Apologies if you have already seen this.

This was posted in a political group. I hope it can be of use to some.
Best
O
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Deadline for consultation on this important Seed Law is 4th December !

All ABOUT THE New EU Seed Law

Updated November 2013
[] WHAT IS THIS NEW LAW?
The European Commision is currently drawing up a new law to regulate the
sale of all seeds, plants and plant material. The latest draft of the law
is even more restrictive than the regulations that we have at the moment.
Every single variety of vegetable will have to be registered on an EU list,
otherwise it will be illegal to sell it. To be registered on the list,
seed varieties have to pass a series of tests demonstrating what is called
DUS 'Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability'. It costs nearly £3000 to
test & register just one single variety of seed for sale.
Although we have had a system like this for many years, there have been much
simpler and cheaper options for what are considered 'amateur varieties' for
home gardeners, and the rules have never been strictly enforced in the UK.
The EU wants to get rid of these simpler and cheaper rules for 'amateur'
seed, and make sure that every country enforces the rules 100%.
Although they say there will be exceptions, in current drafts of the law
these are very, very limited.

WHY ARE THESE NEW LAWS A BAD THING?
The effect of this new legislation will be to massively limit the choice of
vegetable varieties available to home gardeners.
This is because if you are selling seed to farmers, you can expect to sell
hundreds of tonnes of seed every year, so it is worth the cost of
registering the variety. But if you are selling to gardeners, even the
biggest seed companies will be selling a few kilos of seed at most,
sometimes just a few hundred grammes of more unusual varieties. It just
doesn't work if they have to pay thousands of pounds to register that
variety! So only seed designed for farmers will get registered and be
legally sellable.
Unfortunately, varieties suitable for farmers often aren't appropriate for
home gardeners and allotment growers. For example: farmers usually want all
of their produce to come ready at the same time, so that they can harvest
and sell a whole fields worth. Home gardeners usually want their crops to
mature over a longer period - we don't want to eat all our vegetables on one
day!
Another example: farmers generally don't want to grow climbing peas, as
they need supports and can't be harvested mechanically. Lots of home
gardeners prefer tall pea varieties, as they are more productive in a small
space. There are hundreds of examples like this - the needs of gardeners
and farmers are very different.
The problem is very simple: If these new laws are passed, there will be
fewer and fewer varieties developed for gardeners and small growers.
Everybody will have to grow varieties that have been designed for commercial
large-scale farming, whether they like it or not.


BUT AREN'T THERE EXCEPTIONS & ALLOWANCES FOR HOME GARDENERS?
We've discussed this at length with DEFRA. They have confirmed that the
European Commission is trying its best to make sure thatall seed is covered
by their legislation. There are a few exceptions to the new laws, but
these are very, very limited.
And the exceptions will only apply to non-commercial operations selling
locally - for example individuals people selling a few packets of a local
variety on a market stall. So seed companies - who are the only people
with the experience and skills to develop what home growers need - will be
very restricted in what they can offer to gardeners.
Remember, even the big seed companies often only sell a few hundred packets
of their more unusual and specialist varieties - and these simply are not
economical to test and register, especially if there is an annual fee of
several hundred pounds to keep them on the register!
I THINK THIS IS A BAD THING - WHAT CAN I DO?
Earlier in 2013, as the first draft of the law was being made, hundreds of
thousands of people emailed and wrote to their MEPs and the EU, pushing for
changes to this new law. The initial draft of the law was so badly drafted
that it even outlawed seed swaps between individuals with no money taking
place! The EU did concede some last minute changes which looked workable.
BUT, they are now watering down nearly all of these concessions, or making
them so restrictive as to be useless, as the law progresses through the
system.
The fact that they made changes to start with shows that pressure can work!
We must fight for major improvements to the law as it goes through the EU,
and then is translated into UK laws.
So, if you think that this law is a bad idea, there are two things that you
can do, right now!


