
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2020/1106 of 24 July 2020 on the organisation of a temporary experiment under Council Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC as regards the official checking rate for field inspection under official supervision for basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and certified seed (notified under document C(2020) 4955) 

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed, and in particular Article 13a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/402/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of cereal seed, and in particular Article 13a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 2002/54/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of beet seed, and in particular Article 19 thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants, and in particular Article 16 thereof,
Whereas:

(1) Certified seed of fodder plants, cereals, beet and oil and fibre plants, pursuant to Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC respectively, are subject to field inspection under official supervision. A proportion of at least 5 % of the crop of such seed (hereinafter: ‘a fixed minimum rate of 5 %’) is subject to official checking in the field.

(2) Basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed are certified if all crops of these seeds (hereinafter: ’a fixed rate of 100 %’) have undergone official field inspections, satisfying the conditions laid down in Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC.

(3) In a recent temporary experiment organised on the basis of Commission Implementing Decision 2012/340/EU, it was demonstrated that also for basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed, field inspection under official supervision by licensed and trained seed company inspectors constitutes an improved alternative to official field inspection. The official checking of the established proportion of 5 % of seed crops was sufficient to demonstrate that the level of field inspections under official supervision can also be appropriate for basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed. However, further improvements may be possible taking into account the performance of the seed suppliers.

(4) Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls establishing a harmonised Union framework for the organisation of official controls along the entire agri-food chain requires competent authorities to perform official controls on all operators regularly, on a risk basis and with appropriate frequency. Based on the experience gained from the application of those rules, the possibility to have the official checking of seed crops in the field in the framework of official supervision carried out with frequencies established in accordance with a risk-based approach should be explored also under Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC.

(5) For competent authorities, the planning of the frequency of their checks in the framework of official supervision, taking into account certain risk criteria in relation to the activities of seed suppliers and past compliance results, may constitute an improved alternative to the fixed minimum rate of 5 % applied for certified seed. As a consequence of the recent temporary experiment, it should also be tested for basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed, which is officially inspected at a rate of 100 %.

(6) The responsible official bodies of the Member States should take into account certain risk criteria in relation to activities of the seed suppliers and past compliance results, for the planning of the frequencies of their official checks. It is necessary to lay down harmonised criteria for this purpose. A temporary experiment should therefore be organised to assess this alternative.

(7) It is necessary to release the Member States participating in the experiment from the obligations of official field inspections of a fixed rate of 100 % of basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and of checking, at a fixed minimum rate of 5 % of the seed crops for certified seed in the framework of official supervision as provided for in Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC.

(8) Member States participating in the experiment should report annually to the Commission and the Member States in order to the keep other Member States and the Commission informed and facilitate the evaluation of the progress and the monitoring of the experiment.

(9) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Definitions
Article A1 

(1. ) 
For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions apply:
(a) the “appropriate authority” means:
(i) in relation to England, the Secretary of State;
(ii) in relation to Wales, the Welsh Ministers;
(iii) in relation to Scotland, the Scottish Ministers;
(b) the “Seeds Marketing Regulations” means:
(i) in relation to England, the Seed Marketing Regulations 2011;
(ii) in relation to Wales, the Seed Marketing (Wales) Regulations 2012;
(iii) in relation to Scotland—(aa) the Oil and Fibre Plant Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2004,(bb) the Cereal Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005,(cc) the Fodder Plant Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005, and(dd) the Beet Seed (Scotland) (No 2) Regulations 2010.
Subject matter
Article 1 

1. A temporary experiment (‘the experiment’) shall be organised  in Great Britain  assessing, as regards the official checking of crops for the production of basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and of certified seed within the framework of field inspection under official supervision pursuant to the provisions of the Seeds Marketing Regulations:
(a) whether a risk-based approach carried out in accordance with Article 3 of this Decision may constitute an improved alternative to the checking of:
((i)) a fixed minimum rate of 5 % of seed crops for certified seed;
((ii)) a fixed rate of 100 % of seed crops for basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed; and
(b) whether the risk assessement criteria as laid down in Article 3(1) of this Decision are appropriate.
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Participation of  appropriate authorities
Article 2 
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Appropriate authorities which decide to participate in the experiment (‘the participating appropriate authorities’) shall inform ... the other appropriate authorities indicating the species, categories and regions covered by their participation and any restrictions.
Participating appropriate authorities may end their participation at any time by informing the  other appropriate authorities  accordingly.
Risk assessment
Article 3 

1. The  appropriate authorities  shall carry out the risk assessment of the seed suppliers and adapt the extent of their official checks accordingly to a proportion between 1 % and 100 % of seed crops as regards field inspection under official supervision.For the risk assessment of the seed suppliers, the following criteria shall be taken into account:
(a) species and production methods;
(b) area of production and number of fields;
(c) the activities under the control of the seed supplier;
(d) the location of the activities or operations;
(e) any information indicating likelihood that users of seed could be misled, in particular as to the identity, health and quality, properties, composition, quantity, country or area of origin, method of production of the seeds;
(f) the seed suppliers’ past record as regards the outcome of official checking and post-controls performed on their crops and compliance with the requirement set out in paragraph 2;
(g) the reliability and results of inspections that have been performed by the seed suppliers, in particular by a licensed field inspector or by a third party at the request of the seed suppliers, including, where appropriate, private quality assurance schemes, for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with the requirement set out in paragraph 2;
(h) any information that might indicate non-compliance with the requirement set out in paragraph 2.
2. The crop to be officially checked shall be grown from seed which has undergone official post-control in accordance with  the Seeds Marketing Regulations.
3. A proportion of samples from the seed lots harvested from the crops shall be drawn for official post-control and, where appropriate, for official laboratory seed testing in respect of varietal identity and purity. appropriate authorities shall identify, seed lots for which official checks havebeen carried out in accordance with the risk-based approach set out in paragraph 1.
4. Participating appropriate authorities shall compare, for the same crop of the same field, the fixed minimum rate of 5 % of seed crops subject to official checking with the risk-based official checking of crops and harvested seeds where no fixed minimum rate is set.
Derogations from  the Seeds Marketing Regulations
Article 4 
By way of derogation from  the Seed Marketing Regulations, participating  appropriate authorities  are released, for the purposes of the experiment, from the obligations in respect of official field inspection of basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and of official checking of certified seed ...

Reporting
Article 5 

1. Participating  appropriate authorities  shall for each year, by 31 March of the following year, present ... to the other appropriate authorities a report on the results of the experiment carried out in accordance with Article 3.
2. At the end of the experiment and in any case at the end of their participation, participating appropriate authorities shall by 31 March of the following year, present ... the other appropriate authorities a final report on the results of the experiment.That report may include other information the participating appropriate authorities consider relevant in view of the purpose of the experiment.
Time period
Article 6 
The experiment shall start on 1 August 2020 and end on 31 July 2027.
Addressees
Article 7 
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Done at Brussels, 24 July 2020.
For the Commission
Stella KYRIAKIDES
Member of the Commission