AIC at 20: Developing ESTA - a valuable assurance scheme for UK seed treatments
As AIC marks 20 years as the UK agri-supply industry’s leading trade association, we're looking back at some of its greatest achievements since it was founded in 2003.
Each week throughout 2023, we’ll explore a major achievement where AIC represented its Member businesses, promoted the benefits of modern commercial agriculture in the UK, and supported collaboration throughout the food chain.
This week we review how AIC Services worked with industry to develop a valuable assurance scheme for the UK's treated seed industry.
Treated seed standards
Before being sown, seed can be treated, or dressed, with a targeted plant protection product (PPP) to help give crops a healthy start as seeds germinate and begin to grow.
Treatments work to help protect seedlings and young plants against diseases and pest attacks, as well as securing crop quality and yield. Without seed treatments, entire crops such as maize can fail.
Watch the video below to learn more about the benefits of seed treatments.
AIC Services manages a number of professional services and assurance schemes for the agri-supply industry, including the European Seed Treatment Assurance (ESTA) scheme.
In 2012, ESTA was developed in collaboration with the seed treatment industry to preserve essential PPPs, safeguard international trade and maintain investment within the sector.
The scheme provides a standard to support the industry, with a quality assurance system to assure that both the seed treatment and the seed meets requirements as set out by the Government and industry when it is used.
Companies certified to the ESTA standard reliably treat seed with plant protection products (PPPs), providing quality treated seed for farmers, growers, plant raisers and contractors.
Development and training
The need for ESTA stems from EU Directive (2010/21), which came about as a result of incidences of bee deaths in Germany, Austria and France - case which were particularly linked to treated maize seed.
The EU legislation requires insecticidal seed treatments to "only be performed in professional seed treatment facilities".
In response, the European seed trade association Euroseeds (formerly the European Seed Association) - of which AIC is a member - launched the European Seed Treatment Assurance (ESTA) scheme.
AIC Services wrote the UK version of ESTA, carried out trial audits and held training sessions for the industry.
Watch the videos below to find out more about ESTA and the certified seed sector.
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Visit the AIC at 20 webpage for more content like this.
Authors
Oli Hill
As Head of Communications, Oli creates and oversees the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media. A qualified multimedia journalist, he previously spent six years working at Farmers Weekly magazine as a Senior Reporter on the arable team, and latterly as Community Editor. More recently he was Communications Manager at Red Tractor.
Gillian Barrow
Gill Barrow is Technical Manager for AIC Services. Gill is based at AIC Head Office, Peterborough and is responsible for the management and coordination of the AIC assurance scheme TASCC.