The State Duma adopted in the second and third readings a law that postpones the introduction of plant genetic passports until 2025 in order to reduce the administrative and financial burden on the agricultural business.
The document postpones to a later date the entry into force of a number of norms of the new edition of the Law “On Seed Production”. This edition should come into force on September 1, 2023, and the rules on issuing a genetic passport for a variety or hybrid of an agricultural plant - from January 1, 2024.
This passport is issued if molecular genetic analysis did not reveal genetically modified organisms in the seeds, and tests were carried out on economically useful traits or properties of a variety or hybrid that are included in the list approved by the government of the Russian Federation. The passport must contain the name of the variety or hybrid, class, category, species, subspecies, genotype, protein or DNA markers that identify the seed variety.
The law adopted on December 20, without changing the term for the entry into force of the new version of the law on seed production, postpones the start of its rules on the issuance of genetic passports to January 1, 2025. At the same time, from September 1, 2023 to September 1, 2025, the introduction of norms regarding the issuance of a genetic passport at the expense of the applicant, as well as the maintenance of a single database of genetic passports of standard samples of seeds of varieties and hybrids and the formation of a bank of such samples in the manner approved by the Cabinet is postponed.
In addition, from September 1, 2023 to September 1, 2024, the deadline for the entry into force of the rules on approving the procedure for storage, production and use of seeds and on the payment of state duty for consideration of applications for entering information into the state register of varieties and hybrids of agricultural plants approved for use is postponed. Suspension of payment of such a state duty will allow avoiding an additional burden on domestic breeders, as well as keeping foreign producers on the territory of the Russian Federation in the current conditions.
Reducing the financial burden on farmers and postponing the requirements for the storage, production, use of seeds of agricultural plants, as well as for the genetic certification of their varieties and hybrids, "will strengthen the work on the creation of new varieties, as well as increase the volume of seed material, which in the face of logistical difficulties will make it possible to carry out a sowing campaign,” the explanatory note says.