The Vegetable Seeds Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

General interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 2004 Commission Decision” means Commission Decision 2004/842/EC(1) concerning implementing rules whereby Member States may authorise the placing on the market of seed belonging to varieties for which an application for entry in the national catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species or vegetable species has been submitted;

“the Act” means the Seeds Act (Northern Ireland) 1965;

“Annex V(C) document” means an official document of the type specified in the second indented sub-paragraph of Article 36(2) of the Vegetable Seed Directive containing the particulars specified in Part C of Annex V to the Directive;

“another member State” means an EEA State other than the United Kingdom;

“authorised officer” means an officer authorised for the purposes of these Regulations by the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales;

“blended seed lot” means a seed lot obtained by blending seed where the seed that goes into the blend is—

(a)

of the same variety;

(b)

has come from different sources; and

(c)

either—

(i)

has been officially certified;

(ii)

has not been officially certified but has been harvested from a seed crop for which a field inspection report has been issued showing that the crop met the Directive crop conditions for the relevant category of seed; or

(iii)

is made up of seed that has been officially certified and seed that has not but for which a field inspection report of the type specified in sub-paragraph (ii) has been issued;

“breeder”—

(a)

in relation to a variety that has not been entered in a National List or the Common Catalogue, includes any person lawfully multiplying (on his own account) seed bred by another, and

(b)

in relation to a variety that has been so entered, means the maintainer of the variety;

“breeder’s seed” means seed which has been produced by or under the responsibility of the breeder and which is intended for the production of pre-basic or basic seed;

“Common Catalogue” means the Common Catalogue of varieties of vegetables species published in the Official Journal of the European Communities;

“component” means a component of a hybrid variety;

“control plot” means a plot sown with seed from an official sample of seed from a seed lot (whether the official sample of the seed submitted with a regulation 6 application in accordance with regulation 6(2) or another official sample of the seed);

“the Deliberate Release Directive” means Council Directive 2001/18/EC(2) on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003(3) concerning the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms;”

“The Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland;

“Directive crop conditions” means the conditions laid down in Annex I to the Vegetable Seed Directive;

“Directive seed conditions” means the conditions laid down in Annex II to the Vegetable Seed Directive;

“EC minimum percentage of germination” means the appropriate percentage of germination specified in column 2 of the table in paragraph 4 of Schedule 4;

“EEA State” means—

(a)

a State which is a member of the Communities; and

(b)

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway;

“entered seed lot” means a seed lot in respect of which an application has been made under regulation 6 in accordance with regulation 6(2)(a), (b)(i) and (c);

“the Food and Feed Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003(4) on

genetically modified food and feed;

“genetically modified” has the same meaning as for the purposes of the Deliberate Release Directive;

“germination condition” means the condition in paragraph 4 of Schedule 4;

“homogeneous seed lot” means a seed lot that has been subject to appropriate mixing and blending techniques so that the seed in the lot is as uniform as practicable;

“late entered seed lot” means a seed lot in respect of which an application has been made under regulation 6(1) in accordance with regulation 6(2)(a), (b)(ii) and (c);

“licensed crop inspector” means a person who has been granted a licence under regulation 11 of the Seed (Registration, Licensing and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009(5) or by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales under provisions equivalent to that regulation;

“licensed EC crop inspector” means a person who is authorised by a competent seed certification authority in another member State, pursuant to Article 2(4)(A)(a)(iii) of the Vegetable Seed Directive, to carry out field inspections of crops in that member State;

“licensed EC seed testing station” means a seed testing laboratory authorised by the competent seed certification authority in another member State, pursuant to Article 2(4)B(a) of the Vegetable Seed Directive, to carry out seed testing in that member State;

“licensed seed sampler” means a person who has been granted a licence under regulation 18 of the Seed (Registration, Licensing and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 or by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales under provisions equivalent to that regulation;

“licensed seed testing station” means a laboratory in respect of which a licence has been granted under regulation 25 of the Seed (Registration, Licensing and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 or by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales under provisions equivalent to that regulation;

“listed variety” means a plant variety that is entered in a National List or the Common Catalogue;

“listing” means the entry of a variety on a National List or the Common Catalogue and “listed” shall be construed accordingly;

“maintainer” means a person who is indicated in a National List or in the Common Catalogue as responsible for maintaining a plant variety in accordance with the characteristics to which regard was had when the plant variety was entered in the List or the Common Catalogue;

“marketing extension” means an extension granted by the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales, or the competent seed certification authority in another member State pursuant to Article 15 of the Vegetable Seed Directive allowing an extended period for the certification and marketing of seed of a variety that has been deleted from its catalogue and the Common Catalogue;

“marketing year” means the year from 1st July to 30th June inclusive;

“market test seed” means seed which is the subject of a regulation 19 authorisation;.

