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Better regulation

The UK National Authorities are committed to better regulation to ensure regulatory outcomes are achieved through legislation that is proportionate, simple and fit for purpose and does not hinder economic development or impose unnecessary burdens.

The current regulatory framework for national listing, seed and seed potato certification is based largely on 40-year old directives. Over this time the needs of the industry have changed greatly. We believe that we have achieved as much as we can in the UK within the existing legislative framework to improve the way in which we deliver services to industry and need now to look towards fundamental change at Community level to open up further opportunities to liberalise the legislative framework in which we operate. During the UK's Presidency of the European Council in 2005, Defra's PVS Division (now part of Fera) pioneered a better regulation initiative at Community level. As a result the Commission agreed to launch an EU wide project to evaluate Community legislation on Seed and Propagating Material. A link to the EC Seeds Evaluation website can be found here on the EC Seeds Evaluation website.

In parallel to the Community initiative, PVS Division conducted a UK Consultation on Better Regulation in 2006 seeking stakeholder views on how domestic legislation might be improved. This consultation and summary of responses can be viewed here.

The EC commissioned the Food Chain Evaluation Consortium (FCEC) to carry out this Evaluation. The FCEC are assisted by a Steering Group composed of experts from a number of Member States, including the UK, and from the Commission's services.

Work commenced in May 2008 with a questionnaire for all Member States (MS) and stakeholders. PVS Division responded on behalf of the UK National Authorities taking into account stakeholder views from the UK Better Regulation Consultation. The UK responses to the questionnaire can be found here:

The FCEC published the Final Report and Executive Summary in December 2008 and these are now available to download at the EC Seeds Evaluation website.

Following on from the UK Consultation on Better Regulation, the UK National Authorities established a UK PBR (Plant Breeders' Rights) Review Group - as a forum at which stakeholders could discuss their own proposals for change. Three half-day workshops took place at NIAB at which issues were identified and explored and proposals offered and discussed. Whilst the Group agreed that the current system has some limitations, no improvements were identified that would meet the wishes of the majority of stakeholders. In conclusion, although the current system has some limitations, it continues to work acceptably well.

In March 2009 the EC hosted a European Conference on ensuring seed availability in the 21st Century.

The objective of this conference was to communicate and discuss the results of the evaluation of the Seed and Propagating Material legislation and the way forward. The conference was well attended by representatives from Member States' National Authorities and stakeholders alike, including representation from the UK government and UK industry bodies.

Using the conclusions of the conference as a basis the EC has now announced its intention to commence work on developing proposals for legislative change and associated impact assessments during 2010/11. The Commission's plan is to consult with both Member State authorities and industry stakeholders to help inform this work. The expectation is that negotiation on formal proposals is unlikely to commence until later in 2011.