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The main concern I have is how the non-availability
of varieties will be handled, the whole question of
equivalence: variety equivalence, quality equivalence and
value equivalence.
The European law does not
allow for substitution with
treated seed.
I have spoken with people who are close to the European law and they say
that, after
2004, they may provide for a substitution for a short time to
similar species
but not to a specific variety. The American law should provide
for something
similar.
We should never allow substitution of the variety because that
would lead to uncontrolled chaos and defeat the spirit and
intent of the law. At the present time, the certifiers have no
instructions on how to handle this issue. This should be
addressed by USDA [the United States Department of
Agriculture] so there is one uniform way to handle
this issue. |
