EU rules on establishing the common catalogue of agricultural plants and species

SUMMARY OF:

It sets out the rules for including agricultural plants and species in the EU common catalogues.

Common catalogue

The common catalogues of varieties of agricultural plant and vegetable species list the varieties which can be marketed in the EU.
The variety must be registered in the catalogue for its seed to be certified and marketed.
Catalogues are based on the registration of plant varieties in the national catalogues of EU countries after they have technically examined them and notified he European Commission.
The catalogues are published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The Commission publishes in the OJ the new varieties added to the common catalogue following the information provided by EU countries.

Scope

The directive applies to the seed of the following plants which can be marketed under the rules of specific EU directives:

It does not apply to seed or propagating material shown to be intended for export to non-EU countries.

Obligations on EU countries

The directive places a number of obligations on EU countries including:

to establish one or more catalogues of the varieties officially accepted for certification and marketing in their territory;
to ensure that a variety is accepted only if it is distinct, stable and sufficiently uniform. It must be of satisfactory value for cultivation and use;
to accept varieties based on the results of official examinations, particularly growing trials, covering a sufficient number of characteristics for the variety to be described. The methods used for determining characteristics must be exact and reliable;
to arrange for official publication of the catalogue of varieties accepted in its territory and of the name of the person or persons responsible for maintaining the variety in its country;
to ensure, as far as possible, that at the time of acceptance the variety is known by the same name in all EU countries;
to compile a file on each variety accepted, containing a description of the variety and a clear summary of all the facts on which the acceptance was based;
to ensure that genetically modified varieties which have been accepted are clearly indicated as such in the catalogue of varieties;
for each new variety accepted, to send a brief description of its most important characteristics for use to the other EU countries and the Commission;
to ensure that the maintenance of the variety can be checked through the records kept by the person or persons responsible for the variety.
- Samples may be requested from person or persons responsible or officially taken.

Validity

Acceptance is valid for 10 calendar years following the granting of validity and can be renewed.
If acceptance is revoked or the validity ends, EU countries must remove the variety from their catalogues.

It has applied since 9 August 2002.

Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, pp. 1-11)

Successive amendments to Directive 2002/53/EC have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.