Page 105 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

Seed Regulation in the US, EU and Mexico

are considered in the process of developing and implementing an efective

regulatory regime (Klein and Winekof, 2009). In the EU the normalization of

these principles into regulatory practice was assigned to member states (Padel

et al., 2009), operating within common, clear and enforceable regulatory

standards. In the US, responsibility for enforcing compliance with organic

principles has been spread among stakeholder categories (organic certiiers,

growers, buyers), thereby creating potential for conlicts of interest and diverse

interpretation of principle into practice.

Because the EU chose to regulate the use of organic seed through a formal

amendment to its existing organic standard, accompanied by a deadline for

compliance, the processes of implementing, embedding and integrating

seed regulation into organic practices (assisted, for instance, by the databases

and expert groups) has been able to move at a faster pace and with broader

stakeholder compliance than in the US. We have identiied in the content and

discourse analyses ive main contributing factors: (1) Most US respondents

recognized the necessity for the information that only a database can provide.

The database initiatives have been funded and organized by diverse coalitions

of stakeholders rather than by a governmental authority such as the NOP.

The reliance by the state on self-organizing initiatives has resulted in multiple

databases using diferent criteria and serving diferent clients, thereby reinforcing

fragmentation rather than the harmonization of the sector. (2) Maintenance

of the US databases is currently reliant on the continuation of grants, and the

uploading of varieties into a database is reliant on the willingness of companies

to pay for inclusion. This has resulted in competition for inancial support and

market advantage. (3) The EC requires that each member state submit on time

national annual reports on organic seed exceptions. The US regime makes no

such provision for reporting, thus monitoring of progress toward regulatory

compliance is not possible. (4) EU member states have developed common

guidelines for types of exception and for the practices and procedures of

exception review committees.The US has no appropriate procedural instruments

in place for formal monitoring of exceptions and organic seed usage. The onus

is placed primarily on the interpretation of independent certiiers, growers

and buyers. (5) Several EU member states have developed Expert Groups to

advise regulatory bodies and certiiers in their decision-making regarding

exceptions. The US relies completely on stakeholders to oversee the integrity

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