Organic certification bodies Garden Organic and the Soil Association have said a ruling by the European Court of justice has “dealt yet another restrictive blow” to the choice of crops available for horticulturalists and gardeners.

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In a decision reached at the end of last month, the European Court of Justice in Brussels ruled against Kokopelli, a small French seed company, which was seeking to defend its sales of old, unregistered varieties of vegetable. Kokopelli had argued that the basis of the EU Marketing Directive was unlawful and curtailed its right to trade seed freely, but the court opposed this and ruled in favour of the current legislation, which restricts what seed can and cannot be marketed and sold.

Garden Organic said the ruling was a blow, which would contribute to the reduced availability of different vegetable varieties and the useful traits they possess. The organisation works to protect such ‘at risk’ varieties through maintaining the Heritage Seed Library. Seeds from the library’s “collection of almost a 1,000 unregistered vegetable varieties” are distributed amongst members, rather than being sold, but a Garden Organic spokesperson said July’s ECJ ruling against marketing such seeds would reduce biodiversity and increase the number of ‘at-risk’ vegetable varieties.

Bob Sherman, Chief Horticultural Officer and spokesperson for Garden Organic, commented, “Very few people believe that trade in traditional and endangered varieties threatens the commercial seed world. Despite some recent slackening of the regulation of ‘amateur’ and ‘conservation’ varieties, it appears it is still possible for large corporate businesses to control the market with no hesitation in resorting to law against the minnows of the sector.”

Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture for the Soil Association, added, “For both amateur growers and commercial producers, the resilience of our farming systems depend on a wide range of genetics within the food chain. It is vital that these varieties are maintained as a living collection amongst growers. Every variety lost weakens our ability to create an effective food system that can cope with the increasing challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.”

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), a lobby Group dedicated to promoting organic farming at an EU level, echoed the UK certification bodies’ criticisms. Two of the group’s senior members spoke out following the ECJ ruling.

Dorota Metera, Vice President of the IFOAM EU Group, said, "The EU seed legislation still favours homogeneity and large scale breeding. The European Court of Justice has failed to respond to the concerns of seed savers across the EU. Consumers and farmers must now reclaim ownership of our food: We call on European citizens to speak out for EU laws that favour diversity on our plates, healthy food for all and diverse landscapes."

Antje Kölling, IFOAM’s policy manager, pointed out, "A diversity of domestic plants is the basis for our long-term food security. Climate change, emerging plant pests or even new allergies may require us in the future to use plant varieties that we do not necessarily consider important today, due to their specific genetic characteristics. The FAO estimates that 75 percent of domestic plant varieties globally have been lost in the last 100 years. This trend must be urgently be reversed."

The EU is currently revising its seed market legislation and there have been calls to introduce a framework for the marketing of open-pollinating varieties and promote greater diversity. Meanwhile, another European group, No Patents on Seeds, has warned that European patenting law is being exploited by large agribusinesses, which are benefitting from patents on a range of organisms, including those bred using conventional means.

In April, as the European Patent Office undertook a review of its policy, the group warned that European patenting laws are open to abuse which is driving agriculture in an unsustainable direction, to the detriment of farmers, consumers, animals and plants.

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