UNDROP and the EU Seed Marketing Reform: Perspectives from Croatia

Event

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This online workshop (in English) aims to raise awareness of the upcoming reform of the European Union (EU) seed marketing legislation and to explore pathways to align it with the right to seeds recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). UNDROP’s holistic approach to the right to seeds entails legislative changes at the EU and national levels in various policy fields.

Panlists will focus on the impacts of rules that govern the marketing of seeds in the EU as these rules are currently undergoing a reform process, with an EU Commission proposal expected on 5th July 2023. They will look into what UNDROP and the EU reform mean in the Croatian context, and how positive aspects of the national legislation could input the reform or, alternatively, suffer from new and more restrictive rules at the EU level.

PROGRAMME

16:00–16:05 Welcome

• Christophe Golay, Senior Research Fellow, Geneva Academy

16:05–16:15 UNDROP and the Right to Seeds: What Obligations for the EU and its Member States?

• Karine Peschard, Associate Research Fellow, Geneva Academy

16:15–16:30 UNDROP and the Right to Seeds: Which Links with EU Seed Marketing Rules?

• Fulya Batur, Associate Research Fellow, Geneva Academy and Kybele

16:30–17:15 Reactions and Perspectives from Croatian Stakeholders

• Silvija Kolar Fodor is the Coordinator of the Croatian organization ‘Biogarden in Harmony with Nature’ and of a community seed bank. She is an organic gardener, educator and author of several books and texts about gardening and seed saving. She will give an overview of the 2021 national campaign ‘Seed is our human right’ led by three organisations (Biogarden, HSEP and Life).
• Sunčana Pešak is a programme coordinator at the Croatian Organic Farmers' Associations Alliance (HSEP) and a coordinator of the On-farm seed conservation model, a cooperation between farmers and the national seed bank. She has a long experience in seed saving, civil society, advocacy and educational activities. She will present the changes made to the Croatian seed law and the cooperation models that were introduced following the campaign. She will also highlight the concerns and interests of Croatian seed savers in the context of the ongoing EU seed reform.
• Mario Juretić is a farmer, agronomist and one of Croatia’s first organic seed producers, with a special interest in traditional varieties and breeds. From the position of a farmer and beneficiary in the new On-farm model, he will talk about the opportunities and obstacles to seed saving and production faced by Croatian farmers.

17:15–17:30 Q&A

Get Ready: Relevant Links

• For more background information on the relevant UNDROP provisions and their implementation, see our Practical Manual on the Right to Seeds in Europe and its shorter Research Brief.

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