European Communities (Vegetable Seeds) Regulations, 1981

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 1981
• Citation: IR SI 73/1981

I, RAY MacSHARRY, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by Section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 70/458/EEC of 29 September, 1970, as amended, hereby make the following regulations:
	1 Short title and commencement.	1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Vegetable Seeds) Regulations 1981, and shall come into operation on the 19th day of March, 1981.
	2 Interpretation.	2. (1) In these Regulations—
"Annex I" means Annex I to the directive, which Annex is contained in the Schedule hereto;
"Annex II" means Annex II to the directive, which Annex is contained in the Schedule hereto;
"Annex III" means Annex III to the directive, which Annex is contained in the Schedule hereto;
"Annex IV" means Annex IV to the directive, which Annex is contained in the Schedule hereto;
"authorised officer" means an officer of the Minister authorised in writing by the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations;
"basic seed" means seed of varieties of vegetables which
(a) has been produced under the responsibility of the breeder according to accepted practices for the maintenance of the variety,
(b) is intended for the production of certified seed,
(c) subject to Regulation 7 of these Regulations, satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex I and Annex II for basic seed and
(d) has been found on official examination to have been so produced, to be so intended and to have satisfied the said conditions;
"certified seed" means seed of vegetables which
(a) has been produced directly from pre-basic seed or basic seed
(b) is intended mainly for the production of vegetables
(c) subject to Regulation 7 of these Regulations, satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex I and Annex II for certified seed,
(d) has been found on official examination to have been so produced, to be so intended and to have satisfied the said conditions and
(e) is subject to official post control by check inspection to verify the varietal identity and variety purity;
"Common Catalogue" means the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Vegetable species published from time to time by the Commission of the European Communities in the Official Journal of the European Communities;
"the directive" means Council Directive No. 70/458/EEC of 29 September 1970,1 as amended by the directives, act and decision specified in paragraph (2) of this Regulation;
1O.J. No. L225/7, 12 October, 1970.
"Member State" means a Member State of the European Communities;
"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture;
"national catalogue" means the National Catalogue of Vegetable Varieties;
"official" other than in the expression "official authority" or "official language", refers to any work or measure carried out or taken by an official authority in connection with such work;
"official authority" means the authority officially designated by a Member State to carry out the work in connection with the certification, examination, sampling or closing of vegetable seed, or any other work or measure relevant to the provisions of the directive or these Regulations, or any similar authority in a third country;
"pre-basic seed" means vegetable seed of generations prior to basic seed which
(a) has been produced under the responsibility of the breeder according to accepted practices for the maintenance of the variety,
(b) is intended for the production of pre-basic seed, basic seed or certified seed,
(c) subject to Regulation 7 of these Regulations, satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex I and Annex II for basic seed, and
(d) has been found on official examination to have been so produced, to be so intended and to have satisfied the said conditions;
"small packages" means packages containing seed up to a maximum net weight of:
(a) 5 kg. in case the package contains seed of legumes,
(b) 500 g. in case the package contains seed of any one of the following, namely, onions, red beet or beetroot, turnips, marrows, carrots, radish or spinach,
(c) 100 g. in case the package contains the seed of any other species of vegetable;
"standard seed" means seed of vegetables which
(a) has sufficient varietal identity and varietal purity,
(b) is intended mainly for the production of vegetables,
(c) satisfies the conditions laid down in Annex II and
(d) is subject to official post-control by check inspection to verify its varietal identity and varietal purity;
"statute" has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937);
"third country" means a country or territory which is not a Member State;
"vegetable" means plants of the following species intended for agricultural or horticultural production but not for ornamental uses:
