On June 26th 2023, Capacity Building for National Authorities across Europe – Conditions for the use of “plant reproductive material” authorised in accordance with point 1.8.6 was held online. The event gathered around 66 participants, including Patrizia Pitton from DG Agri and several representatives from national authorities.
About the event
This capacity building event, organised by FiBL Germany and IFOAM Organics Europe, was aimed at national authorities and control bodies across the EU. The exchange with authorities and control bodies of several EU Member States so far has shown that there are major uncertainties regarding Article 1.8.6 of the Regulation (EU) 2018/848.
Article 1.8.6 concerns plant reproductive material produced from non-organic plant reproductive material that can be marketed as organic plant reproductive material under certain conditions (so-called “plant reproductive material authorised in accordance with point 1.8.6.”). According to the article, the competent authorities of the EU Member States have to report to the European Commission (EC) on the authorisations granted for this material by June 30 of each year and, for the first time, by June 30 of 2023. Thus, the capacity building event was intended to address questions, clear out uncertainties, and facilitate the exchange between EU Member States and the European Commission regarding the legal act.
Main disscussions
Article 1.8.6 of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 was presented by Patrizia Pitton of DG Agri. Inge de Groot (Skal) provided a flow chart to help determine which planting material is covered by Article 1.8.6 and which requirements must be met, while Jochen Neuendorff (GfRS) from Germany presented many case examples.
Kaja Gutzen (FiBL Germany) presented how Article 1.8.6 can be implemented in the Router Database and the national database organicXseeds.
The discussions have shown that there is still a lack of clarity regarding the requirements and implementation at the EU level. The EC received all of the questions that were submitted in advance and posed at the meeting.
The EC’s FAQ is to be adapted as a result, which you can find here.
