Plant Improvement Bill and International Organisations - PowerPoint Presentation

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Plant Improvement Bill and International Organisations

3 May 2016

BRIEFING BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

TO

THE

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES Slide2

2

ACRONYMS

ISTA

: International Seed Testing

Association

OSTL

: Official Seed Testing LaboratoryOECD: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentOSTL: Official Seed Testing LaboratoryPIA: Plant Improvement ActUPOV: International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of PlantsSlide3

International Seed Testing

Association (ISTA)

Mission:

to

develop, adopt and publish standard procedures for the sampling and testing of seed,

and to promote uniform application of these procedures for evaluation of seed moving in international

trade.Membership: 218 Member Laboratories, 41 Personal Members and 62 Associate Members in 80 countries/distinct economiesSouth Africa is a member since 1955Annual contribution: CHF 7 487 (Swiss Frank) 2015 contribution: R 96 348South Africa has one Member Laboratory (OSTL) and one Personal Member (Registrar of PIA) - only Laboratory Member and Personal Member may vote3Slide4

ISTA (2)

Benefits of membership

:

Provides basis for ensuring the trade of quality seed by developing standard seed testing methods

Provides a platform for research and cooperation between seed scientists worldwidePromotes research and provides the opportunity for publishing the technological dataGuarantees worldwide harmonised, uniform seed testing through the Accreditation, Proficiency Test and Auditing ProgrammesProvides services and professional development programmes for furthering the education and experience of seed analysts around the world

Website: www.seedtest.org

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ISTA: benefits for South Africa

ISTA membership allows South Africa to issue Orange International Certificates (OICs) for locally produced seed to be exported - some countries only accept imported seed with OIC

PIA requires compulsory registration of seed testing laboratories

OSTL as ISTA accredited laboratory performs laboratory inspections for registration on behalf of Registrar PIA, using ISTA standards

ISTA Quality Management Standards is

applied for registration of test laboratoriesOSTL provides practical training for seed analysts

ISTA standardised seed testing methods is used for germination and purity by all seed testing laboratoriesLaboratory Member or Personal Member attending the ISTA Annual Meeting may vote on seed testing rule changes5Slide6

OECD Seed Schemes

Objective is to provide an

international framework for certification of agricultural seed moving in international trade, promoting the use of agricultural seed of a consistently high

quality

Participation in the Seed Schemes authorise use of labels and certificates for seed produced and processed for international trade according to the agreed principles

Currently 58 participating countriesSouth Africa is participating since 1961

Annual contribution: based on GDP of country 2015: Euro 4 786 (± R 65 042)Website: www.oecd.org/tad/seeds6Slide7

OECD Seed Schemes: benefits for South Africa

South

African Seed Certification Scheme is

based on OECD Seed Schemes

South African certified seed is accepted and recognised internationallySouth African produced certified seed may be exported under the OECD label

OECD Seed Schemes form general framework

for all PIA certification schemesOECD Seed Schemes use seed sampling methods of ISTA for sampling for seed testing to determine quality relating to germination and purityOECD Seed Schemes use variety descriptions derived from Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability criteria of UPOV for varietal certification7Slide8

UPOV relation with PIA

Membership of UPOV is under Plant Breeders’ Rights

PIA uses UPOV requirements for examining plant varieties for varietal listing (distinctness, uniformity, stability, variety denomination)

UPOV Test Guidelines is used for plant variety examinations for varietal listing

Requirements

and guidelines for Distinctness, Uniformity, Stability, variety denominations and trial procedures are used for varietal listing

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9Thank you