(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations consolidate the Beet Seeds Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994, as amended by the Seeds (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, the Beet Seeds (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000, the Beet Seeds (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001, and the Seeds (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008.
They include minor amendments that give effect (in relation to the marketing of beet seed) to Commission Directive 2008/62/EC providing for certain derogations for acceptance of agricultural landraces and varieties which are naturally adapted to the local and regional conditions and threatened by genetic erosion and for marketing of seed and seed potatoes of those landraces and varieties (OJ No L 162, 21.6.08, p 13).
Regulation 21 provides for the marketing of seed of a conservation variety (“conservation variety” is defined in regulation 2(1), and regulations 21 to 24 make consequential amendments to provisions dealing with sampling, packaging and labelling.
They also give effect to Commission Directive 2009/74/EC amending Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/55/EC and 2002/57/EC as regards the botanical names of plants, the scientific names of other organisms and certain annexes to Directives 66/401/EEC and 2002/57/EC in the light of developments or scientific and technical knowledge.
These Regulations also provide for the collection by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of fees for certain services connected with the certification of seed for marketing, and revoke the Seeds (Fees) (No2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 insofar as they relate to matters arising under the Beet Seeds Regulations 1994.
No impact assessment has been prepared for this Rule, as no conservation varieties of beet seed have been identified in Northern Ireland, and the consolidation of the Beet Seeds Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994, as amended, effects no significant change to the regulation of the seed market in Northern Ireland.