Folks, We have another situation with a new government regulation on seed trade that could seriously restrict our ability to share plants. In this case, the issue is with the European Union, which has proposed to require a phytosanitary certificate on all seeds sent to any EU country. This is a side effect of a regulation requiring phytos on all plant imports, with plants being defined as any living part of a plant, including seeds. Because phytos are expensive, this would shut down virtually all seed sharing into the EU from other parts of the world, and it would dramatically raise the prices on seed purchases. That includes the PBS seed exchange. The volunteer who tracks these things, Joyce Fingerut, believes the EU was thinking only of large commercial shipments, where the price of a phyto wouldn’t be a big issue. The EU was apparently not even aware of the hobbyist seed trade. So there is a good chance that they’ll create an exception for small lots of seed, similar to the one in the US -- if they hear from enough EU citizens. The rule is called Regulation (EU) 2016/2031. You can read more about it here: https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/… rules_en The actual regulation is enormous, far longer than I can absorb. I’m relying on Joyce and the US plant protection folks, who say its effect will be to ban all seed imports without a phyto. If you have more info please send it to the list. Nhu is going to write to them on behalf of the PBS, but comments from folks within the EU will be most effective. If you live in an EU country, and care about this issue, the best thing to do is send a message to your country representative and to the EU contact point on this issue. I’ve attached a list below. Unfortunately, we don’t have email addresses for these people, so you’ll need to send written letters. The points to make are: * Small scale seed sharing is important to the operations of gardening societies, researchers, and botanical gardens * It’s also important to small specialty gardening businesses * The cost and effort involved in getting phytosanitary certificates would put a crippling burden on these activities * Small-scale seed exchanges help preserve species in cultivation, and reduce the demand for illegal imports and collections * The risk of pest introduction through small lots of seeds is extremely low * Other countries have created successful exceptions for importing small lots of seed, without adversely harming their bio-security As always when dealing with this sort of situation, it’s important to be polite. The authorities are usually sympathetic to individuals and small organizations (the regulations were not aimed at us in the first place). So if you’re nice about it there’s a good chance they’ll help us out. This regulation will take effect December 14, so it is important to act quickly. I know it sometimes feels useless to fight a regulation like this, but we were able to make a big difference in the US, and if we work together there’s a good chance we can fix this new situation as well. So if you live in an EU country, or have a business that would be affected by this regulation, please speak up. Thanks, Mike San Jose, CA Here’s a list of the EU and national contacts: EUROPEAN COMMISSION Mrs. Dorothee Andre Health & Consumer Protection Directorate General European Commission Rue de la Loi 200 B-1049 Brussels BELGIUM AUSTRIA Dr. Matthias Lentsch Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Environment and Water Management Unit III 9 a - Plant Protection Stubenring 1 A Vienna 1012 AUSTRIA BELGIUM Mr. Leonard Bosschaert Counselor Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain – DG Control Policy International Affairs CA Botanique Food Safety Center - Boulevard du Jardin Botanique 55 B1000 Brussels BELGIUM BULGARIA Mr. Nikolay Rosnev Chief Plant Health Officer Bulgarian Food Safety Agency Pencho Slaveykov blvb. 15 A 1606 SOFIA BULGARIA CROATIA Ms. Jelena Dugum Director General Directorate for Food Safety and Phytosanitary Policy Ministry of Agriculture Ulica grada Vukovara 78 10000 Zagreb CROATIA CYPRUS Ms Anthemis Melifronidou-Pantelidou Director Department of Agriculture Ministry of Agriculture Natural Resources and Environment 1412 Nicosia CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC Mr. Michal Hnízdil Director of Import and Export Department Hroznova 2, 656 06 Brno, CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK Mr. Jorgen Sogaard Hansen Chief Plant Health Officer Danish AgriFish Agency Center for Agriculture Nyropsgade 30DK-1780 Kobenhavn V DENMARK ESTONIA Mrs. Anu Nemvalts Agricultural Board Teaduse 2 Saku 75501 Harjumaa ESTONIA FINLAND Ms. Marja Savonmaki Ministerial Advisor Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Department of Food and Health PO Box 30 FI - 00023 GOVERNMENT FINLAND FRANCE Alain Tridon Director for Quality and Plant Health, CPO Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries 251 rue de Vaugirard, 75732 Paris Cedex 15 FRANCE GERMANY Dr. Karola Schorn Division 512 - Plant Health Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Rochusstrabe 1 53123 Bonn GERMANY GREECE Mrs. Annoula Mavridou Director Head of NPPO Ministry of Rural Development and Food Directorate of Plant Produce Protection - Department of Phytosanitary Control 150 Leoforos Sygrou 17671 Athens GREECE HUNGARY Mr. Lajos Szabó Director Directorate for Plant-, Soil-, and Ag Environment- Protection MgSzH Central Agricultural Office Budapest, Keleti Karoly u. 24. HUNGARY IRELAND Barry Delaney Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Backweston Campus Young’s Cross Celbridge Co. Kildare IRELAND ISRAEL Prof. Abed Gera Deputy Director Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Plant Protection and Inspection Services (PPIS) P.O.Box 78 Bet-Dagan 50250 ISRAEL ITALY Dr. Bruno Caio Faraglia Executive Officer Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies Via XX Settembre, 20 00187 Rome ITALY LATVIA Ms Kristine Kjago Director State Plant Protection Service Ministry of Agriculture Lielvardes Street 36/38 Riga, LV – 1006 LATVIA LITHUANIA Mr. Sergejus Fedotovas Director State Plant Protection Service Kalvariju str. 62 09304 Vilnius LITHUANIA LUXEMBURG Ms. Monique Faber-Decker Plant Protection Service Agriculture Technical Services Administration Route D'Esch 16 BP 1904 L-1019 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG MALTA Mr. Sharlo Camilleri Plant Protection Directorate Plant Biotechnology Centre Annibale Preca Street Lija LJA 1915 MALTA NORWAY Hilde Paulsen Norwegian Food Safety Authority Head Office, Department of Legislation Felles postmottak, P.O.Box 383 N-2381 Brumunddal NORWAY POLAND Mr. Andrzej Chodkowski Main Inspector Plant Health and Seed Inspection Al Jana Pawla II 11 00-828 Warsaw POLAND PORTUGAL Mrs. Paula Cruz de Carvalho Deputy Director General Directorate General of Agriculture and Rural Development - DGADR Av. Afonso Costa 3 1949-002 Lisboa PORTUGAL ROMANIA Mrs. Paulina Gabor General Director National Phytosanitary Agency Ministry of Agriculture B-dul Carol I, nr. 2-4, sector 3 codul postal 020921 oficiul postal 37, Bucuresti ROMANIA SLOVAKIA Mrs Katarina Benovska Head Officer, Plant Protection Service Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Dobrovicova 12 812 66 BRATISLAVA SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA Ms Katarina Groznik Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment Dunajska cesta 22 1000 Ljubljana SLOVENIA SPAIN Mr. Miguel Angel Martin Esteban Deputy Director General of Sanitary Agreements and Border Control Directorate General of Agricultural and Livestock Resources Secretary of Rural Medium and Ministry of Environment C/Alfonso XII, 62-2 28071 - Madrid SPAIN SWEDEN Mrs Karin Nordin Plant Protection Service Swedish Board of Agriculture 551 82 Jonkoping SWEDEN SWITZERLAND Dr. Gabriele Schachermanyr Head of Certification, Plant Health and Variety Rights Unit Federal Department of Economic Affairs FDEA Federal office for agriculture FOAG Mattenhofstr. 5, CH-3003 Bern SWITZERLAND THE NETHERLANDS Mr. A. C. van Arnhem Head Division Plant Health Advice and International Affairs Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Plant Protection Service 15, Geertjesweg P.O.Box 9102 6700 HC Wageningen THE NETHERLANDS UK & NORTHERN IRELAND Mrs. Nicola Spence Chief Plant Health Officer APHA Plant Health & Seeds Inspectorate The National Agri-food Innovation Campus Sand Hutton York YO41 1LZ UNITED KINGDOM _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…