Plans of action were established encompassing the following issues:

• Harmonization of Seed Laws/Standards/Procedures
• Information Exchange and Database
• Improving Seed Production Systems
• Training in the Seed Sector

The sole achievement to date was to establish the SSSN, based in Harare, Zimbabwe. The objectives of the SSSN, functioning at regional, as well as national levels, included amongst others, the improvement of national and regional disaster preparedness; availability of information to facilitate seed supply at commercial and community levels; and to facilitate approval of proposals to harmonize seed rules and regulations in the SADC countries.

One of the proposed outputs was the implementation of a SADC Website for the SSSN to include worldwide linkages with other seed- and crop-related websites. The information was to include the availability of seed stocks available in each country. From the South African point of view, the supplying of seed stocks down to the specific varieties would, however, not be attainable in view of the reluctance of some companies to divulge such information.

As far as the harmonization of legislation in the region was concerned, not much was attained during the period under review. Meetings to date spent more time discussing strategies for community seed supply, local seed systems and seed security as regulatory changes per se. South Africa amended the National Seed Certification Scheme to get in line with the OECD nomenclature, as was decided at one of the earlier meetings – the relevant amendments were published in December 2002. None of the other countries had published any amendments or new legislation as far as could be determined. Many of the countries had no seed legislation at all - drafting and publication of any legislation was a cumbersome and lengthy process and often politicized.

The harmonization of legislation was once again the key issue for the private seed trade and two action plans were adopted for further exploration. The first action plan would include the development of a protocol for regional variety testing and registration, a seed certification and quality system to integrate international standards (e.g. the OECD/ISTA model) for certification and the harmonization of phytosanitary standards and minimum requirements to move seed across borders.

The second action plan, which of course is of major concern to the South African seed industry, would deal with the need for more regional integration on the discussion of intellectual property rights (IPR) issues through SADC. The possible recommendation by SADC to member countries to introduce the African Model Law on Intellectual Property Rights had been opposed by SANSOR in its recommendation to government.