Variety List, and Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species

In Slovenia, seeds and propagating material of agricultural plant varieties may be grown and marketed, which are entered in the official list (register) of varieties in one of the Member States of the European Union (EU) or entered in a Common Catalogue or List of Varieties of the EU. Ornamental plant species are an exception as the entry of variety in the official list is not mandatory.

National List of Varieties of the Republic of Slovenia is an official list of agricultural plant varieties, which have been verified in Slovenia and comply with the conditions for entry in the National List of Varieties as laid down by the Agricultural Seeds and Propagating Material Act (in Slovenian language Zakon o semenskem materialu kmetijskih rastlin). Conditions for entry in the National List of Varieties are verified by testing the varieties in a field test and in laboratory. Tests are conducted by officially designated test providers. Under specific conditions, a conservation variety, an amateur variety, or an old fruit plant variety may be entered in the National List of Varieties.

Common Catalogues of Plant Varieties are prepared and published by the European Commission. All plant varieties, which have been registered (entered in the official list) at least in one EU Member State, may be entered in the Common Catalogues.

Official Certification and Official Post-Control of Seeds and Propagating Material

Official certification of seeds and propagating material of agricultural plants is an official procedure conducted by a certification body with public authorisation. In certification procedure, the varietal identity and purity, health of seed crop, mother plants plantation or nursery, and the quality and state of health of lots of seeds and propagating material prior to marketing are verified.

Official certification procedure includes official inspections; sampling and testing of plants in seed crops, mother plants plantations and nurseries; official inspections; sampling and testing of lots of seeds and propagating material prior to marketing; and labelling of packaging of seeds and propagating material with official labels.

Officially certified seed and propagating material of agricultural plants guarantees a healthy, high quality and high-yield crop, which leads to a lighter environmental footprint.

Official post-control of seeds of agricultural plants and vegetable plants is a form of official control of seeds and propagating material, intended to verify whether the seeds, officially certified and/or marketed in Republic of Slovenia in a certain year, do in fact comply with the marketing requirements. Official post-control includes sampling, laboratory testing of quality (seed germination capacity, purity, and admixture), the verification of variety (authenticity and purity of a variety), and verification of the state of health of the seed and propagating material samples, which have been sown/planted in a control field.

Each year, official post-control covers a prescribed proportion of samples taken during official certification of seeds and propagating material of agricultural plants, and a certain proportion of samples taken by inspectors during inspection of seeds and propagating material of agricultural plants on the market.

Production and Marketing of Seeds and Propagating Material of Agricultural and Vegetable Plants

Seeds and propagating material of agricultural and vegetable plants include: seeds of agricultural plants (cereals, fodder plants, beet, oil and fibre plants) and vegetable plants; seed potatoes and vegetable planting material (seedlings, onion sets, challot bulbs, garlic bulbs) may be marketed without limits within the entire territory of the EU if the variety has been registered in the National List of Varieties of the Republic of Slovenia, or in the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species, or in the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Vegetable Species, and if the seeds and propagating material comply with the requirements as to varietal aspects, quality and the state of health.

Compliance with requirements for officially certified seeds of agricultural plants and vegetable plants shall be verified within the official certification procedure. Such seeds shall be labelled in the market with the official labels issued by the certification body.

Responsibility to comply with requirements prescribed for other seeds and propagating material (standard seeds of vegetable plants, planting material of vegetable plants) is on the supplier, who shall label such seeds and propagating material with the supplier’s labels.

Supplier, who produces and markets the seeds and propagating material, shall be entered in the register of suppliers at AFSVSPP (Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection). Registered supplier shall be approved by AFSVSPP for issuing the supplier’s labels.

Control of compliance with the conditions and requirements for marketing of seeds and propagating material of agricultural plants and vegetable plants shall be conducted by the AFSVSPP phytosanitary inspectors.

Production and Marketing of Propagating Material of the Vine, Fruit Plants, Hop Plants, and Ornamental Plants

Propagating material of the vine, fruit plants, hop plants, and ornamental plants, is the material for the vegetative propagation of the vine (grafts, rootstocks, and rooted grafts), fruit plant propagating material and young fruit plants (seeds, tissue cultures, grafts, rootstocks, cuttings, seedlings and similar), hop propagating and planting material and ornamental plant propagating material (seeds, bulbs, roots or rhizomes, rootstocks, grafts, cuttings, and similar).

Material for the vegetative propagation of the vine, fruit plant propagating material and young fruit plants, and hop propagating and planting material may be marketed without limits within the entire territory of the EU if the variety has been registered in the National List of Varieties of the Republic of Slovenia, or in the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Vine, or in the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Fruit Genera and Species (FRUMATIS), and if the seeds and propagating material comply with the relevant requirements. Seeds and propagating material of ornamental plants shall comply only with the minimum requirements, and entry in official variety lists shall not be required.

Compliance with requirements for the officially certified propagating material of the vine, fruit plants and hop shall be verified within the official certification procedure. Such propagating material shall be labelled on the market by official labels issued by the certification body.

Responsibility to comply with requirements prescribed for other propagating material (standard vine propagating material, CAC (Conformitas Agraria Communitatis) propagating material of fruit plants, and propagating material of ornamental plants) is on the supplier, who shall label such seeds and propagating material with the supplier’s labels.

Supplier, who produces and markets the propagating material, shall be entered in the register of suppliers at AFSVSPP. Registered supplier shall be approved by AFSVSPP for issuing the supplier’s labels.

Control of compliance with the conditions and requirements for marketing of propagating material of the vine, fruit plants, hop, and ornamental plants shall be conducted by the AFSVSPP phytosanitary inspectors.