1) WRITE TO THE 3 KEY MEPs ON THE EU COMMITTEE


They a Sergio Silvestris, George Lyon, and Julie Girling
PLEASE DO WRITE! It has a huge effect if you write, and don't be shy about
it,
they don't expect a masterpiece and are quite used to getting random
informal letters from normal people.
You can find their contact details and a suggested draft letter here
The deadline for amendments is December the 4th, 2013, so if you can, write
soon!
Tell them that:
You are worried by the new EU Seed Law
You think gardeners should be able to choose any vegetables they wish to
grow in their own gardens, rather than just from a list of 'EU-approved'
varieties.
You want to be able to buy seed suitable for gardeners, not seed for big
scale agriculture, which is not the same.
The new EU Seed Law should ONLY cover seed sold to farmers.
The new EU Seed Law should NOT cover seed sold in small packets for home
gardeners and allotment growers.
Ask them:
to change the draft law so that Home Garden seed and plants are not covered
by it.

2) respond to the uk government consultation


It just happens that the UK government have started a consultation asking
people what things should be covered by EU laws, and what should be decided
at national level, as there is concern that EU legislation may be
interfering too much with some parts of our way of life.

The consultation about agriculture is happening now. We are asking as many
people as possible to respond, and say that garden plants and garden seeds
should NOT be covered by EU regulation, but instead controlled by UK laws.
You can find details of how to fill in the consultation here.
Please do this! DEFRA - who regulate seeds in the UK - understand the
problem completely,
and have very sensible views on how the home garden seed industry should be
regulated.
If the law is brought back in to UK control, they will be given the task of
drawing up sensible new UK laws & the problem will be sorted.


3) CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE


We will post occasional updates on our Facebook Page as we get more
information.

EVEN MORE INFORMATION - and a warning

The law itself is linked below if you want to wade through it. But before
you start, a very important warning:
You cannot just read the first 5 pages or so that are an 'executive
summary', and think you know what this law is about. The executive summary
is NOT what will become the law. It is the actual Articles themselves that
become law, the Summary has no legal standing and is just tacked on as an
aid to the public and legislators, it is supposed to give background
information and set the proposed legislation in context so people know what
is going on and why.
The problem with this law has always been that the Summary says lots of nice
fluffy things about preserving biodiversity, simplifying legislation, making
things easier etc etc - things we all would love - but the Articles of the
law don't really have the promised effects. And the Summary is not what
becomes the law.
So, be warned. By all means, read it yourself. But you have to pretty much
ignore the Summary as that is not the Law, and does not reflect what is in
the Law. The actual meat of it starts around about Page 25. Some of the more
important articles are 2, 3, 14, and 36 but you do need to read all the rest
as well to see how they fit together.
Official version of the Law as of May 6th 2013 is Here
Draft report from 28th October 2013 with proposed changes, removing and
limiting the concessions is here
NOTES TO EDITORS
"Proposal for a Plant Reproductive Material Law" was released on May 6th
2013
Law drafted by DG SANCO (consumer affairs), apparently some debate by DG
AGRI & ENVI (agriculture & environment)
Executive Summary of Law does not truly reflect stricter reality of the
actual articles in the law
Law as currently proposed will effectively kill off professional development
of home-garden seeds in the EU
Huge public opposition: over 270,000 signatures to the Arche Noah petition
Media contact: Ben Gabel, The Real Seed Catalogue:
ABOUT THE REAL SEED CATALOGUE:
The Real Seed Catalogue ( www.realseeds.co.uk ) is a well-known
DEFRA-registered seed supplier, based in Wales, that specialises in breeding
and supplying vegetable seed specially suited to the needs of home
gardeners. As a not-for-profit company dedicated to the needs of home
gardeners, it is also one of the UK's premier seed-saving organisations,
educating the public about seed saving and how to preserve their own
heritage varieties of vegetables at home.

The Real Seed Catalogue is produced by The Real Seed Collection Ltd , a
not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.
~ Company No 5924934 ~ VAT No 841181938 ~ DEFRA










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