Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Plant reproductive materials (PRM) were so far covered under ten different directives dealing with the different species and varieties as well as addressing different aspects including development, production and marketing.

With this proposal, the Commission seeks to cover the various PRM, such as seeds, cuttings, trees, roots, and tubers, under a single regulation, thus creating a uniform standard among the different PRMs within the European Union.

The Rapporteur agrees broadly with the proposal of the Commission and welcomes the separation of plant and forestry reproductive material, which are now treated in two different regulations.

The Rapporteur appreciates the structure of the regulation with a focus on the marketing and quality of PRM, which is guaranteed by high production standards and controls by the competent authority. Important derogations concerning the non-commercial exchange of seeds as well as the derogation for conservative varieties focused on biodiversity are crucial and have the full support of the Rapporteur. Nonetheless, derogations must respect fundamental elements of the PRM regulation regarding phytosanitary risks, property rights and limited small quantities.

The Rapporteur suggests minor technical adjustments, like broadening the scope of the regulation to include requirements concerning the production of PRM, to be applied not only to marketing but also to imports into the European Union. The Rapporteur underlines the importance of excluding propagating material of genera or species from the list in Annex I exclusively used for ornamental purpose from this regulation. Furthermore, the Rapporteur suggests specifying the definition of clones by including fruit plants’ descriptions and excluding open pollinated out-crossing species from the definition of heterogeneous material.

In order to reduce spoilage and to improve legal certainty, the Rapporteur suggests allowing the merger of different lots of PMR into a single one regardless of the harvest year, under the condition that the lots belong to the same variety.

Furthermore, the Rapporteur suggests extending the period for regular audits under Article 12 from at least once every 12 months to at least once every 18 months to give competent authorities more flexibility to schedule the audits following the real production cycle. The Rapporteur suggests providing more flexibility regarding the costs of certification activities as one of the two conditions to be fulfilled to add a genus or a species to Annex IV. Furthermore, the Rapporteur specifies that the production and marketing of fodder plants cannot be classified as “heterogeneous material” and thus shall not be included within Article 27. Moreover, the Rapporteur supports the derogation to Article 39 for the import of PRM, which is not produced for market purposes. The Rapporteur requests the exemption of turf grasses from VSCU testing as it is not used for the production of food or renewable raw materials. The Rapporteur is of the opinion that this regulation is providing detailed marketing standards with a direct implication on the production of PRM and questions the necessity of the adoption of a further delegated act on minimum cultivation conditions under Article 47.

The Rapporteur is confident that with the approach taken in the Commission proposal and with the amendments proposed in the report, the goal of enacting a single regulation on PRM that is balanced and has a positive impact in all sectors previously regulated by different directives can be achieved.