“member State” means, in addition to a State which is a member of the Communities, any other EEA State and Switzerland;

“the National Assembly for Wales” means the National Assembly for Wales established by Section 45 of the Government of Wales Act 2006(6);

“a National List” means a list of varieties of vegetable species for the time being published in accordance with the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 2001(7);

“official label” means a label issued or authorised by or on behalf of the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales;

“official measures” includes—

(a)

the disposal and determination, where applicable, of applications made in accordance with regulation 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18 and 19, including the growing and assessment of control plots and the carrying out of field inspections and seed testing in connection with the disposal and determination of such applications; and

(b)

the receipt and acknowledgement of notifications given under regulation 7,

and such other activities as may be necessary for those purposes;

“official sample” means a sample of seed taken from a seed lot in accordance with regulation 22 and “official sampling” shall be construed accordingly;

“official UK field inspection” means a field inspection carried out by or on behalf of the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales;

“official UK seed test” means a seed test carried out by or on behalf of the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales;

“previously listed variety” means a plant variety that was previously entered in—

(a)

a National List or, in the case of another member State, the catalogue maintained by that State pursuant to Article 3(2) of the Vegetable Seed Directive, and

(b)

the Common Catalogue,

but which has been removed from both of them;

“registered person” means a person registered under regulation 5 of the Seed (Registration, Licensing and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 as a person who may engage in a relevant seed industry activity;

“regulation 18 authorisation” means an authorisation granted in accordance with regulation 18;

“regulation 19 authorisation” means an authorisation granted in accordance with regulation 19;

“Schedule 4 germination test” means a test to determine whether the seed being tested attains the percentage of germination specified in column 2 of the table in paragraph 4 of Schedule 4;

“the Scottish Ministers” means the Scottish Executive as constituted by Section 44 of the Scotland Act 1998(8);

“the Secretary of State” means the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;

“seed industry activity” has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Seed (Registration, Licensing and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009;

“seed lot” means an identifiable consignment of seeds of a weight that does not exceed the weight specified in column 2 of the table in Schedule 7 for the species specified in column 1 of that table by more than 5 per cent and that bears a unique seed lot reference number, and includes a blended seed lot and a seed lot that contains seed from different crops of the same variety grown on the same holding and combined on the grower’s holding prior to processing;

“seed that has been subject to satisfactory official post control” means seed taken from a seed lot for which a control plot has been sown by or on behalf of the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales and which has produced plants which have been examined by or on behalf of the Department, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales, as the case may be, and has been found having regard to—

(a)

the conditions laid down in—

(i)

paragraphs 1, 4 and 6 of Schedule 3, and

(ii)

paragraphs 1, 2 and 8 of Schedule 4, and

(b)

the category of the seed to be produced,

to be satisfactory seed from which to produce that category of seed;

“small package” in relation to a package of seed means—

(a)

a package of seed containing a net weight of not more than 5 kilograms of legume seed;

(b)

a package of seed containing a net weight of not more than 500 grams of asparagus, beetroot, carrot, chard or spinach beet, gourd, marrow, onion, radish, spinach or turnip seed; or

(c)

a package of seed containing a net weight of not more than 100 grams of seed of any species of seed specified in Schedule 2 other than a species specified in paragraph (a) or (b);

“third country” means a country other than a member State;

“a UK field inspection carried out under official supervision” means an examination of a crop carried out under official supervision by a licensed crop inspector;

“a UK seed test carried out under official supervision” means a seed test carried out under official supervision by a licensed seed testing station;

“unlisted variety” means a variety that is not a listed variety;

“the Vegetable Seed Directive” means Council Directive 2002/55/EC(9) on the marketing of vegetable seed as last amended by Commission Directive 2009/74/EC(10);

“whenever carried out”—

(a)

in relation to an official UK field inspection of a crop being grown to produce seed of a listed variety or a component of a listed hybrid variety, means an inspection carried out before or after the listing of the variety or hybrid variety;

(b)

in relation to an official UK field inspection of a crop being grown to produce seed of a previously listed variety or a component of a previously listed hybrid variety, means an inspection carried out while the variety or hybrid variety was listed or after it became unlisted;

(c)

in relation to an official UK seed test or a UK seed test carried out under official supervision of seed of a listed variety or a component of a listed hybrid variety, means a test carried out before or after the listing of the variety or hybrid variety; and

(d)

in relation to an official UK seed test or a UK seed test carried out under official supervision of seed of a previously listed variety or a component of a previously listed hybrid variety, means a test carried out while the variety or hybrid variety was listed or after it became unlisted.

(2) All applications, approvals, authorisations, notices, notifications and statements to which these Regulations apply shall be made in writing.

(3) “Writing” in paragraph (2) shall include an electronic communication within the meaning of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(11) provided that—

(a) any document of the type referred to in paragraph (2) shall only be sent to the Department by an electronic communication if the Department has represented that electronic communication is a means by which persons can send such a document to it, and

(b) notifications required to be made by the Department to any person shall only be made by an electronic communication if the intended recipient has used the same form of electronic communication in communicating with the Department for the purpose of these Regulations or has otherwise represented that that form of electronic communication is a means by which the Department can communicate with that person.

(4) Expressions in these Regulations which are not defined in this regulation or elsewhere in these Regulations or in a Schedule to these Regulations and which appear in the Vegetable Seed Directive have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in that Directive.

(5) Schedule 1, which contains definitions of pre-basic seed and similar expressions, basic seed and similar expressions, CS seed and similar expressions, standard seed and similar expressions and expressions relating to imported not finally certified seed, shall apply to the interpretation of these Regulations.

(1)

OJ L362, 9.12.2004, p21

(2)

OJ L 106, 17.4.2001, p 1

(3)

O.J L 268, 18.10.2003, p24

(4)

O.J L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1

(5)

S.R. 2009 No.388

(6)

2006 c. 32

(7)

S.I 2001/3510

(8)

1998 c. 32

(9)

O.J. No. L193, 20.7.2002, p33, as last amended by Commission Directive 2006/124/EC (O.J. No L339, 6.12.2006, p12)

(10)

O.J L 166, 27.6.2009, p. 40

(11)

2000 c.7