Many current EU members have been planning for this for many years; they have established subsidiaries in the accession countries and/or have developed trading or research and development partnerships.

The EU Common Catalogue will give the new members' farmers and seed trade the right to buy varieties which they have not been able to use before and this is an opportunity for all - particularly where there have been difficult and time-consuming national listing procedures in the past and good varieties may not have been put through the individual countries' procedures.