2002/454/EC: Commission Decision of 12 June 2002 on a temporary experiment with regard to increasing the maximum weight of a lot of certain fodder plant seeds under Council Directive 66/401/EEC (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2002) 2078)

Commission Decision
of 12 June 2002
on a temporary experiment with regard to increasing the maximum weight of a lot of certain fodder plant seeds under Council Directive 66/401/EEC
(notified under document number C(2002) 2078)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2002/454/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed(1), as last amended by Directive 2001/64/EC(2), and in particular Article 13a thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Directive 66/401/EEC provides for the maximum weight of a lot in the context of seed testing.
(2) Changes in seed marketing practices, in particular methods of transporting seed including bulk shipment, suggest that an increase in the maximum prescribed lot weight for seed of grasses may be desirable.
(3) Current international practice, namely the derogatory experiment on maximum lot size of gramineae seed, as adopted by the Council of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on 28 September 2000, and the experiment on herbage seed lot size, approved at the ordinary meeting of the International Seed Testing Association of 21 June 2001, permits procedures whereby the maximum weight of a lot may be increased for certain species, including grasses.
(4) It is therefore appropriate to organise a temporary experiment under specified conditions on increasing the maximum weight of a lot of grasses.
(5) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry,