Brussels, Belgium
February, 2008Source:
European Commission
http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/propagation/evaluation/index_en.htm
Evaluation of the European legislation governing the marketing
of seeds and plant propagating material within the European
Union
The
current body of European seed legislation is made up of 12
basic Directives
Many of these date back to the
sixties and seventies. As the balance of priorities has changed
over the years, with elements such as food safety, traceability,
new technologies and environmental aspects becoming more
prominent, plus the expansion of the EU to now span 27 Member
States, newer legal instruments may be more appropriate to
regulate the marketing of S&PM to the benefit of both users and
suppliers.
The
Commission has therefore decided to review the legislation (the
acquis) on the marketing of seeds and plant propagating
material, as part of its better regulation initiative.
The
first step of this review process consists of an evaluation of
the current acquis. This should provide documented answers on
the strengths and weaknesses of the current system for achieving
the set objectives, or highlight the need to set new objectives
in order to respond to new and anticipated challenges.
An
equally important aim is to explore the possibilities for
simplification and a reduction of administrative burdens on both
public authorities and private sector stakeholders.
The
evaluation will be carried out by external consultants (the FCEC
consortium), assisted by a Steering Group composed of a balanced
mix of experts from a number of Member States and from the
Commission's services.
The task
of the Steering Group is to assist in drafting the terms of
reference and the questionnaire, and to ensure the quality of
the final report.
On the
basis of the recommendations to be contained in the final
report, the Commission will then draft an action plan, laying
out a programme for putting into practice any suggested reforms.
The FCEC
launched a survey on 18 February 2008 to collect the views of
stakeholders regarding the current Community acquis on
the marketing of seeds and propagating material and to gather
suggestions for the future.
The deadline for returning the survey
questionnaire is 11 April 2008.
The
survey questionnaire is available in Word format and
online at
http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/propagation/evaluation/index_en.htm
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