Species Common Name Allium cepa L. Onion Allium porrum L. Leek Apium graveolens L. Celery Beta vulgaris L. var. esculenta L. Red beet or beetroot Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala DC subvar. laciniata L. Curly kale Brassica oleracea L. convar botrytis (L.) Alef. var. botrytis Cauliflower Brassica oleracea L. convar. botrytis (L.) Sprouting broccoli or Alef. var. italica Plenck Calabrese Brassica oleracea L. var. bullata subvar. gemmifera DC. Brussels sprouts Brassica oleracea L. var. bullata DC. et var.subauda L. Savoy cabbage Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L. f. alba D.C. Cabbage Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L.f. rubra (L.) Thell Red cabbage Brassica rapa L. var. rapa. (L.) Thell Turnip Capsicum annuum L. Chilli Pepper Capsicum Cichorium endivia L. Endive Cichorium intybus L. var. foliosum Bisch. Chicory Cucumis melo L. Melon Cucumis sativus L. Cucumber, Gherkin Cucurbita pepo L. Marrow Daucus carota L. Carrot Lactuca sativa L. Lettuce Lycopers icon lycoperscium (L.) Karst. ex Farwell Tomato Petros elinum crispum (Mill.) Nym. ex. A.W. Hill Parsley Phaseolus coccineus L. Runner bean Phaseolus vulgaris L. French bean Pisum sativum L. (Partim) Pea, excluding Field Pea Raphanus sativus L. Radish Solanum melongena L. Aubergine or egg plant Spinacia oleracea L. Spinach Vicia faba L. (partim) Broad bean
(2) The directives, act and decision referred to in the definition of "the directive" in paragraph (1) of this Regulation are Council Directive No. 71/162/EEC of 30 March, 1971,1 Council Directive No. 72/274/EEC of 20 July, 1972,2 Council Directive No. 72/418/EEC of 6 December, 19723 Act of Accession 4 and Council Decision of 1 January, 1973,5 Council Directive No. 73/438/EEC of 11 December, 1973,6 Council Directive No. 76/307/EEC of 15 March, 1976,7 Council Directive No. 78/55/EEC of 19 December, 1977,8 Council Directive No. 78/692/EEC of 25 July, 1978,9 Commission Directive No. 79/641/EEC of 27 June, 1979,10 Council Directive No. 79/692/EEC of 24 July, 1979,11 Council Directive No. 79/967/EEC of 12 November, 1979,12 and Council Directive No. 80/1141/EEC of 8 December, 1980.13
1 O.J. No. L87/24, 17 April, 1971.
2 O.J. No. L171/37, 29 July, 1972.
3 O.J. No. L287/22, 26 December, 1972.
(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the directive.
	3 Application.	3. These Regulations apply to vegetable seed other than vegetable seed which is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be intended for export to a third country.
	4 Official authority.	4. The Minister, or any person or body authorised by the Minister for the purpose, shall be the official authority for the State for the purposes of these Regulations and of the directive.
	5 National Catalogue.	5. (1) Notwithstanding Regulation 22 of these Regulations, the catalogue which immediately before the commencement of that Regulation was being maintained by the Minister under Regulation 3 of the European Communities (Vegetable Seeds) Regulations, 1973 ( S.I. No. 173 of 1973 ), shall continue in being and shall continue to be maintained by the Minister but shall henceforth be known as the National Catalogue of Vegetable Varieties (which catalogue is in these Regulations referred to as "the National Catalogue").
(2) (a) There shall be registered in the National Catalogue such particulars with respect to the varieties therein registered as the Minister considers proper (including, in relation to each variety, particulars with respect to a person accepting responsibility for maintenance of the variety),
4 O.J. Special Edition p. 14, 27 March, 1972.
5 O.J. No. L2/1, 1 January, 1973.
6 O.J. No. L356/79, 27 December, 1973.
7 O.J. No. L72/16, 18 March, 1976.
8 O.J. No. L16/23, 20 January, 1978.
9 O.J. No. L236/13, 26 August, 1978.
10 O.J. No. L183/13, 19 July, 1979.
11 O.J. No. L205/1, 13 August, 1979.
12 O.J No. L293/16, 20 November, 1979.
13 O.J. No. L341/27, 16 December, 1980.
(b) the National Catalogue shall be subdivided in accordance with the requirements of Article 3 (2) of the directive.
(3) Registration of a variety in the Common Catalogue or in the Catalogue of a Member State corresponding to the National Catalogue shall be regarded as being equivalent to registration of the variety in the National Catalogue if, but only if, the Minister gives a direction under this paragraph as regards the variety.
(4) Where a variety is registered in the National Catalogue, the person registered as responsible for the maintenance for conservation of that variety shall—
(a) allow an authorised officer to examine the production of the variety for conservation and all records relating to such production including examination with respect to generations preceding...