Report on cross-country exchange meeting of central and northern EU-countries to improve supply of organic seed

Summary

This report summarizes the LiveSeeding stakeholder event that was held online on 23 May 2024. The aim of the meeting was to foster cross -country exchange of central/northern EU-countries on improving supply of organic seed. Following countries were invited: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom. Representatives of competent authorities, agricultural ministries, control bodies, seed authorities, seed database manager, breeder and multiplier of organic plant reproductive material (PRM), and organic farming associations participated. After a short welcome the objectives of the meeting were presented. Followed by a short introduction round where all participants could introduce themselves. Kaja Gutzen (FiBL Germany e.V.) gave a short presentation on the current categorisation of crops and planned data collection within the LiveSeeding project. Tove Mariegaard P edersen (ICOEL Denmark) presented the current state of play in Denmark with a focus on seed expert groups and the concept of equivalent varieties. Freya Schäfer (FiBL Germany e.V.) presented a national project that is funded by the German ministry to increase supply and use of organic seed. Matthias Klaiss (FiBL Switzerland) gave an impression on the current revision of the organic regulation and the supply of organic seed in Switzerland. At the end of the 2,5 hour session, a voting on six relevant questions was conducted via Mentimeter. Participants could give feedback on the event, whether there is a need to foster further exchange and to collect potential topics for a next meeting. The meeting was moderated by Freya Schäfer, FiBL Germany e.V.