In a step closer to getting the membership of European Equivalence, the agency that certifies seed for sale in the European Union countries, that allows export of seed from India to the EU a team of the European Commission will visit Telangana in October for audit and analysis of the standards maintained in seed production and processing here.
Principal Secretary (Agriculture) C. Parthasarathi stated here on Monday that they had received a communication to the effect from the Health and Food Safety Department of the European Commission in Ireland. The audit team of the European Commission would analyse the Seeds Act and its implementation, methods and standards of seed production and collection of seed sample of testing methods.
Further, they would also examine the methods adopted in the certification of seed under Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) programmes, standards of the seed testing laboratories compared to International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) norms, methods of labelling on seed packets, inspection of seed crops and registration and release methods of crop varieties.
He explained that the process for European Equivalence membership was started last year with the appointment of K. Keshavulu, Director of Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Authority, as the nodal officer for the purpose. A team led by Mr. Keshavulu later made an application to European Commission in September last year by sending detailed information on Seeds Act, certification methods, seed testing standards, registration seed crops and other details in Telangana. Mr. Parthasarathi stated that membership of European Equivalence would further boost seed exports from Telangana as it was only State in the country to have taken up exports under OECD for the last three years.