Feedback from the CTPS Plenary Committee
The CTPS Plenary Committee met on 20 May. The Scientific Committee presented its current work, in response to the referral from the President of the CTPS Plenary Committee on the needs for varieties, seeds and seedlings to make a success of the agroecological transition. The final report is expected in November 2021. The Chairman of the Scientific Committee also presented the conclusions of a study conducted in 2018-2019 on the methods for assessing the services and disservices provided by an endophytic meadow fescue variety. This work highlighted the difficulty of taking into account, within the framework of the European regulation EC/1107/2009 concerning the marketing of plant protection products, situations of plant/microorganism interaction. Finally, the Plenary Committee validated the projects proposed for the CASDAR Seeds and Plant Breeding call for projects in 2021, and took note of the new structuring of the CASDAR call for projects in the framework of the “National Agricultural and Rural Development Programme” 2022-2027.
In addition, the CTPS Plenary Committee was informed of the latest EU regulatory news for seeds and seedlings. The European Commission had been asked by the Council of the European Union in November 2019 to conduct two studies: one on the means available to the EU to update existing legislation in the field of seeds and seedlings, the other on the status of new genomic techniques under EU law. The Commission finally published the two studies on 29 April. The French authorities broadly share the Commission’s findings and are ready for the next steps.
On this occasion, the Director General of Food informed the members of the Plenary Committee of the forthcoming publication of the draft revised Seeds and Plants for Sustainable Agriculture (SPAD) plan, validated by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Director General of Food has entrusted the CTPS with monitoring the progress of this plan and leading a steering committee. A regular update will be presented and discussed in the Plenary Committee. Pending this publication, a summary of the roadmaps of the sections and inter-section commissions of the CTPS was presented to the members of the Plenary Committee of the CTPS, highlighting the actions taken on by the CTPS bodies, but also the difficulties encountered in moving forward on certain actions and for which transversal or methodological support will be essential. The ‘Protein crops’, ‘Beetroot and industrial chicory’, and ‘Fruit species’ Sections, as well as the Ecosystemic Plants Commission (CISPS) presented their work programmes.
