Page 95 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

Seed Regulation in the US, EU and Mexico

conventional seed because there is no comparable variety in organic form, the

grower pays the diference in the cost of the seed into a fund that supports

organic seed-breeding and multiplication, such as variety trials (Thommen

et al., 2007). In The Netherlands, a government-funded project has provided

the opportunity for growers to organize in national crop groups and, for crops

with low availability of organic seed, to communicate their organic variety

needs to breeders and seed companies (Lammerts van Bueren et al., 2008).

This initiative, in combination with yearly publication of varietal exception

requests by the national organic certiier, has helped seed companies in The

Netherlands to identify appropriate varieties for which a secure organic market

exists (Raaijmakers and Ter Berg, 2012).

In the case of the EU, clear enforcement guidelines have accompanied organic

seed regulation. As a result, various crops (such as cucumber and lettuce) in

several member states, including Denmark, France, The Netherlands and

Sweden, are now closed to exceptions. The most comprehensive movement

toward 100% compliance has been achieved in the more aluent north-western

member states; others remain challenged by domestic policies and trade

imbalances (e.g. due to lack of a national vegetable seed industry) that continue

to prevent access to organic seed for certain crops. Growers in some countries,

including Portugal, Estonia and Bulgaria, continue to have limited access to

organic seed that meets the volume, quality and varietal requirements for

primary crop groups, and so they continue to use predominantly conventional

seed (Alonso and Rundgren, 2011). According to our respondents, and a study

by Döring et al. (2012), despite diferences in progress among EU member states,

the EU organic seed regulation has stimulated the organic seed sector through

clear allocation of enforcement responsibility to the national governments

of member states, by requiring that each member state maintain a national

seed sourcing database, and by requiring the submission of an annual report

on exceptions to a central coordinating authority. The EC Agriculture & Rural

Development website (2013), which collates all EU databases, lists over 300

organic seed suppliers throughout the EU (e.g. 80 in Germany, 30 in The

Netherlands, and 26 in France). Döring et al. (2012) note, however, that further

efort is needed to harmonize annual reports, encourage wider recourse to

appropriately constituted national expert groups, enhance communication

and cooperation between member states in order to achieve a level playing

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