The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation excluded licensing of seed producers and certification of seeds from the draft law "On Seed Production", which was submitted to the government in May this year.
“On licensing and certification we had the biggest disagreements, we found a middle ground, reached a compromise,” said State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivan Lebedev at a meeting in the Federation Council on Tuesday. - We decided that licensing at the current stage is an excessive measure, it will severely restrict access to the market. Therefore, licensing has been removed from the bill, which is now at the government's site. This stage will not be. It is being replaced by a register of seed producers. "
According to him, the provision on compulsory certification of seeds has also been removed from the bill. “Mandatory certification of each batch of seeds was envisaged. The certification process now, unfortunately, is far from ideal, it does not meet the needs and requirements of the industry, "Lebedev said, adding that at present there are" many paper laboratories that do not conduct research and issue falsified protocols. "
“We propose to confirm compliance with a certificate,” he said. - This legal structure already exists today for forest seeds. The certificate is issued on the basis of approbation acts ”.
According to Lebedev, the regulation of this market will be largely carried out with the help of the GIS "Seed Production" created at the site of the Ministry of Agriculture, many sections of which are already ready. This will be a great informational and accumulative resource for all market participants; it will allow ensuring the traceability of seeds.
As Lebedev predicts, the procedure for approval of the bill will require at least another month.