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Adopted text

Production and marketing of plant reproductive material

TA-9-2024-0341 · P9_TA(2024)0341 · PE756.010

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Parliament's amended version of a proposed regulation on the production and marketing of plant reproductive material (PRM) in the Union. It replaces ten existing Directives with a single regulation, sets rules on categories, certification, labelling, imports, variety registration and derogations, and amends Regulations (EU) 2016/2031, 2017/625 and 2018/848. PRM must belong to a registered variety and to a category (pre-basic, basic, certified or standard), with derogations for conservation varieties, heterogeneous material, final users, gene banks, farmer exchanges, breeder's seed, not-yet-registered varieties and supply difficulties. Varieties are registered in national registers and notified to a Union variety register; registration lasts 10 years, or 30 years for fruit plants, vine and conservation varieties, and can be renewed. Imports are allowed only if the third country's requirements are recognised as equivalent, and imported PRM must carry specified labels. Professional operators must be registered, keep records and ensure traceability. The regulation applies from 36 months after entry into force, with the value for sustainable cultivation and use rules for vegetables and fruit plants applying from 60 months.

Key points

  1. PRM may be produced and marketed only if it belongs to a variety registered in a national variety register, with exceptions for rootstocks, heterogeneous material, final users, conservation, farmer exchanges, breeder's seed, not-yet-registered varieties and supply difficulties.
  2. PRM must belong to one of four categories: pre-basic, basic, certified or standard, ranked from highest to lowest identity and quality; derogations allow production and marketing without a category in specified cases.
  3. Pre-basic, basic and certified seed and material must be practically free from quality pests and produced under official certification or certification under official supervision, in line with Annex II requirements, and attested by an official label.
  4. Standard seed and material are produced under the responsibility of the professional operator, must meet Annex III requirements and carry an operator's label; operators must declare quantities produced annually.
  5. Selected clones, multiclonal mixtures and polyclonal PRM must be registered in a special public register, maintained to preserve identity, and polyclonal PRM must meet standard material requirements and carry a 'Polyclonal material' label.
  6. Professional operators may be authorised to carry out certification under official supervision and print official labels; competent authorities audit them at least every 18 months and may withdraw or modify the authorisation.
  7. PRM must be marketed in lots, in fastened packages, bundles or containers; lots may be merged only if they belong to the same variety and harvest year, and splitting or merging requires records.
  8. Official labels are issued for pre-basic, basic and certified PRM and operator's labels for standard PRM; both must be legible, indelible and include specified information, with a serial number for traceability.
  9. Derogations allow marketing of conservation varieties as standard material with a 'Conservation variety' label, heterogeneous material without variety registration, PRM to final users without certification, and exchanges of small quantities of seed between farmers.
  10. Imports are allowed only from third countries whose requirements are recognised as equivalent by the Commission, based on examination and audits; imported PRM must carry OECD, official or operator's labels with specified information.
  11. Varieties are registered in national variety registers and notified to the Union variety register; registration requires distinctness, uniformity, stability, a suitable denomination and, for some species, satisfactory value for sustainable cultivation and use.
  12. The regulation repeals ten Council Directives and amends Regulations (EU) 2016/2031, 2017/625 and 2018/848 to align definitions and bring PRM within official controls.

Who is affected

  • Professional operators producing or marketing PRM must register, keep records, ensure traceability and comply with certification and labelling rules.
  • Farmers may exchange small quantities of seed in kind or for compensation, subject to conditions, and benefit from derogations for conservation varieties and heterogeneous material.
  • Gene banks, conservation organisations and networks may market PRM for dynamic conservation under less stringent rules and must notify the competent authority.
  • Final users may buy PRM not officially certified, with an operator's label and a description in a commercial catalogue.
  • Third countries exporting PRM to the Union must have their requirements recognised as equivalent and provide specified labelling information.

Figures and deadlines

  • Registration period of 10 years for varieties, renewable for further 10 years.
  • Registration period of 30 years for conservation varieties and varieties of fruit plants and vine.
  • Authorisation for not-yet-registered varieties: maximum 3 years for seeds, 5 years for other PRM.
  • Temporary supply difficulty authorisation: maximum 1 year.
  • Provisional authorisation for urgent marketing of seeds: maximum 1 month.
  • Small packages maximum: 10 kg for cereals, 5 kg for fodder plants, beet, oil and fibre plants, 10 kg for seed potatoes, 500 g for legumes, 100 g for certain vegetables, 20 g for other vegetables, 10 individuals for fruit and vine cuttings.
  • Records of re-packaging and re-labelling must be kept for 3 years; traceability records for 3 years; heterogeneous material records for 5 years.
  • Regulation applies from 36 months after entry into force; value for sustainable cultivation and use rules for vegetables and fruit plants from 60 months.

Legal basis: Article 43(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.