Beet Seeds Regulations 1974
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1974/898 |
1974 No. 898
SEEDS
The Beet Seeds Regulations 197422ndMay 1974
7thJune 1974
1stJuly 1974
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers vested in them by sections 16(1), (1A), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (8), 17(1), (2), (3) and (4), 18(1), 24(5), 26(2) and (3) and 36 of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964(a) as amended by section 4(1) of and paragraph 5(1), (2) and (3) of Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972(b) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, after consultation with representatives of such interests as appear to them to be concerned, hereby make the following Regulations.
Application, citation and commencement
1. These Regulations, which apply to Great Britain, may be cited as the Beet Seeds Regulations 1974 and shall come into operation on the 1st July 1974.
Interpretation
2.—(1) A reference in these Regulations to a numbered Regulation or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the Regulation or Schedule bearing that number in these Regulations.
(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
"the Act" means the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964 as amended by section 4(1) of and Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972;
"beet seeds" means seeds of sugar beet and fodder beet (including mangel) of the species Beta vulgaris L.;
"Common Catalogue" means the Common Catalogue of varieties of kinds of agricultural plants published or to be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities;
"maintainer" means a person who is indicated in a National List or in the Common Catalogue as responsible for the maintenance of the beet variety;
"marketing" includes, as the context shall permit, the offer for sale, exposure for sale, sale and possession with a view to sale of seeds, and any transaction in the course of business—
(a) under which the property in seeds is transferred from one person to another or
(a) 1964 c. 14.
(b) 1972 c. 68.
(b) under which the seeds are made over by one person to another in pursuance of a contract under which the seeds will be used for producing further seeds or for producing plants or parts of plants for human or animal consumption,
and "market" and "marketed" shall be construed accordingly;
"Member State" means a member state of the European Communities;
"the Minister" means, in relation to England and Wales, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and, in relation to Scotland, the Secretary of State and "Ministers" means the said two Ministers acting jointly;
"monogerm seeds" mean genetically monogerm seeds with the percentage of the germinated clusters producing single seedlings being not less than the minimum specified in Part II of Schedule 1;
"National List" means a list of varieties of kinds of beet published in accordance with The Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1973(a);
"official examination" means an examination carried out by or on behalf of the Minister, subject to the payment of any fee imposed by Regulations made under the Act, an examination carried out by or on behalf of the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland or, in relation to seeds harvested elsewhere than in the United Kingdom, an examination approved by the Minister;
"official label" and "official notice" mean respectively a label and a notice prepared by or on behalf of the Minister;
"precision seeds" means seeds intended for use in precision drills with the percentage of seeds producing single seedlings being not less than the minimum specified in Part II of Schedule 1;
"pure" in relation to seeds means wholly comprised of seeds of the kind of which the seeds purport to be;
"small package" means a package of certified seeds containing no more than a net weight of 2½ kilograms of seeds other than pelleted seeds or of 12½ kilograms of pelleted seeds.
(3) In these Regulations, in relation to the categories of seeds referred to therein—
"pre-basic seeds" means seeds of a generation earlier than that of basic seeds—
(a) which have been produced by or under the responsibility of the maintainer,
(b) which are intended for the production of pre-basic seeds, uncertified pre-basic seeds, basic seeds or certified seeds,
(c) which satisfy the requirements for basic seeds set out in Schedule 1 and which have on an official examination been found to satisfy these requirements;
"uncertified pre-basic seeds" means seeds of a generation earlier than that of basic seeds—
(a) which have been produced in the United Kingdom by or under the responsibility of the maintainer, and
(b) which are intended for the production of pre-basic seeds, uncertified pre-basic seeds or basic seeds;
(a) S.I. 1973/994 (1973 II, p. 3024).
"basic seeds" means seeds—
(a) which have been produced by or under the responsibility of the maintainer,
(b) which are intended for the production of certified seeds, and
(c) which satisfy the requirements for basic seeds set out in Schedule 1 and which have on an official examination been found to satisfy these requirements;
"certified seeds" means seeds—
(a) which have been produced directly from basic seeds or, with the approval of the maintainer, from pre-basic seeds,
(b) which are intended to be used mainly for the production of plants or parts of plants for human or animal consumption, and
(c) which satisfy the requirements for certified seeds set out in Schedule 1 and which have on an official examination been found to satisfy these requirements;
(4) The Interpretation Act 1889(a) shall apply to the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
Seeds to which the Regulations apply
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation these Regulations apply to beet seeds intended to be used only for the production of agricultural or horticultural crops.
(2) These Regulations shall not apply to—
(a) seeds which are marketed for delivery elsewhere than in a Member State,
(b) seeds used or to be used for research or experiment,
(c) seeds used or to be used in the course of a process of selection, and
(d) seeds which are marketed with a view to processing, treatment or cleaning, provided that the identity of the seeds is stated by the person by whom they are marketed.
Marketing of seeds
4.—(1)(a) Subject to the provisions of this Regulation no person shall market any seeds which have been produced in a Member State unless they are pre-basic seeds, uncertified pre-basic seeds, basic seeds or certified seeds;
(b) Sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph shall not take effect until the 1st July 1976 in relation to seeds other than pre-basic seeds, uncertified pre-basic seeds or basic seeds where such seeds satisfy the requirements set out in Part II of Schedule 1 relating to certified seeds, and where such seeds are marketed after the 30th September 1974 they shall have, on an official examination, been shown to satisfy these requirements.
(2) No person shall market any seeds which have been produced elsewhere than in a Member State, unless they are—
(a) seeds marketed before the 1st July 1976, not being pre-basic seeds, uncertified pre-basic seeds, basic seeds or certified seeds;
(a) 1889 c. 63.
or, unless they are
(b) pre-basic seeds, basic seeds or certified seeds marketed in accordance with and subject to the conditions imposed by a general licence granted by the Ministers:
Provided that seeds marketed in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph shall satisfy the requirements set out in Part II of Schedule 1 relating to certified seeds and, where such seeds are marketed after the 30th September 1974, they shall have, on an official examination, been shown to satisfy these requirements.
(3) The Minister may, by a general licence taking effect during a period specified in the licence and subject to any conditions imposed by the licence, authorise any person to market as pre-basic seeds, basic seeds, certified seeds or seeds marketed in accordance with paragraphs (1) (b) or (2) (a) of this Regulation, seeds which fail in some respect to satisfy the requirements for such seeds set out in Schedule 1 or to market seeds which, notwithstanding the requirements of The Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1973, are of a variety not entered in a National List or in the Common Catalogue: Provided that in all other respects, unless expressly otherwise provided, the provisions of these Regulations shall apply in relation to the marketing of the seeds.
(4) Notwithstanding the requirement in Schedule 1 that basic seeds shall attain the minimum standards of germination specified in the said Schedule any person may, subject to the requirements of paragraphs (2) (b) and (7) of Regulation 8, market as pre-basic seeds or basic seeds seeds which in other respects satisfy the requirements for basic seeds set out in the said Schedule but which attain a lower percentage of germination than that specified in the said Schedule in relation to seeds of that kind.
(5) In a case where the official...
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