Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
572. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware and concerned about the Coillte practice of sending native seeds to the Netherlands, where these seeds develop into saplings and are then purchased and imported back into Ireland by Coillte, running the risk of contamination and the importation of diseases into Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35136/23]
View answerCoillte is a private limited company established under the Forestry Act 1988 and is operationally independent from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I have referred the matter to Coillte for direct follow-up with the Deputy.
However, my Department is aware of the practice of sale of seed to growers in the Netherlands. Contract growing is a fairly common practice and involves the movement of seed to another EU Member State to be grown, with the resulting plants returned to the country of origin. The practice described requires compliance with two different legislative strands, the EU Council Directive 1999/105/EC on the marketing of forest reproductive material and the EU Plant Health Regulation EU 2016/2031. Through the Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) Directive, Master Certificates of Provenance are issued by my Department for seed collections for forestry purposes and under the legislation the officially registered supplier of the seed or plants in all Member States must issue a ‘Suppliers Document’ for the movement of forest reproductive material from Member State to Member State.
In addition, all plants for planting moving within the EU must be accompanied by a valid Plant Passport. A Plant Passport is an official statement issued by the Professional Operator under the authorisation of the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO), indicating to the receiving NPPO and others a clean plant health status for the regulated plants and plant products. In this case, a Plant Passport which is appropriate for Ireland’s Protected Zones, depending on species being traded, is required.
Further to this, under S.I. 310 of 2021 it is required for several trees species that the consignment must be notified to the Minister in writing as soon as practicable and no later than 48 hours after arrival into the State, so that the Department can organise official controls to prevent the potential spread of any destructive pests and diseases.
