Brussels, Belgium
May 7, 2013
The European Seed Association is the voice of the European seed industry, representing the interests of those stakeholders active in research, breeding, production and marketing of seeds of agricultural, horticultural and ornamental plant species. The ESA section for fodder crops and grasses (SFG) represents European breeders involved in research, plant breeding, production and marketing of fodder crops and grasses.
Over the past few years, the European Seed Association’s Section for Fodder Crops and Grasses has intensified its activities of monitoring suspicious seed lots and fighting potential illegal seed marketing activities in order to protect and create a level playing field for end consumers.
Legal framework
The European grass seed market is controlled by the European Commission’s Seed Marketing Directives, on the basis of which the marketing of seed in the European Union can only take place if the variety is registered in one of the EU member states and consequently listed in the European common catalogue. In addition, the marketing of seed of these listed varieties is restricted to officially certified seed complying with certification standards. Maintaining these high standards - to grass seed, for example - in the European market is a major factor in ensuring the quality of the agricultural value chain, as the system provides farmers, professionals and private consumers with high-quality seed and improved varieties, which results in increased forage yields, better quality crops and more durable lawn and sport pitches.
Code of Conduct
As a first step, an industry code of conduct has been developed to raise awareness about illegal seed lots and seed marketing activities. This code of conduct is available on the ESA website at http://www.euroseeds.org/publications/codes/forage-plants-amenity-grasses/ and has been signed by more than 70 seed companies.
A manual entitled “How to Handle Suspicious Seed Lots” has also been developed, and is available online, to provide guidance for companies when situations arise in which they encounter suspicious activities. As the next step, ESA has developed a general code of conduct that is a pre-requisite for ESA membership and attendance to the ESA’s Annual Meeting.
Variety Identity Trials
An important element of the monitoring activities is to set-up variety identity trials. Samples of commercial seed lots of identified varieties are compared in the laboratory using electrophoresis and in the field with the official reference sample to control varietal identity and purity. So far, varieties investigated include: Boreal, Fawn, Nui and Highland. In one case, significant ad-mixtures with seeds of another grass species were observed which has since been taken up with the relevant certification bodies. In another case, the samples of the commercial seed lots appeared to be heading considerably earlier than the official reference sample. In this case, the respective country of registration has been contacted in relation to the varietal identity of the specific variety. An official investigation regarding the continued existence of the variety is on-going.
Enforcement Activities Breeders Trust
Goal and Scope:
Breeders Trust N.V.is owned by nine major European seed potato breeding companies and was established in 2008 with the aim to stop infringement and illegalities in the sector. In 2012, seven major European grass seed breeding companies have entered into an agreement with Breeders Trust, and at present, a great deal on time and effort is spent informing the entire seed production chain about the purpose of Breeders Trust’s activities. In addition, Breeders Trust also provides supervisory authorities with uninvited assistance in the enforcement of plant breeders’ rights by detecting and disclosing violations of the law and infringements of those rights.
If worst comes to worst, Breeders Trust is not afraid to take matters to court. In several European countries, there are lawyers that work on Breeders Trust’s interest on a daily basis.
Focus on Illegalities:
Breeders Trust takes strong action against illegalities and violation of the plant breeders’ rights protection. Violation of PBRs not only creates an unfair playing field, it is also a threat to the entire production chain. In the grass seed sector, the focus tends to be more on preventing illegal activities such as sales of unregistered seed of varieties, mixing cheap, uncertified seed into certified seed lots and mixtures: and the misuse of trade names or use of falsified certificates. Furthermore, the challenge here is to stop the illegal importation of grass seed lots and grass seed mixtures in the EU. In this respect, there are major leaks, in particular in southern European countries, which strongly disrupt the market, and which need to be stopped, says Breeders Trust project manager Corné van Beers, who is specialised in tracking down illegal grass seeds.
Cracking Down on Illegal Grass Seed Chains:
Breeders Trust is presently active in the grass seed sector in Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Italy, among other countries and successfully stopped an illegal Internet trading business in the Netherlands: recently a Dutch company was offering small packages of uncertified grass seed mixtures to customers via the Internet. Moreover, Breeders Trust also focuses on the major European ports to identify lots of uncertified grass seeds arriving from overseas, which are subsequently transported to various European member states where they are given a new identity. We want to make sure that we remain on top of these illegal activities: therefore, we continue to carefully monitor the global flows of grass seed.
Conclusion
The activities of the ESA and the Breeders Trust have revealed several cases of fraud and illegal seed marketing in the European Union over the past years. ESA, Breeders Trust and individual seed companies are determined to continue their monitoring activities and to step up the fight against illegal seed marketing.
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