Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1106 of 24 July 2020 on the organisation of a temporary experiment under Council Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC as regards the official checking rate for field inspection under official supervision for basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and certified seed (notified under document C(2020) 4955)
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1106 of 24 July 2020 on the organisation of a temporary experiment under Council Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC as regards the official checking rate for field inspection under official supervision for basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and certified seed (notified under document C(2020) 4955)
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
1. A temporary experiment (‘the experiment’) shall be organised at Union level assessing, as regards the official checking of crops for the production of basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and of certified seed within the framework of field inspection under official supervision pursuant to the provisions, listed in paragraph 2 of this Article, of Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC:
(a)
whether a risk-based approach carried out in accordance with Article 3 of this Decision may constitute an improved alternative to the checking of:
(i)
a fixed minimum rate of 5 % of seed crops for certified seed;
(ii)
a fixed rate of 100 % of seed crops for basic seed and bred seed of generations prior to basic seed; and
(b)
whether the risk assessement criteria as laid down in Article 3(1) of this Decision are appropriate.
2. The provisions referred to in paragraph 1 are the following:
(a)
Article 2(1)(B)(1)(d), Article 2(3)(A)(c) and Article 14a(a) of Directive 66/401/EEC, and point (6) of Annex I thereto;
(b)
Article 2(1)(C)(d), Article 2(1)(Ca)(c), Article 2(1)(D)(1)(d), Article 2(1)(D)(2)(b), Article 2(1)(D)(3)(c), Article 2(3)(A)(c) and Article 14a(a) of Directive 66/402/EEC, and point (7) of Annex I thereto;
(c)
Article 2(1)(c)(iv), Article 2(3)(A)(c) and Article 21(a) of Directive 2002/54/EC, and point (4) of Part A of Annex I thereto;
(d)
Article 2(1)(c)(iv), Article 2(1)(d)(1)(ii), Article 2(1)(d)(2)(iii), Article 2(5)(A)(c) and Article 18(a) of Directive 2002/57/EC, and point (5) of Annex I thereto.
All Member States may participate in the experiment.
Member States which decide to participate in the experiment (‘the participating Member States’) shall inform the Commission and the other Member States indicating the species, categories and regions covered by their participation and any restrictions.
Participating Member States may end their participation at any time by informing the Commission accordingly.
1. The Member States shall carry out the risk assessment of the seed suppliers and adapt the extent of their official checks accordingly to a proportion between 1 % and 100 % of seed crops as regards field inspection under official supervision.
For the risk assessment of the seed suppliers, the following criteria shall be taken into account:
(a)
species and production methods;
(b)
area of production and number of fields;
(c)
the activities under the control of the seed supplier;
(d)
the location of the activities or operations;
(e)
any information indicating likelihood that users of seed could be misled, in particular as to the identity, health and quality, properties, composition, quantity, country or area of origin, method of production of the seeds;
(f)
the seed suppliers’ past record as regards the outcome of official checking and post-controls performed on their crops and compliance with the requirement set out in paragraph 2;
(g)
the reliability and results of inspections that have been performed by the seed suppliers, in particular by a licensed field inspector or by a third party at the request of the seed suppliers, including, where appropriate, private quality assurance schemes, for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with the requirement set out in paragraph 2;
(h)
any information that might indicate non-compliance with the requirement set out in paragraph 2.
2. The crop to be officially checked shall be grown from seed which has undergone official post-control in accordance with Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC.
3. A proportion of samples from the seed lots harvested from the crops shall be drawn for official post-control and, where appropriate, for official laboratory seed testing in respect of varietal identity and purity. Member States shall identify, seed lots for which official checks havebeen carried out in accordance with the risk-based approach set out in paragraph 1.
4. Participating Member States shall compare, for the same crop of the same field, the fixed minimum rate of 5 % of seed crops subject to official checking with the risk-based official checking of crops and harvested seeds where no fixed minimum rate is set.
Derogations from Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC
By way of derogation from Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 2002/54/EC and 2002/57/EC, participating Member States are released, for the purposes of the experiment, from the obligations in respect of official field inspection of basic seed, bred seed of generations prior to basic seed and of official checking of certified seed, laid down in the following provisions:
(1)
Article 2(1)(B)(1)(d), Article 2(3)(A)(c) and Article 14a(a) of Directive 66/401/EEC, and point (6) of Annex I thereto;
(2)
Article 2(1)(C)(d), Article 2(1)(Ca)(c), Article 2(1)(D)(1)(d), Article 2(1)(D)(2)(b), Article 2(1)(D)(3)(c), Article 2(3)(A)(c) and Article 14a(a) of Directive 66/402/EEC, and point (7) of Annex I thereto;
(3)
Article 2(1)(c)(iv), Article 2(3)(A)(c) and Article 21(a) of Directive 2002/54/EC, and point (4) of Part A of Annex I thereto; and
(4)
Article 2(1)(c)(iv), Article 2(1)(d)(1)(ii), Article 2(1)(d)(2)(iii), Article 2(5)(A)(c) and Article 18(a) of Directive 2002/57/EC, and point (5) of Annex I thereto.
1. Participating Member States shall for each year, by 31 March of the following year, present to the Commission and to the other Member States a report on the results of the experiment carried out in accordance with Article 3.
2. At the end of the experiment and in any case at the end of their participation, participating Member States shall by 31 March of the following year, present to the Commission and the other Member States a final report on the results of the experiment.
That report may include other information the participating Member States consider relevant in view of the purpose of the experiment.
