Commercial gardeners and farmers in Europe will soon be required to “grow, reproduce or trade” only vegetable seeds that have been approved by the EU bureaucracy. Organic, small market gardeners and even those trying to achieve sustainable living at home will be breaking the new law if they grow unapproved plants and seeds.
Under the new directive-Plant Reproductive Material Law-a new bureaucracy will be created that will approve all plants and seeds that are sold and grown. Every type of plant species will be governed by the Plant Variety Agency, which will have the power to approve agricultural plants, grasses, moss and flowers. The agency will also create a register of gardeners who will be the only ones allowed to grow and sell the approved seeds.
Critics fear that the new legislation will see the end of organic and special varieties that have been developed by independent growers and ‘amateurs’, and the entire seed and plant market will be controlled by ‘Big Farma’ and suppliers such as Monsanto and DuPont.
(Source: www.realseeds.co.uk/seedlaw.html)
