On 16 and 23 March, FiBL-DE organised two practical trainings for authorities and seed suppliers on the use of the European Router Database for seeds and plant reproductive material. The router database was developed within the predecessor project LIVESEED and resulted from the need to develop one database linking all national databases. Two trainings gathered more than 100 participants who got a step-by-step tutorial on the main functionalities of the Router Database.
On the one hand, suppliers can, by using the router database, offer their organic material in several national databases at the same time and from only one account, and can thus circumvent language barriers or bureaucratic barriers that would arise when using several national databases. On the other hand, farmers have a better overview and greater access to organic material from all over the EU and beyond.
The offer entered in the router database can be verified by the national authority and then either transferred automatically via an interface in the national database, or manually through an export function. When actively used, the national database can give an overview of the real-time market situation for organic seed and plant reproductive material, ultimately providing more transparency.