UNDROP AND THE EU SEED MARKETING REFORM: PERSPECTIVES FROM GERMANY

Event

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This online workshop – held in English and German  – aims to raise awareness of the upcoming reform of the European Union (EU) seed marketing legislation and to explore pathways to align it with the right to seeds recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

UNDROP’s holistic approach to the right to seeds entails legislative changes in various policy fields at the EU and national levels. This workshop will focus on the impacts of rules that govern the marketing of seeds in the EU. These rules are currently undergoing a reform process, with an EU Commission proposal expected in June 2023. The workshop will look into what UNDROP and the EU reform mean in the German context, and how positive aspects of the national legislation could input the reform or, alternatively, suffer from new and more restrictive rules at the EU level.

PROGRAMME

15:30–15:35: Welcome

• Christophe Golay, Geneva Academy

15:35–15:45: UNDROP and the right to seeds: what obligations for the EU & its Member States?

• Karine Peschard, Geneva Academy

15:45–16:00: UNDROP and the right to seeds: which links with EU seed marketing rules?

• Fulya Batur, Geneva Academy and Kybele

16:00 – 16:40 Reactions and perspectives from German stakeholders

• Barbara Maria Rudolf, Farmer and Breeder at Christiansens Biolandhof, CEO Saat:gut e.V., Spokeswomen Breeders Board Bioland e.V., Boardmember Dachverband Ökologische Pflanzenzüchtung in Deutschland, Member of EcoPB, Seed expert for BÖLW and IFOAM Organics Europe, ‘Creating EU seed legislation ‘fit for purpose" from organic breeders’ perspective’
• Susanne Gura, Board Member, Umbrella Association for Cultivated Plant and Breed Diversity in German-speaking Countries ‘How UNDROP implementation by the new EU seed legislation could impact seed savers in Germany’

16:40–17:00 Q&A

Background Information

For more background information on the relevant UNDROP provisions and their implementation, see the Practical Manual on the Right to Seeds in Europe and the shorter Research Brief published by the Geneva Academy.

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