AIC at 20: Preventing the UK's seed certification process from being undermined
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 protected the interests and credibility of its Members in the certified seed sector in the face of an unsuitable and unnecessary government proposal.
Challenged successfully
During discussions with AIC in 2016, officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) proposed a simplified certification process to be used during periods of perceived seed shortages caused by factors, such as poor weather during harvest.
On behalf of the certified seed sector, AIC challenged the basis of this proposal by emphasising that seed shortages had not been an issue, and that the existing derogation system provided for additional material to be made available when necessary.
AIC made clear that the introduction of a simplified certification process would have given certified seed status to material which had not been subject to much of the certification process, and would have undermined the whole certified seed sector.
Consequently, Defra officials decided not to purse the proposals further. By remaining in close contact with Defra, AIC was able to stop the proposals early on, and protected Members’ interests by safeguarding the credibility of the certified seed process.
Find out more about the certified seed sector by watching the video below.
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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.
Rose Riby
Rose Riby is Head of Combinable Crops and Seed. Having worked across these sectors for many years, she has a depth and breadth of experience in roles in grain trading, plant breeding and knowledge exchange at AHDB.