Potato seed growing and seed potato trade

On January 5, the government supported the draft new regulations prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, which will replace the currently valid Cabinet of Ministers (Cabinet of Ministers) Regulation No. 446 of August 12, 2003 “Regulations on Seed Potato Growing and Seed Potato Trading”.

The draft regulations introduce the requirements set out in the European Commission (EC) Directive on minimum requirements for seed potatoes and lots of seed potatoes. The new regulations also introduce the requirements of the EC Directive laying down the European Union (EU) categories of basic and certified seed potatoes and the conditions and designations applicable to these categories, as well as the requirements of the Directive laying down the minimum conditions and EU categories for pre-basic seed potatoes.

The draft regulations set out the requirements for mother plants from which the pre-basic category is obtained. The draft regulations also provide for the possibility for seed growers to obtain four generations of pre-basic seed potatoes instead of the previous two generations and three generations of basic seed potatoes instead of the previous two generations.

The new regulations provide for stricter requirements for certain quality indicators of seed potato plantations during inspections of potato seed growing fields, for example, plants infected with blackleg, plants atypical for the variety. Additional quality indicators have been established for seed potato batches to assess the quality of tubers – black and loose scab. Stricter virus tolerance levels have also been established, without distinguishing between mild and severe viruses.

The regulations also specify the registration procedure for seed growers, seed processors, packers and traders, the field inspection procedure, the requirements for seed growing and the documents certifying the quality of seeds.

The draft regulations will enter into force after their publication on the official publication "Latvijas Vēstnesis" website www.vestnesis.lv. More information about the draft regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers “Regulations on seed potato cultivation and seed potato marketing” available on the Cabinet of Ministers website.