EU Seed Laws Struck Down by High Court…(not yet!)
[update: I've been told this is a prejudicial opinion, thus not yet the ruling of the court and not yet a binding decision. Hopefully we'll have a more concrete ruling later.]
Yesterday an EU Advocate-General sided with French seed organization Kokopelli on the provision in EU law prohibiting the sale of unregistered varieties.
In reference to EU seed laws and related French regulations, the Advocate-General said they
“violate the principle of proportionality, free enterprise, free movement of goods, and the principle of non discrimination.”
The Advocate-General said the official seed catalog has
“nothing to do with plant health”
and
“it is up to farmers to decide which varieties they grow”
the Advocate-General added
“the fact that farmers are confined to the listed varieties greatly reduces genetic diversity in European fields.”
Unfortunately the original opinion was written in German, and as of the time of this post had not yet been translated into English. You can read the opinion in a variety of non-English languages here.
Almost all of Kokopelli’s arguments were upheld, and most of the opposition’s arguments were not.
Dutch Article on EU Seed Laws
A friend of mine, Erik D’haese has written a Dutch language article for MO magazine on the current state of EU seed laws. Regular readers of this blog will have seen a lot of it before, but he mentions a few things I didn’t, and it’s really the best article with everything laid out in one place I’ve seen anywhere. Google translate works pretty well translating it into English.
Love Plant Blog
Anna of Love Plant Life Blog just sent me an email to tell me about her blog. It looks really good! Heirloom or mostly heirloom gardening in New Zealand, together with seed swaps and seeds for sale.
Review of EU Seed Legislation
Sorry for not posting recently. More to come soon.
For those of you who filled in or are interested in the online questionnaire concerning the review of EU seed legislation I posted about here, you can read everyone’s answers here.
I think it makes quite interesting reading, and it shows how your voice can really be heard if you take the time to participate in something like this.
Nu Trac
Richard just sent me an email to tell me about his new blog Nu Trac (=New Track).
He recently left formal employment, and is pursuing a more self-reliant lifestyle on a property north of Atlanta, Georgia. This includes bees, chickens, organic gardening and composting, rainwater collection, bread baking and more! His blog looks really good so far!
