Propagating material of fruit genera, requirements for fruit propagating material, health classes of propagating materials, testing

Implementing decree on seed-producing crops and propagating material of fruit genera and species as well as the marketing thereof

The draft implementing decree on seed-producing crops and propagating material of fruit genera and species as well as the marketing thereof is being submitted to implement Act No 219/2003 on the marketing of seeds and planting material of cultivated plants and on amendments to certain acts (Act on the marketing of seeds and planting material), as amended.

The objective of the draft implementing decree is to transpose the EU legislation below into Czech law as a commitment arising from the Treaty of Accession:

• Commission Implementing Directive 2014/98/EU of 15 October 2014 implementing Council Directive 2008/90/EC as regards specific requirements for the genus and species of fruit plants referred to in Annex I thereto, specific requirements to be met by suppliers and detailed rules concerning official inspections;

• Commission Implementing Directive 2014/96/EU of 15 October 2014 on the requirements for the labelling, sealing and packaging of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production, falling within the scope of Council Directive 2008/90/EC.

Given that Commission Implementing Directive 2014/98/EU provided for a transitional period until 2022 for propagating material of fruit genera and species, which does not fulfil the requirements of this implementing directive, the existing requirements laid down by Implementing Decree No 332/2006 need to be amended by the legislator and the requirements to be met by newly-planted mother crops after 1 January 2017 and all plants of fruit genera and species from 1 January 2013 need to be transposed.

The difference between the two regimes lies, in particular, in the provision of references to health classes and the scope of testing for each category and generation of propagating material.

For the reasons above, the legislator chose to draw up a new implementing decree to implement the relevant authorising provisions under the Act on the marketing of seeds and planting material, which is a more transparent option both for the farming community (especially for fruit farmers and orchardists) and in terms of setting up the control mechanisms for control authorities. This draft implementing decree lays down the requirements for the marketing of propagating material of fruit genera and species, complies with the requirements of Commission Implementing Directive 2014/98/EU and will apply to propagating material originating from mother crops planted after 1 January 2017 as well as propagating material planted before this date, which, however, complied with the requirements set out by the above implementing directive on the date it was planted. Propagating material that does not fulfil the requirements of the implementing directive will be marketed only in the Czech Republic and the rules as to when it may be recognised and looked at as CAC material will be laid down in a draft amendment to Implementing Decree No 332/2006.

Keywords: propagating material of fruit genera, requirements for fruit propagating material, health classes of propagating materials, testing