Opposition Says Bill on Seeds Harmful

Bridge MP Miro Bulj called on members of the parliamentary majority not to support the bill, describing it as harmful.

“Instead of protecting our own seeds, we are imposing on hundreds of thousands of people who live in rural areas new costs related to seed processing. Who will be able to pay for that?” Bulj asked.

Bridge MP Marija Selak Raspudić said the bill declared war on small producers.

Social Democrat Domagoj Hajduković, too, criticised the obligation to process seeds to be planted on own fields, saying that it would cause new costs for producers.

The opposition also demanded an answer as to the reason for the introduction of a new category, farm seeds, which, they said, did not exist in the EU.

Other countries are not familiar with that term, said Anka Mrak Taritaš of GLAS.

We are introducing new terms and increasing costs for our farmers even though no one is asking us to do so, said Ružica Vukovac of the Homeland Movement.

The State Secretary at the Agriculture Ministry, Tugomir Majdak, dismissed the criticism, noting that small producers, hobbysts, gardeners and organic farmers would be exempt from the obligation to process seeds.

“The term farm seed is being introduced and that seed will have to be processed by registered suppliers to ensure minimum possible presence of harmful organisms,” he told MPs.

Seed and the seed material are strategic products which must be available, safe and of good quality. The bill is aimed at regulating production, trade in and import of farming production materials, he said, noting that the bill does not restrict the use of autochthonous seeds for one’s own noncommercial needs.

Specifically, in the case of seed exchange at fairs, production on small farms, seed exchange between individuals and groups, there will be no restrictions, certification or control of such seeds, he said.

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