An important query was why so few African countries participated in the OECD Seed Schemes.

Applicant countries, however, must be able to satisfy the technical criteria and comply with the rules of the Seed Schemes. NIAB at Cambridge provided a lot of expertise to such countries in need of meeting these requirements.

In the reports presented to the OECD by the chairmen of the three workshop meetings, issues like the identity preservation system for the adventitious presence of GMO traits in non GMO varieties, the notification given by South Africa for the future participation in the OECD experiment for seed sampling (including fastening and labelling) and seed analysis as from 1 May 2002, as well as Oil & Fibre Scheme, was approved by the annual meeting.

With regard to the report on genetically modified organisms, the working group could not agree on a common proposal to present to the annual meeting. The subsequent decision was that the working group should continue to evaluate all available information, including technical developments in different countries. All avenues should be explored to try and find ways and means to facilitate trade in future.

An issue carried over from the previous period under review, was the certification of maize blends, which South Africa supported. The OECD Secretariat will formalize the relevant rules and procedures during the forthcoming year with the assistance of the U.S.A., France and Spain.

Although the certification of herbage seed mixtures had been under review for six years, the EU still objected to accepting certification of mixtures for international trade. They did not, however, object to the certification of herbage seed mixtures intended for amenity purposes (lawn; ornamental). The OECD requested that problems/objections should be submitted in writing, as well as a proposal for a working group, an agenda and technical requirements to work on.

Organic seed was calculated to be less than 2% of the international market during the period under review, but could be expected to increase. Standards would need to be harmonized for this purpose and using OECD rules could be useful. An official paper on the harmonization of standards for a transparent market would be drafted for submission to the next Annual Meeting of the OECD.

With regard to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety the OECD Secretariat reported that this protocol would probably be implemented during the forthcoming year. As the relevant Protocol requests that notice be given when living modified organisms (LMO’s) are moved from any country, the OECD certificates were suggested for standardizing these notices.