Proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material legislation

[Maggi Young]

Proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material legislation
Notes from the SRGC President:

The Scottish Rock Garden Club joins many other gardening organisations in calling for changes to the proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material legislation.

The SRGC is highlighting that the proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material legislation, in its currently-drafted form is likely to have serious unintended consequences for rock gardeners and for the valuable exchange of seeds between individuals and clubs.

The draft legislation, which was said to be intended to improve consumer protection and allow businesses and amateurs to be sure that seed they are buying is true to the label, has raised comprehensive catch-all clauses which mean that ‘home garden’ seeds will be treated in the same way as the most widely-used commercial crops.

The SRGC wishes to raise awareness of the potential negative impacts of the proposed legislation that currently requires ‘breeders’ or sellers to pay a fee of between £300 and £500 to register each plant name. With the thousands of wild species exchanged by seed exchanges, this cost would be totally prohibitive, lead to the loss of seed exchanges and potentially jeopardise ex-situ plant conservation projects.

The SRGC suggests either that this proposed legislation should be rejected, or is amended to exempt non-commercial, amateur and ‘home garden’ seed from the regulations, as is the case in the existing legislation. We suggest that members might like to write to their MEPs, and

    a.let them know that you are very worried by the proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material legislation.
    b.tell them that amateur gardeners should be able to choose any decorative plants they wish to grow in their own gardens (subject to national and/or international pest or conservation legislation), rather than from a list of 'EU-approved' species.
    c.explain that you should continue to be able to buy and exchange small packets of seed suitable for private gardeners, as opposed to seed for large-scale agriculture or horticulture.
    d.If the legislation were to persist, any plant species in the International Plant Nomenclature Index (IPNI) or any variety listed in the UK Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Plant Finder’ should be considered to have an approved description and registered name.
    e.Ask them to ensure the draft legislation is amended to exempt amateur and non-commercial seed sales and exchanges.

 
Dr. Carole Bainbridge,  SRGC President.

 The relevant MEPs within Scotland are

    George Lyon
    Struan Stevenson
    Alyn Smith


Further information and discussion on such matters in the SRGC Forum : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10845.0

 

For other MEPS in other countries:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/map.html   

and  email addresses for those MEPS  closely involved in the relevant committees:

pilar.ayuso@europarl.europa.eu, martina.anderson@europarl.europa.eu, martin.callanan@europarl.europa.eu, chris@chrisdaviesmep.org.uk, jill.evans@europarl.europa.eu, nick.griffin@europarl.europa.eu, linda.mcavan@europarl.europa.eu, paul.nuttall@europarl.europa.eu, glenis.willmott@europarl.europa.eu, marina.yannakoudakis@europarl.europa.eu, godfrey.bloom@europarl.europa.eu, vicky.ford@europarl.europa.eu, jacqueline.foster@europarl.europa.eu, julie.girling@europarl.europa.eu, james.nicholson@europarl.europa.eu, struan.stevenson@europarl.europa.eu, rebecca.taylor@europarl.europa.eu, sergio.silvestris@europarl.europa.eu, johnstuart.agnew@europarl.europa.eu, diane.dodds@europarl.europa.eu, julie.girling@europarl.europa.eu, george.lyon@europarl.europa.eu, james.nicholson@europarl.europa.eu, alyn.smith@europarl.europa.eu, richard.ashworth@europarl.europa.eu, john.bufton@europarl.europa.eu, jill.evans@europarl.europa.eu, anthea.mcintyre@europarl.europa.eu, brian.simpson@europarl.europa.eu

[Maggi Young]

Update : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10845.msg298449#msg298449

[Maggi Young]

http://www.hortweek.com/plant-reproductive-material-legislation-european-commissions-withdrawals-list-2015/ornamentals/article/1326823?DCMP=EMC-CONOrnamentalsNews&bulletin=ornamentals-news

Quoted from Hortweek  by Matthew Appleby

Plant Reproductive Material legislation on the European Commission's withdrawals list for 2015

16 December 2014, by Matthew Appleby

The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the production and making available on the market of plant reproductive material is on the withdrawals list of the European Commission's work list 2015.

Following its rejection of the proposal in 1st reading in April 2014, the European Parliament has asked the Council of Ministers to withdraw in a letter by the European Parliament president dated 11 September 2014.

Campaigner Graham Spencer said: "The proposed regulation has been withdrawn by the Commission at the request of the President of the European Parliament after the rejection of the first reading.

"That document is from the European Commission’s Work Plan 2015 – the list of legislation they will be working on and that particular document is the list of legislation that is being withdrawn.

"I’m currently discussing with other people involved with this what this official withdrawal means and what might happen next."

HTA advisor David Brown said: "We are now waiting to see what the Commission comes up with next, as they will need to propose something."

Defra head of varieties and seeds policy Andrew Mitchell said: "We have no information at this stage about alternative plans and how the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers sees the consequences." "

See Number 47 at http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/pdf/cwp_2015_withdrawals_en.pdf

[Maggi Young]

Comment from the RHS :
http://press.rhs.org.uk/RHS-Science-and-Advice/Government-Relations-Statement--EU-Plant-Reproduct.aspx

[Maggi Young]

Excerpt from "the Garden" RHS magazine, February 2015

EU proposal off the 2015 agenda

A contentious European Union proposal concerning the registration of plant names (see News, November 2013, p8) has been withdrawn.
In April 2014, the proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material legislation was rejected by the European Parliament by 650 votes to 15. In December, the European Commission (EC) published its Work Programme for 2015, announcing that it will not continue with the draft regulation on the basis of a request for its withdrawal by the President of the European Parliament.
Since summer 2013 the RHS has worked closely with other horticultural organisations, Defra and MEPs to high¬light the proposal’s potential negative effect of the legislation to horticulture and gardeners, and to help draft amendments to the proposals.
The EC’s next steps in relation to plant variety legislation are unclear so the RHS will continue to monitor developments and work with others in the UK and other Member States to ensure horticulture continues to be represented at the highest level.