Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2012)343 - Extension of the period of application and update of Council Decision 2003/17/EC on the equivalence of seed from third countries - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2012)343 - Extension of the period of application and update of Council Decision 2003/17/EC on the equivalence of seed from third ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2012)343  |
| date | 28-06-2012 |
Council Directives on the marketing of fodder plant seed, cereal seed, beet seed and seed of oil and fibre plants regulate the internal marketing of seed for sowing of the plant species as listed by those Directives. To facilitate trades and to promptly respond to the marketing request, those Directives foresee the possibility for the Council to establish rules for authorising the importation of seed under an equivalence system from third countries.
Contents
Council Decision 2003/17/EC[1] provided the list of countries to be recognised for the application of the equivalence principle for importation, detailed requirements to be fulfilled, and in particular to limit the period for which equivalence is recognised to five years to be extended if all the relevant requirements are fulfilled.
That period will expire on 31 December 2012. In order to ensure the necessary supply of seed to the EU market, these rules must be prolonged by amending the deadline until 31 December 2022. Currently, the temporary extension is foreseen for only 5 years. However, the revision of the new Regulation on S&PM (under co-decision procedures) will be launched in September 2012, only, with specific implementing measures to be adopted thereafter. Therefore, a time limit of ten years seems necessary to avoid the expiration within this process.
Annex I to Decision 2003/17/EC lists Yugoslavia as a country under equivalence regime. Some new countries replace the former Yugoslavia. Slovenia is a member of the European Union, Croatia is already recognised as equivalent by Decision 2003/17/EC, Serbia should be added being a member of the OECD Scheme for the Varietal Certification of Seed moving in International Trades and member of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) as regards the seed sampling and testing. Yugoslavia should be deleted. Other countries from the former Yugoslavia cannot be added being not member of the OECD and ISTA. In addition, the names of some authorities responsible for the approval and control of the production, as listed in Annex I to Decision 2003/17/EC have changed.