EU seed marketing legislation

Seed marketing Directives define the quality standards that must be met in the field for seed production of agricultural plant species and seed lots if the seeds are to be marketed in the EU (see below). The requirements that must be met include the following:

• officially recording the identity of seed/plant suppliers and producers (in the case of certain directives),

• labelling and packaging rules,

• identifying the plant species,

• identifying the official plant variety denomination, if required,

• communicating species, analytical and varietal purities, as well as germination for seed,

• following specific plant health rules; Regulations governing plant health are part of an entirely different set of national and European legislation, and they are applicable in addition to the above directives.

When plant varieties are required to be registered on a national catalogue for an EU Member State, different categories of seeds can be produced and marketed:

• “Commercial” seeds for agricultural plants (certain agricultural cash crop and forage species), “standard” seeds for vegetable species, and “EC quality” seeds for vegetable young plants. The latter is the minimum acceptable level of quality in the EU. For fruit species, the equivalent to the “standard” level of quality is “CAC quality” (Conformitas Agraria Communitatis).

• There are also, of course, “certified” seed and propagating material (those produced in accordance with certification standards). The “certified” level of quality is associated with a stricter set of standards, and complying with certification may be mandatory or optional for seed/propagating material to be marketed, depending on the species.

For more information, visit the European Commission website