The Plant Health, Seeds, Seed Potatoes and Plant Propagating Material (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026

5 Amendment of the Seed Potatoes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

(1) The Seed Potatoes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 are amended as follows. (2) For regulation 1(2) substitute— (2) These Regulations do not apply to seed potatoes intended for export to any country outside the European Union and Switzerland. . (3) In regulation 2— (a) before paragraph (1) insert— (A1) In these Regulations, any reference to a member State (except in the definition of “seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland” in paragraph (1)) is to be read as if Northern Ireland were a member State of the European Union. ; (b) in paragraph (1)— (i) in the definition of “basic seed potatoes”, for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, seed potatoes imported into Northern Ireland in a package or container to which has been affixed an official label in accordance with Article 13(1)(a) of Council Directive 2002/56/EC, which states that the seed potatoes have been certified as basic seed potatoes; ; (ii) for the definition of “category” substitute— “category” means the category of pre-basic seed potatoes or basic seed potatoes (or, in relation to seed potatoes produced in Switzerland, the categories having equivalent effect under the legislation of the Swiss Confederation in accordance with the Swiss trade agreement); ; (iii) in the definition of “certification” for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, certification by the certification authority in accordance with Council Directive 2002/56/EC; and “certified” is to be construed accordingly; ; (iv) for the definition of “certification authority” substitute— “certification authority” means the authority concerned with the certification of seed potatoes for the purposes of Council Directive 2002/56/EC in the country or territory where the seed potatoes are produced; ; (v) for the definition of “grade” substitute— “grade” includes the Union grade; ; (vi) in the definition of “official document”, for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, a document issued or approved by the certification authority in the country or territory where the seed potatoes were produced which meets the requirements of Article 13(1)(b) of Council Directive 2002/56/EC; ; (vii) in the definition of “official label”, for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, a label issued or approved by the certification authority in the country or territory where the seed potatoes were produced which meets, as appropriate to the seed potatoes to which the label relates, the requirements of Article 13(1)(a) or Article 18(f) of Council Directive 2002/56/EC or Article 9 of Commission Decision 2004/842/EC; ; (viii) in the definition of “pre-basic seed potatoes”, for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, seed potatoes imported into Northern Ireland in a package or container to which has been affixed an official label in accordance with Article 18(f) of Council Directive 2002/56/EC; ; (ix) in the definition of “seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland”, for sub-paragraph (a) substitute— (a) in Great Britain, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man; ; (x) in the definition of “test and trial seed potatoes”, for paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, seed potatoes imported into Northern Ireland in a closed package or container which bears an official label in accordance with Article 9 of Commission Decision 2004/842/EC; ; (xi) for the definition of “Union grade” substitute— “Union grade” means— in relation to seed potatoes produced in Northern Ireland, the Union grade determined under regulation 10(5), this being— in the case of pre-basic seed potatoes, either “Union grade PBTC” or “Union grade PB”; in the case of basic seed potatoes, “Union grade S”, “Union grade SE” or “Union grade E”; in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, the Union grade certified in respect of those seed potatoes, this being— in the case of pre-basic seed potatoes, either “Union grade PBTC” or “Union grade PB”, the minimum conditions for which are set out in Articles 2 and 3 of, and the Annex to, Directive 2014/21/EU; or in the case of basic seed potatoes, either “Union grade S”, “Union grade SE” or Union grade E”, the minimum conditions for which are set out in Article 1 of, and Annex 1 to, Directive 2014/20/EU. ; (xii) omit the definitions of “Crown Dependency”, “the relevant seed potatoes regulations” and “UK grade”; (c) after paragraph (2) insert— (3A) In relation to seed potatoes produced in Switzerland, any reference in these Regulations to Council Directive 2002/56/EC or Commission Decision 2004/842/EC or any provision of that Directive or Decision is to be construed as a reference to the legislation of the Swiss Confederation having equivalent effect in accordance with the Swiss trade agreement. (3B) In this regulation, “Swiss trade agreement” means the agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products. . (4) In regulation 4— (a) omit paragraph (1)(b)(iii) and (1)(c)(iv); (b) in paragraph (3) in the definition of “scientific purposes and selection work seed potatoes” for paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, seed potatoes which have been authorised by the certification authority in the country or territory where the seed potatoes were produced for marketing in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of Council Directive 2002/56/EC. . (5) Omit regulation 4A. (6) In regulation 5— (a) in paragraph (1)(b), for “the United Kingdom” substitute “Northern Ireland”; (b) for paragraph (3) substitute— (3) For the purposes of Articles 14 and 15(2) of Commission Directive 2008/62/EC, the Department may specify the maximum amount of seed potatoes of a conservation variety that may be marketed in any given production season and may also specify different maxima for different persons or classes of persons. ; (c) omit paragraph (6). (7) For regulation 6(2) substitute— (2) The Department shall not authorise marketing of seed potatoes which contain any genetically modified material unless an authorisation is in force under Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003 or Directive 2001/18/EC. . (8) In regulation 7— (a) for paragraph (3)(a) substitute— (a) of a quantity of seed potatoes in excess of that permitted by Article 7 of Commission Decision 2004/842/EC; ; (b) for paragraph (6)(b) substitute— (b) the variety of potato to which the authorisation relates is entered in the NI Variety List or the Common Catalogue. ; (c) in paragraph (8)(b) for “countries” substitute “member States”. (9) In regulation 8(1) omit “UK grade PBTC or”. (10) in regulation 9(3)— (a) in sub-paragraph (a)(i) omit “UK grade PBTC or”; (b) for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, the lot is sufficiently homogenous in accordance with the standards imposed by the certification authority pursuant to Council Directive 2002/56/EC in respect of the marketing of those seed potatoes. . (11) In regulation 10— (a) in paragraph (5) for “UK”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Union”; (b) in paragraph (7)— (i) for “report” substitute “reports”; (ii) for “UK” substitute “Union”. (12) In regulation 11— (a) in paragraph (5)(e) for “UK” substitute “Union”; (b) in paragraph (6)(b)(i) to (iii) for “UK”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Union”. (13) For regulation 12(1)(b) substitute— (b) in relation to seed potatoes produced outside Northern Ireland, the package or container has been sealed in accordance with Article 12(1) of Council Directive 2002/56/EC. . (14) For regulation 14 substitute— Seed potatoes imported from outside the European Union: information 14. A person who imports a quantity of seed potatoes exceeding 2 kilograms from outside the European Union shall provide the Department, in writing and within one month of the first marketing of the seed potatoes, with the following particulars in respect of the seed potatoes— (a) the species; (b) the variety; (c) the category; (d) the country of production and certification authority; (e) the country of despatch; (f) the importer; and (g) the quantity of seed potatoes. . (15) In regulation 21— (a) for the heading substitute— Enforcement: power to withdraw official labels, official documents, certificates and growing crop reports and to determine a lower Union grade ; (b) in paragraph (5) for “UK”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Union”. (16) Omit regulation 24A. (17) In Schedule 1— (a) in paragraph 1(b) omit paragraph (i); (b) in paragraph 1(b)(ii) for “UK” substitute “Union”; (c) in paragraph 2(c) for “UK” substitute “Union”; (d) for paragraph 3(a) substitute— (a) the seed potatoes are of a variety of potato species listed in the NI Variety List or the Common Catalogue; . (18) In Schedule 2— (a) in paragraph 1— (i) for sub-paragraph (3)(a) substitute— (a) state the words “EU rules and Standards”; and ; (ii) in sub-paragraph (3)(b) for “country”, in the first place it occurs, substitute “member State”; (iii) in sub-paragraph (4) for “country” substitute “member State”; (iv) in sub-paragraph (5)(b) for “country” substitute “member State”; (b) for paragraph 2 substitute— 2. In the case of seed potatoes of a conservation variety, in addition to the requirements of paragraph 1, an official label shall include the words and particulars required by Article 18 of Commission Directive 2008/62/EC. . (19) In Schedule 4— (a) in the heading for “UK” substitute “Union”; (b) in paragraph 1, in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) for “UK”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Union”; (c) in Table 1— (i) in the table heading for “UK” substitute “Union”; (ii) in the heading in column 1 for “UK” substitute “Union”; (iii) in the entry for PBTC, in paragraph (a) of column 3 for “UK” substitute “Union”; (d) in Table 2— (i) in the table heading for “UK” substitute “Union”; (ii) in the heading in column 1 for “UK” substitute “Union”; (iii) in the entry for S, in paragraphs (a) and (b) of column 2 for “UK” substitute “Union”; (iv) in the entry for SE, in paragraph (a) of column 2 omit “UK grade PBTC or”; (v) in the entry for SE, in paragraph (b) of column 2 omit “UK grade S or”; (vi) in the entry for E, in paragraph (a) of column 2 omit “UK grade PBTC or”; (vii) in the entry for E, in paragraph (b) of column 2 omit “UK grade S, UK grade SE or”. (20) In Schedule 5, in paragraph 3(e) for “UK” substitute “Union”.