The European Parliament’s COMAGRI vote on the Commission’s proposal for new rules on Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) is very concerning for plant breeders, seed producers, and farmers. While initial amendments offered some improvements, the final report is viewed as a setback for the Common Market for PRM, jeopardizing seed quality, plant health, customer information, and official oversight. Euroseeds urges the Parliament to reconsider and propose alternatives for the April plenary vote.
Euroseeds Secretary General, Garlich von Essen, criticizes the Commission’s proposal for losing balance between common rules and exemptions, leading to inadequate quality assurance, traceability, and oversight. Euroseeds emphasizes the importance of official controls, compliance with plant health requirements, and reporting obligations for all PRM to maintain quality standards and mitigate risks. Exempting materials from oversight undermines the integrity of regulations and consumer trust.
Garlich von Essen, Euroseeds Secretary General observed that “the initial European Commission’s proposal on Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) was striking a balance between principal common rules for all producers and all users, and of defined derogations and adaptation of standards for specific plant materials and markets, i.e. between seed security and seed diversity. This balance now got lost in way too broad exemptions and lack of quality assurance, traceability and official oversight. This approach is not acceptable for Europe’s seed sector”.
