62 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE ASSOCIATION The activities of the association are coordinated by the General Assembly that votes annually for a Board of Directors repre- sented by a president, vice-president and a treasurer. Currently, a KWS company member is president, a Euralis representative as vice-president and Syngenta as treasurer and Caussade as Censor. The association is managed by the General Assembly that meets once a year for voting the activity plan and budget, while the Board of Directors and working groups meet ad-hoc and when needed. The association has four working groups: Technical WG, Communications WG, Regulatory WG, and Marketing WG. The association leads an open dialog with all member seed companies and with all other professional associations and related associ- ations in agriculture. The objectives of the association are: support the develop- ment and promotion of certified seeds in Romania (seed certi- fication simplified procedures, open dialog with regulatory and policy makers); defend intellectual property rights (patent rec- ognition, PVR based on EU regulations, control and monitoring of counterfeit seeds); maintaining an open transparent dialog with all professional associations and providing necessary infor- mation and data to competent authorities, participating in public consultation on seed related matters; communication across all stakeholders (growers, public and authorities) regarding the benefits of certified seeds and R&D in seeds development and innovation (through different events). IMPORTANT TOPICS ADDRESSED THROUGH THE ALLIANCE One of the key topics and activities the association tries to address is the awareness in raising and promoting to growers of the use of certified seeds to boost yields, competitiveness and importance of R&D in seeds innovation and benefits. AISR is addressing the issue around counterfeit seeds. In a new project just started in autumn of 2017 — the monitoring of counterfeit seeds in Romania — AISR is working with a private detective company and are mon- itoring non-traditional channels for marketing of seeds, aware- ness to growers related to packaging and unusual pricing. In 2016 and 2017, the association collaborated on an important project with the ROMAPIS beekeeper association to study and communi- cate to growers and beekeepers about honey-bearing properties of main sunflower and rapeseed hybrids marketed in Romania. Communication to growers related to sustainable farming prac- tices, direct benefits of certified seeds and innovation in seed genetics are all key important topics we are addressing. ACHIEVEMENTS In 2015 we organized with European Seed Association (ESA) the Workshop on Intellectual Property in the EU. In 2016 we held a workshop on communication on Challenges of the Seed Industry, followed by a 2017 workshop with the AgroBiotechRom (endorsed by the Romanian Agriculture and Forestry Academy) on Innovative Alternatives in Plant Breeding – A Fundament for Sustainable and Efficient Agriculture. We also started hosting field days two years ago, “Certified Seeds Day”, in different regions of Romania where growers are still using farm saved seeds (east and south-west regions of the country). AISR is always present at the Annual Corn Day where we talk to growers. Close collaboration with different institutions belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture-the central Laboratory for Seeds and Seedlings Quality and Certification, country seed laboratories, national Phytosanitary Agency and the State Institute for Variety Testing and Registration. The associ- ation is also very active in meetings with grower’s organizations, other industry associations and media. CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE In the future we will need to work on a number of items, such as how to further increase crop productivity and efficiency through the use of certified seeds, defending breeder’s rights and royalty collection for the use of farm saved seeds, advocacy around the future EU legislation on seeds, advocacy and defense of agri- cultural technologies (GMO, crop protection, seed treatment). COOPERATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS IN EUROPE Romania is member of the OECD and participates in UPOV and CPVO meetings. As member of the ESA since 2003, AISR con- tributes to promoting the interests of the seed industry to the European Parliament, European Commission, and European Council. AISR participated to the meetings of AGPM, FNPSMS and the Sorghum Symposium that have taken place in Romania in 2016 and supports the ESA programs and initiatives. AISR is also participating annually to ESA annual meetings, which is an important occasion to meeting industry representatives in the seed sector and to align with all ESA initiatives. The 2017 ESA Campaign #EmbracingNature is strongly supported and embraced by AISR. ROYALTY COLLECTION As far as Romania is concerned, there is no system for Royalty Collection in place for farm saved seed. There is no legal entity to deal with the small growers or those growers that still use farm saved seed. The farm saved seed are from self-pollinating species (wheat, barley, rye, soybean, oil seed rape, peas, etc.) that are varieties and not hybrids. Referring to corn, there are farmers with small acreages that still use seed from barns, mainly in Transylvania, Oltenia and Moldova region of Romania. Current legislation does not link subsidies to the use of certified seed. Editor’s Note: This article has been condensed for print. To read the full version, go to European-Seed.com MULTIPLICATION PROGRAM OF SEEDS IN ROMANIA - 2017 No. Species Surface (ha) Quantity (tons) 1 Wheat 62,195 294,388 2 Maize 19,290 105,383 3 Sunflower 4,676 7,148 4 Soy 6,431 18,815 5 Rape 52.5 131 6 Pea seed 5,683 19,774 7 Potatoes Seed 676 19,972 8 Alfalfa 6,197 3,555 AISR’s Antonia Ivascu supporting the ‘Embracing Nature’ campaign with ESA’s Garlich von Essen.