JULY 2018 GERMINATION.CA 15 SETTING STRATEGIC directives for global seed trade is really just the tip of the iceberg for what the International Seed Federation (ISF) does. After that, the real work of coordinating with national seed associations, govern- ments, and other non-government organizations (NGOs) begins. It’s in these conversations that trust must be built, and points of commonality identified. This impor- tant fact was a major discussion point at this year’s ISF World Seed Congress held in Brisbane, Australia, in June. Prior to the 2017 World Seed Congress, ISF developed a concept paper on the consistent criteria for the scope of regulatory oversight, with the aim of providing guidance to national seed associations for their discussions with governments and stakeholders. “An underlining principle for determining these consistent crite- ria is that ‘plant varieties developed through the latest breeding methods shouldn’t be differentially regulated if they are similar or indistinguishable from varieties that could have been produced through earlier breeding methods,’” explains Szabolcs Ruthner, ISF regulatory affairs manager. This paper served as the basis to engage with key governments with the help of the respective national seed associations to ensure alignment. Ruthner says the first step toward developing consistent policies is to have an agreement among govern- ments on the criteria that will be used to determine the regulatory oversight in their countries. The second step, he says, is to agree on the process used to determine whether a product falls within or outside the scope of the existing GMO regulation. “We’ve translated the concept paper into many languages, and it’s been used in several international meetings with governments and just recently at an international workshop in China,” Ruthner says. “Because of the demand for more written information from the concept paper, we have converted its main message into a position paper that will only help to increase our capac- ity for outreach.” At the same time, he says, ISF is working on a set of guiding princi- ples for information and communi- cation that will be used for further engagement with the value chain. On the ground, there are only a few countries that have actually established policies for how they will handle products derived from plant breeding innovations. Among them, Ruthner explains, he sees more com- monality than divergence. It just held its annual World Seed Congress in June, and the International Seed Federation is renewing its commitment to helping national seed associations engage with their governments to help create a better global seed sector. Julie Deering ISFISLAYINGTHEGROUNDWORKFORA STRONGERWORLDSEEDTRADE “One of the best examples can be found in South America where countries see the value of aligning policies,” he says. “Argentina was the first country with a regulatory framework for products derived from plant breeding innovations. “The resolution establishes the procedure to determine in which cases a crop developed by the latest breeding methods doesn’t fall under the current biosafety regulation. Based on the example of Argentina, Chile, and to some extent Brazil, developed their evaluation system fol- lowing the same criteria.” To date, Australia, South Africa and Japan have not decided if or how their GMO regulation will apply to plant breeding innovations. Ruthner says from the ongoing discussions, it seems these countries are aware of the importance of consistent regulations. In the European Union (EU), plant breeding innovation continues to be a sensitive topic from a political perspective. At the request of nine French NGOs, the European Court of Justice was asked to clarify if the varieties obtained by mutagenesis are exempt from the scope of the EU directives regulating GMOs. The EU Commission has decided to wait for the outcome of this case before acting on this topic. “The opinion of the advocate general revealed in January was rather positive,” Ruthner says. “He stated that organisms obtained by mutagenesis are in principle exempt from the obligation of the GMO directives provided that they don’t involve the use of recombinant DNA.” Szabolcs Ruthner, ISF regulatory affairs manager.