PVS: UK Seed Certification: England
Seed Certification is a quality assurance process which ensures that seeds are sufficiently pure, healthy, viable and correctly labelled. Seeds marketing is regulated and, for most agricultural and vegetable species, only seeds which have been certified may be sold.
- Introduction
- Technical requirements
- Consultation with the industry
- UK certifying authorities
- Access to Information
Introduction
European Commission Directives - require that seed of the main agricultural, horticultural and vegetable species must be officially certified before marketing. The directives define specific standards under which seed must be marketed. Seed may not be marketed unless it is a species / variety on a National List or the EC Common Catalogue.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - operates schemes for the varietal certification of seed to encourage the use of seed of consistently high quality in participating countries. The Schemes are open to all Members of the Organisation, as well as to other States being members of the United Nations Organisation or its Specialised Agencies.
International Seed Testing Association - is responsible for the development of standard procedures for sampling and testing seeds and to promote uniform application of these procedures for evaluation of seeds moving in international trade. The secondary purpose of the Association is to actively promote research in all areas of seed science and technology.
Techncal requirements
Statutory Tetrazolium (STZ) Test - the Cereal Seed (England) Regulations 2002 (as amended) permit all species and categories of cereal seed to be officially certified on the basis of a Statutory Tetrazolium (STZ) Test. The STZ must be done on an official sample drawn from a seed lot by a licensed seed sampler. The test may be done at an OSTS or by an authorised LSTS.
Moisture Testing - all seed lots of cereal and beet seed entered for certification require a moisture test to have been completed. Details of the moisture standards are provided in the individual regulations.
Early Movement - seed of any species and category may be officially certified for early movement and marketed before the results of the official germination test are available. A satisfactory official purity result must have been completed before seed can be early moved.Early Multiplication - allows for seed to be certified and progressed through the multiplication categories enabling seed stocks to be built up prior to National Listing. No marketing must take place until the variety has been added to a National list or the EC Common Catalogue.
Consultation with the industry
Forum on Seeds for a Sustainable Environment - (FOSSE) was established in 2001 to provide an opportunity for environmental, organic, consumer and industry representative organisations to discuss with Defra and the devolved administrations areas of common concern, to be briefed on new national and international developments, and to contribute to the formulation of policy in these areas.
National List and Seeds Committee - consists of representatives from AFBI, SASA, and the PVS Division of Defra. Its role is to make recommendations on the acceptance of plant varieties onto the National List, oversee the technical operation of the National List system in the UK and advise the Plant Varieties and Seeds Committee (PVSC) on the technical aspects of the operation of the National List and Plant Breeders' Rights system in the UK.
Plant Varieties and Seeds Committee - consists of representatives from Defra, SEERAD, NAWAD and DARD supported by technical advisers from Defra, AFBI and SASA. The purpose of the Committee is to co-ordinate overall policy on National Listing (NL), Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) and Seed Certification.
UK certifying authorities
There are in the United Kingdom, besides Defra, two other Certifying Authorities.
Access to information
Details of Defra's accessibility policy is available.
See also
Page last modified: 15 January 2007
Page published: 01 July 2004