Commission welcomes political agreement on seeds and other plant reproductive materials

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached last night by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the revision and simplification of EU rules for plant reproductive material (PRM). Today’s agreement modernises current rules, enabling producers and companies to benefit from the latest innovation, technology and digitalisation in this field. The revision also streamlines the various directives in force into a single Regulation, giving greater legal clarity and coherence to operators and public authorities.

Plant reproductive material are the seeds and other plant material used to produce new plants. They form the basis of agriculture, ensuring that farmers and agricultural industry have plants which meet their needs. Having the right plants can help increase plants and crops’ resilience, combatting resistance to certain pests and productivity. The new rules will provide assurances on the quality of these products and will strengthen this sector in Europe.

The revised Regulation maintains the system for placing plant reproductive products on the market, both with the assessment and registration of new varieties, as well as a certification to ensure its high quality. It also introduces new derogations from those rules to facilitate diverse types of producers to enter the market and increase the availability of more diverse products, in particular for non-professional users, for conservation purposes and for meeting specific local needs.

Once fully adopted and implemented, the revision agreed today will:

• Ensure the high quality and availability of plant reproductive material, boosting the competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
• Support investment and innovation in the sector through, promoting the uptake of the latest techniques and digital solutions to transform plant reproductive materials into forward-looking sector.
• Improve the performance of official controls through harmonisation and taking a risk-based approach, ensuring the quality of plant reproductive materials.
• Strengthen the conservation of plant genetic resources by increasing the availability of more genetically diverse materials to meet future needs and improve resilience.

Background

EU rules on plant reproductive materials date back to the 1960s. On 5 July 2023, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal on the production and marketing of plant reproductive material (‘Regulation on plant reproductive material’). The objective of the proposed Regulation was to replace and streamline the existing marketing Directives for cereal seed, beet seed, fodder plant seed, seed of oil and fibre plants, fruit plants, material for the propagation of vine, seed potatoes, vegetable seed and vegetable propagating material.

Next steps

The revised Regulation must now be formally adopted by the Council and European Parliament.

New rules will start applying 4 years after the new Regulation enters into force.

For more information

Factsheet

Future of EU rules on plant and forest reproductive material