Vegetable Seed (England) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 3175 of 2002).

The 1993 Regulations implemented the provisions of Council Directive 70/458/EEC on the marketing of vegetable seed. These Regulations apply to the certification and marketing of vegetable seed of the species specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations (reg. 5). The Regulations include provisions that lay down the procedures relating to the certification of vegetable seed in England (Part II), including provisions relating to the entry of seed lots (reg. 6), the entry of crops (reg. 7), the field inspection of crops (reg. 8), the lodging of field inspection reports and similar documents (reg. 9), the re-grading of crops (reg. 10), seed testing (reg. 11), the lodging of seed test reports (reg. 12), the re-grading of seed (reg. 13) and the withdrawal of official certification (reg. 14). The Regulations include provisions that prohibit the marketing of vegetable seed in England except for seed that falls into one of the categories listed in Schedule 6 (reg. 15). These categories are defined in Schedule 1. The prohibition does not apply in the case of seed of a category that is not listed in Schedule 6 where an authorisation has been granted for scientific purposes or selection work (reg. 18) or for the market testing (reg. 19) or is authorised by a general licence made under reg. 20. The Regulations lay down requirements relating to the sampling (reg. 22) and packaging (reg. 23) of seed and the sealing (reg. 24) and labelling of packages (reg. 25) of seed. The Regulations enable the Secretary of State to make arrangements for any person to act under her responsibility in carrying out official measures (reg. 28) and include provisions relating to the charging of fees (reg. 29). The contravention of these Regulations is a criminal offence (section 16(7) of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964).