Fees for seed testing, seed certification and associated seed functions: consultation

Background

The Scottish Government has five Scottish Statutory instruments which legislate for the marketing of agricultural seed crops:

• The Beet Seed (Scotland) (No 2) Regulations 2010
• The Cereal Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005
• The Fodder Plant Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2005
• The Oil & Fibre Plant Seed (Scotland) Regulations 2004
• The Vegetable Seed Regulations 1993

Within Scottish Government, SASA and the Rural Payments Inspection Directorate (RPID) have responsibility for carrying out the technical and administrative work associated with seed certification including field inspection of crops, testing of seed and the training and examination of people who undertake these activities.

Scottish Government's policy objective is that the fees set for public services should be full cost recovery, to avoid unnecessary public expenditure. SASA are the Seed Certifying Authority for Scotland and they review the fees for seed testing, seed certification and associated functions annually to ensure that costs incurred, are met by those businesses which benefit directly from the services provided.