“Farm Seed Opportunities, recommendations for on-farm conservation

in Europe”Riccardo Bocci, Véronique Chable, Kastler Guy, Louwaars

Niels

Farmers’ Rights Global Consultation Conference

23-25 November, 2010

STREP project contract no. 044345, under the 6th Framework Programme, priority 8.1, "Specific Support to Policies."

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Seed laws in Europe, the state of the art

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Better regulation

2009 2010 2011

Conservation varieties directives

2008

directive 62/2008, cereals

2009 - 2010???

directives on vegetables and mixtures

stakeholders expectations

3 Scenarios for the future

New directives on seeds

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Conservation varieties

“Whereas it is essential to ensure that plant genetic resources are conserved; whereas a legal basis to that end should be introduced to permit, within the framework of legislation on the seed trade, the conservation, by use in situ, of varieties threatened with genetic erosion”

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Seed legislationPGR Conservation

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Farm Seed Opportunities - FSOopportunities for farm seed conservation, breeding and production

January 2007 March 2010

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Its origins:Difficulties in the implementation of the 98/95 directive on conservation varities. FP6 Call Scientific Support to Policies

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Farmer varieties

Organic varieties

98/95 regulation

DUS system Adapted DUS system

1966 EU catalogue

2008 CV * regulation

* Conservation varieties

1992 Rio convention on biodiversity

2002 Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources

IPGRI descriptorsWhat regulation systems for each kind of

varieties?Registered varieties

Landraces

Conservation, amateur varieties

Varieties from seed companies

Landraces, conservation varieties: an inheritance

“farmers’ varieties” and PPB*

* Participatory Plant Breeding

Cultivated varieties:The European reality

Source of the basic picture: GNIS documents - France

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A new approach is needed

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Seed Systems

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informal

formal

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Beyond Conservation Vs

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different varieties for different markets with different innovation

system

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FSO Recommendations

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Finding a right balance between formal and informal seed systems within European context should be one of the objectives of a regional strategy for on farm conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Such a strategy will also concretely address the implementation of the article 6 on sustainable use of PGR of the ITPGRFA and article 9 on FRs. We remind that article 6 is mandatory for Contracting Parties and is addressing to all the crops and not only to these listed in annex I, as for example in the case of the Multilateral System.

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•How to finance PPB in a trend of decreasing of public investment in agricultural research?

•How to promote an informal seed system with good quality, without opening the room to unfair competition amongst seed industries?

•How to deal with VCU systems for varieties for alternative farming systems, e.g. the varieties listed in paragraph 6.2?

•How the Conservation varieties directives will be interpreted and implemented by Member States?

•Not a lot of research has been done on the impact of market instruments on agrobiodiversity. Even if a lot of projects and researches have been undertaken on Geographical Indications – analysing their impact on rural development, their economic benefit, the impact on small farmers or as a key for local innovation through collective action - very few words have been spent in order to check the compatibility of GIs with agrobiodiversity and in particular their coherence with seed laws.

Questions to be addressed

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“it is impossible to replace farmers’ seed systems completely and it would be unwise to try. Farmers’ seed

systems provide an important component of food security, a vital haven for diversity and space for further

evolution of PGR” (FAO, 2009).

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Questions to be addressedThanks for your attention!