Register of Varieties, and the breeder shall receive from the State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties a variety registration certificate valid for 20 years from the date of issuance in the case of field crops, and 25 years for trees and vine. At the request of the breeder, the parental forms used to obtain commercial hybrids can also be registered.
Art.41.  (1) The protection of plant varieties is ensured in accordance with Law no.255/1998 regarding the protection of new plant varieties.
(2) The breeders rights over the new plant varieties belonging to any genera and species shall be recognized and protected by granting of a variety patent under the provisions of Law no.255/1998.
(3) The invention patent granted in accordance with the Law 64/1991 gives the breeder same rights.
(4) - The right to produce and market can be contractually transferred to any natural or legal person registered according to article 4, which commits itself to pay the owner of the patent a royalty fee mutually agreed. Failure to respect this commitment entails the withdrawal of the authorization of seeds production and marketing and the payment of the damages resulting from this.
Art.42.  The variety registration certificate gives the owner the right to produce and market seeds of all the biological categories of the respective variety and to benefit of the rights derived from this, according to the legislation in force.
Art.43.  The State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties is designated as depository institution for the reproductible material of the varieties registered in the Register of Varieties.
Art.44.  The State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties is mandated to carry out the examinations and checks for the control of the maintenance of the varietal purity of the varieties registered in the Register of Varieties and published in the Official Catalogue.
Art.45.  After obtaining the variety registration certificate, the owner has the obligation to make available to the State Institute for Testing and Registration of Varieties a control-sample of seeds or plants which shall be conserved and shall represent the standard-sample for verification varietal purity and authenticity.
Art.46  The owner of the variety registration certificate shall pay for the examination and verification for the control of the maintenance of varietal purity during the entire period in which it is listed in the Register of Varieties and published in the Official Catalogue.
Art.47.  (1) The National Inspection for the Quality of Seeds can order on withholding any quantity of seeds ready to be marketed, during or after its marketing, which was found without documents of quality or phyto-sanitary status or with documents non-complying with the legislation in force, until the situation is clarified.
(2) In case the seeds do not meet the legal requirements in force, the authority forseen at paragraph (1) can decide for them to be returned, to be used for other purposes, to be seized and/or destroyed on the owners expense.
i) the marketing of seeds which do not comply with the norms in force.
a) the introduction of seeds into the country without the speciality approval of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry or not complying with the regulations in force.
d) those of points f), g) with fines ranging from 34,000,000 lei to 56,000,000 lei.
(2) The value of the penalties shall be periodically updated by Government Decision, according to the inflation rate.
Art.51.  (1) The ascertaining of contraventions and the application of penalties provided for in art.50 is carried out by the authorized persons by the National Inspection for the Quality of Seeds. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry can also mandate other persons to ascertain contraventions and to apply penalties.
(2) The dispozitions of the Government Ordinance nr. 2/2001 regarding the legal contravention rules, with the subsequant modification and completions, are applicable to the contraventions foreseen at art.48 .
(3) The personnel of the central and local public administration institutions shall support authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry as regards the cases of violation of the provisions of this Law.
Art.52.  The provisions of the present law are applied also to the varieties listed in the Register of Varieties and, respectively, in the Official Catalogue at the enforcement date of present Law. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry shall take such measures as to ensure that by the date of entry into force of this law, it has issued variety registration certificates and has established the maintainer right of institutes, agricultural research stations, universities as well as of other breeders or economic operators, at their request.
Art.53  The production, processing and and/or marketing seeds authorizations and the seed quality documents, issued on basis of Law 75/1995 regarding the production, quality control, marketing and using of seed and propagating material, as well as the registration of agricultural plant varieties provisions, republished, are still in force until the guarantee term mentioned in their contents shall expire, and the authorizations shall be annually avized by the issuing authority.
Art.54  At the enforcement date of present Law the law nr. 75/1995, re-published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, nr. 362 from December 17th 1997, with the subsequent modification shall be repealed, excepting those forseen by art. 28 paragraph (1), first thesis, as well as any other provisions contrary to this law.
This Law has been adopted by the Chamber of Deputies during the meeting of April 8th 2002 , with observance of the provisions foreseen by art. 74 paragraph (1) from the Constitution of Romania .
This Law has been adopted by The Senat during the meeting OF April 8th 2002, with observance of the provisions foreseen by art. 74 paragraph (1) from the Constitution of Romania .
1. Seed means any reproduction material: seed, fruit, propagating material, produces by any multiplication method, intended for the multiplication or production for the purpose of food consumption or industrial purposes.
d) it is also considered a variety the hybrid with its parental forms.
3. Protected variety means a newly created variety for which a variety patent has been issued.
4. Plants means agricultural and horticultural plants.
c) the succesor of the rights of the person foreseen in point a) or b), as the case may be.
6. Maintainer means the natural or legal person mentioned in the Registry of Varieties as being responsible for the maintenance of the variety characteristics as they were at the date of registering into the Register of Varieties. The maintainer can be the variety breeder or the person to whom the breeder has transferred this right throught a legal transaction.
7. Processing means at least one of the following operations: conditioning, including precleaning, drying, cleaning, sorting, dressing up, treatment, as the case may be; the lost forming, packaging and labelling; as well as and auxiliary operations: storing, keeping and transporting the seeds.
8. Marketing means the sale, the holding with a view to sale, the offer for sale and any other disposal, suply or transfer aimed at commercial exploitation of seeds to third parties, whether or not for considerantion.
c) the supply of seeds as grown, under certain conditions, to providers of services for the production of certain agricultural raw materials intended for industrial purposes or seeds multiplied for this purpose, (processing) shall not be regarded as marketing, as long as the provider of services does not acquire any rights on either the supplied seeds or the product of the harvest.
- which satisfies the requirements of the regulations in force concerning varietal purity of pre-basic seeds.
- satisfies the requirements of the regulations in force concerning pre-basic seeds.
- which satisfies the requirements of the regulations in force concerning basic seeds.
- at the breeders or maintainers request, it can be produced from pre-basic seed.
- satisfies, as determined by examination, the conditions of quality foreseen by norms in force.
10. The registration of economic operators means the operation of admitting an activity which an economic operator, natural or legal person, desires to perform within the object of activity, if the preliminary technical and organizational conditions for that activity are fulfilled.
11. Contract of multiplication means the contract of providing services which foresees the technical and financial conditions for achievement the multiplied seeds production, concluded under law conditions, between the owner of the seeds intended for multiplication or his/her representative, and the multiplying grower.
12. Declaration of multiplication means the application for field inspection of natural or legal persons registered for the production of seeds, addressed to the authority in charge with the certification for the purpose of approval the seed crop intended for multiplication.
13. Official supervision means the procedure whereby the official authority supervises and verifies the specific activity of a natural or legal person mandated by the aforementioned authority to carry out a certain activity on its behalf.

References: Art.1

Art.3

Art.4

Art.6
 art.5

Art.7

Art.8

Art.9

Art.10

Art.11

Art.12

Art.13

Art.14

Art.15

Art.16

Art.17
 art.14

Art.18

Art.19

Art.20
 art. 4

Art.23

Art.24

Art.25

Art.26

Art. 27

Art.28
 art. 27

Art.29

Art.30
 art. 36

Art.31

Art.32

Art.33

Art.34

Art.35

Art.38

Art.39

Art.40

Art.41

Art.42

Art.43

Art.44

Art.45

Art.46

Art.47

Art.51
 art.50
 art.48

Art.52

Art.53

Art.54
 art. 28
 art. 74
 art. 74