Seed Today - Q3 2008 - (Page 70)

OECD Holds 50th in Chicago Two new nations admitted to OECD Seed Schemes The 50th annual meeting of the OECD Seed Schemes (see sidebar next page) was held in Chicago July 1-3. The meeting was facilitated by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) with support from the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and the Association of Official Seed Certifying Associations (AOSCA). During the meeting, India and the Republic of Moldova were admitted to the Seed Schemes. Formerly part of Romania, Moldova is a small, landlocked nation slightly larger than Maryland between Romania and Ukraine. With acceptance to the Seed Schemes, India and Moldova join 55 other nations qualified to issue OECD seed inspection certificates for international movement of seed. Prior to the Chicago meeting, an OECD inspection team representing the OECD secretariat’s office and the United States visited India to assess the performance of its internal seed certifiTotem for the OECD Seed Schemes’ 50th annual meeting held in Chicago July 1-3. cation and testing practices. A similar visit was made to Moldova. Representatives from the 55 seed schemes member nations accepted the two new members by a consensus vote. United States Participation In his opening statement welcoming the Seed Schemes members and observers, Lloyd Day, AMS administrator, said the 2008 annual meeting of the OECD Seed Schemes marks a half century of what can be achieved when sovereign nations from all over the world agree to work together on a common purpose of increasing the efficiency of seed trading in international commerce. “Through our cooperative efforts in the OECD Seed Schemes, we have simplified international trade procedures and assured our respective nations’ industries and consumers that quality control and traceability standards will be enforced fairly and equitably,” Day says. He says the United States is a strong supporter of the work and goals of the OECD Seed Schemes. According to Day, the U.S. government also promotes the efforts of our domestic producers to develop new and improved varieties, and has enacted laws to protect and enforce plant breeders’ rights. The United States participates in five of the seven OECD Seed Schemes. “Because of these efforts, U.S. seed exports have earned their reputation for the highest quality and integrity in production and marketing,” Day says. “In 2006, we approved 1,627 new varieties for inclusion in the Seed Schemes, plus about 1,200 multiplication agreements for winter production to other countries. “We also issued 5,833 OECD Certificates for seed exported through the For more information: OECD Seed Schemes www.oecd.org/tad/trade Response No. 701 70 Third Quarter 2008 http://www.oecd.org/tad/seed http://www.oecd.org/tad/seed http://www.oecd.org/tad/trade

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q3 2008

Seed Today - Q3 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Cover Feature Fred Miller, Ph.D., MMR Genetics Crosbyton Seed Company AOSCA Greg Lowry Floyd Hansmeirer AOSA/SCST According to ASTA Seedsellers, Inc. BinMaster Blake Sieker Ad Index

Seed Today - Q3 2008

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