The draft federal law defines what relations are regulated by legislation in the field of seed production and fixes the basic concepts - "seed production", "seeds", "variety", "hybrid", "genetic passport" and so on.
“The bill provides for the regulation of the sphere of seed production, primarily in order to increase the efficiency of seed production of agricultural plant varieties, to ensure the preservation of their purity, biological and productive qualities,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivan Lebedev.
According to him, the bill establishes mandatory requirements for the circulation of seeds of agricultural plants and activities related to such circulation. This includes the availability of documents when imported into the territory of the Russian Federation, compliance with the quality indicators for use, production, sale, transportation and storage, as well as, unconditionally, the issuance of a certificate of the quality of seeds of agricultural plants.
“If we talk about the new approaches that have appeared, then of course we should note such important things as the register of breeding achievements that are allowed for use, this is due to different climatic zones on the territory of our country, with a variety of soils, a variety of seeds and plants, which we use, so this is certainly a tool that is very important today for our agricultural producers. It is important to say that, of course, we are defining the list of crops that are included in the register, ”the deputy minister stressed.
These, he noted, are agricultural crops, which primarily determine the food security of our large country.
“The third is the genetic passport for certain crops. An important novel for us to keep pace with world trends, to keep pace. We must certainly have these genetic passports, we agreed that they will be issued only for those crops for which the Ministry of Agriculture will prepare the appropriate methods in advance, ”Lebedev said.
Another important thing, according to him, is the verification of GMOs when they are included in the register, when determining the varietal and sowing qualities of seeds.
“It is also directly related to the security of our country. There are different visions, different approaches, but you know that our country in this sense is against GMOs on the territory of the Russian Federation. It is also important to say about the mandatory availability of a document for varietal and sowing qualities, and of course, it is important to note that we have a federal state information system for seed traceability in the territory of the Russian Federation, which will ensure the transparency of this market, ”he concluded.
The document determines that the information contained in the State Register of Breeding Achievements Permitted for Use is publicly available and posted on the Internet in the form of open data. Forms the register of Rosselkhoznadzor.
The Government of the Russian Federation approves the list of genera and types of agricultural plants, the production and cultivation of which is aimed at food security of the Russian Federation, and varieties and hybrids are subject to inclusion in the state register.
The bill establishes a ban on the use for planting for the production of contaminated or contaminated seeds, as well as seeds that contain genetically modified organisms. If genetically modified organisms are revealed when determining the indicators of varietal and sowing qualities of seeds, the owner of the crops is obliged to notify the federal executive authority, exercising federal state control in the field of seed production, within three days and destroy such plantings or seeds.
The document specifies that the circulation of seeds of agricultural plants, the genera and types of which are included in the list approved by the government, is possible only if there is a certificate of seed quality. If there is no such certificate, the seeds can only be used for food, feed or technical needs. If information about varieties or hybrids is not included in the state register, their sale in the territory of the Russian Federation is prohibited.
Also, the draft law defines general rules for the export and import of seeds and enshrines the provisions on state control in the field of seed production in relation to agricultural seeds.