2023-07-25 10:37:56
At the top of the agenda at the meeting of EU agriculture ministers on Tuesday in Brussels is not only the impact of extreme weather events on agriculture. The reform plans of the EU Commission for EU seed law are also being discussed, which should bring more seed diversity and thus food security: While numerous representatives of the agricultural industry welcome this, many environmentalists and small farmers fear the exact opposite.
With the new regulations, “farmers will have access to diverse, high-quality and climate-resistant seeds,” stressed the Vice President of the EU Commission responsible for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, when presenting the plans in Brussels at the beginning of July. The proposal to reform the EU seed law retains the basic pillars of the previous regulation. New seed varieties must be registered and certified before they can be placed on the market. According to the EU Commission, the reform should ensure more seed diversity on the market and in the fields. This increase in “agricultural biodiversity” is to be achieved through simplified rules for conservation varieties and exemptions for seed protection networks and exchange between farmers.
“It is time that the outdated EU seed regulation is adapted to our current circumstances and the state of science. The updated regulations should ensure that seeds ensure stable yields by making new plant varieties sustainable,” explained Alexander Bernhuber, ÖVP spokesman for the environment in the European Parliament, to the APA. In the future, new varieties will be specifically tested for properties that contribute to more sustainable agricultural food production.
For old varieties, Bernhuber, who is a farmer himself, calls for special regulations: “Especially with rare, old varieties from small breeders, we get a great deal of genetic diversity.” This must not be jeopardized by complex approval processes or fees. “Regional varieties that are adapted to climatic conditions are more important than ever in times of climate crisis,” agrees Andreas Waitz, Green MEP and organic farmer himself. “Seeds and diversity of varieties are crucial for sustainable, independent and crisis-resistant agriculture. This is the only way we can ensure our food security in the long term.”
According to Waitz, the reform plans continue to play into the hands of large agribusiness corporations such as Bayer-Monsanto and Corteva. According to the proposal, farmers may only exchange their own seed in small quantities and under certain conditions. ARCHE NOAH, the society for the preservation and dissemination of cultivated plant diversity, demands that the dissemination and sustainable use of cultivated plant diversity be explicitly permitted.
Garlich von Essen, Secretary General of Euroseeds, the EU association of the seed industry, sees “a goal for society as a whole. If we are serious regarding more sustainability and fewer pesticides, then we must not make any mistakes at the beginning of the chain and do not tolerate any compromises in quality.” Herbicide tolerant varieties are one of the most controversial aspects of this reform. Seeds bred or manipulated for resistance to chemical crop protection agents can lead to increased use of pesticides.
Euroseeds represents 35 associations and 79 companies in the seed industry. “Our members agree: the successful European system of variety testing and approval is the basis for Europe’s leading global position and our success in seed export,” affirmed von Essen in an interview with APA. According to the EU Commission, the EU holds a share of around 20 percent in the world market with an estimated value of seven to ten billion euros. The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) welcomed the proposal as “particularly important to enable the sector to modernize and respond effectively to the challenges of climate change”.
The Commission proposal also contains adapted rules for organic varieties. One goal of the European Green Deal is to farm at least 25 percent of agricultural land in the EU organically by 2030. “We don’t yet have the seed infrastructure for sustainable agriculture,” criticized Magdalena Prieler, EU officer at ARCHE NOAH in Brussels. In the run-up to the Agriculture Council, she appealed to the ministers to protect crop diversity from over-regulation and patents: “Diversity is our insurance once morest the challenges of tomorrow.”
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