The Forest Reproductive Material Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

Made: 19th December 2002

Coming into operation: 1st January 2003

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by sections 1 and 2 of the Seeds Act (Northern Ireland) 1965[^f00001] (“the Act of 1965”) and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, and being a Department designated[^f00002] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[^f00003] in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the said section 2(2) and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, and after consultation, in accordance with section 1(1) of the Act of 1965 with representatives of such interests as appear to it to be concerned, hereby makes the following Regulations:

PART I — GENERAL

Title, extent and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Forest Reproductive Material Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, shall extend to Northern Ireland, and shall come into operation on 1st January 2003.

Interpretation

2

• (1) These Regulations shall be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of this regulation.

• (2) In these Regulations–

• “approved basic material” in relation to basic material approved by an appropriate authority means basic material which is approved in accordance with regulation 7;

• “autochthonous” means, in relation to a stand or seed source, either–that it has been continuously regenerated by natural regeneration, orthat it has been regenerated artificially from–reproductive material collected in the same stand or seed source, orfrom other stands or seed sources within close proximity meeting the descriptions in (a) or (b)(i);

• “approved non-EU third countries” means the countries and territories listed in Part 1A of Schedule 13;

• “authorised officer” means a person authorised by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to exercise its powers and execute its functions under these Regulations;

• “basic material” means material from which reproductive material may be collected or produced and which is in the form of one of the types defined in paragraph (3);

• “category” in respect of forest reproductive material means one of the categories listed in regulation 4(1);

• “clonal mixture” is a type of basic material and has the meaning given it in paragraph (3);

• “clone” is a type of basic material and has the meaning given it in paragraph (3);

• “collecting” includes the taking of parts of plants, extraction of seed, and harvesting;

• “the Commissioners” has the same meaning given in the GB Regulations;

• “contact details” means a person’s telephone number, if he has one, and, where he may be contacted by other telephonic or electronic communication, his fax number or e-mail address;

• ...

• “crossing design” means the method by which individual trees used as female parents are pollinated, whether naturally or artificially, by one or more trees used as male parents;

• “Department” refers to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

• “the Directive” means Council Directive 1999/105/EC of 22nd December 1999 on the marketing of forest reproductive material[^f00004];

• ...

• ...

• “the EU Plant Health Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament of the Council on protective measures against pests of plants, amending Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 652/2014 and (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 69/464/EEC, 74/647/EEC, 93/85/EEC, 98/57/EC, 2000/29/EC, 2006/91/EC and 2007/33/EC;

• “Forest reproductive material” means reproductive material of the tree species and artificial hybrids listed in Schedule 1;

• “full-sibling” means progeny obtained from parents of family where the identified parent used as female is pollinated with the pollen of one other parent tree;

• “genetically modified organism” has the meaning given to it in Article 3 of the Genetically Modified Organisms (Northern Ireland) Order 1991

• “the GB Regulations” means the Forest Reproductive Material (Great Britain) Regulations 2002 ;

• “half-sibling” means progeny obtained from parents of family where the identified parent used as female is pollinated with a number of identified or unidentified parent trees;

• “indigenous” in respect of a stand or seed source means that it is an autochthonous stand or seed source, or has been raised artificially from seed, the origin of which is situated in the same region of provenance;

• “infructescense” is a type of seed unit and means a group of fruits formed on a single inflorescence;

• “marketing” means–displaying with a view to sale,offering for sale,selling, ordelivering under a contract (other than where an agent delivers to his principal items procured on the principal’s behalf), including a contract for the supply of services;

• “owner” in respect of basic material has the meaning given it in regulation 7(6), subject to regulation 7(9);

• “Master Certificate” means—in the case of forest reproductive material collected or otherwise derived from basic material which is located in a relevant territory, a Master Certificate issued in accordance with regulation 13;in the case of forest reproductive material collected or otherwise derived from basic material which is located in Great Britain a Master Certificate issued by the the Commissioners in accordance with regulation 13 of the GB Regulations ;in the case of forest reproductive material collected or otherwise derived from basic material which is located in another member State, a Master Certificate issued by an official body of that member State in accordance with Article 12 of the Directive;in the case of forest reproductive material produced in an approved non-EU third country, a Master Certificate issued by the Department in accordance with regulation 25(5) and (6) or a Master Certificate issued by the Commissioners in accordance with the GB Regulations ;in the case of forest reproductive material produced in a permitted third country, a Master Certificate issued by the Department in accordance with regulation 25(5), a Master Certificate issued in relation to the material by by a permitted third country authority or an official certificate within the meaning of paragraph 8 of Schedule13;

• ...

• “Northern Ireland Register” has the meaning given to it in regulation 6;

• “the 1977 Regulations” means the Forest Reproductive Material Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1977[^f00007];

• “the 1973 Regulations” means the Forest Reproductive Material Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1973[^f00008];

• “official body”—in relation to a member State has the meaning given in Article 2(k) of the Directive;...in relation to an approved non-EU third country or a permitted third country means the authority or body which is officially responsible in that country for the approval and control of forest reproductive material produced in the country;

• “origin” means–in respect of an autochthonous stand or seed source, the place in which the trees are growing, andin respect of any other stand or seed source, the place from which the seed or plants in the stand or seed source were originally introduced;

• “ortet” has the meaning given it under “clones” in paragraph (3) of this regulation;

• “parents of family” are a type of basic material, and the phrase has the meaning given to it in paragraph (3);

• “parts of plants” refers to a type of reproductive material, and the phrase has the meaning given it in paragraph (4);

• ...

• “planting stock” refers to a type of reproductive material, and has the meaning given it in paragraph (4);

• “Populus spp.” includes all species of the genus, including artificial hybrids;

• “production” includes all stages in–the generation of a seed unit and, where the seed unit is not already a seed, the conversion from seed unit to seed, andthe raising of planting stock from seed units and parts of plants;

• “provenance” means the place in which any stand of trees is growing or where a seed source is located;

• “ramet” has the meaning given it under “clones” in paragraph (3) of this regulation;

• “region of provenance” means, in respect of a species or sub-species, an area demarcated pursuant to regulation 5 by the Department or pursuant to regulation 5 of the GB Regulations by the Commissioners , in which stands or seed sources showing similar phenotypic or genetic character are found, or a group of such areas subject to uniform or similar ecological conditions;

• “registered supplier” means a supplier of forest reproductive material registered in accordance with regulation 16;

• “reproductive material” means material which is derived from basic material and is in one of the forms defined in paragraph (4);

• “seed orchard” is a type of basic material and has the meaning given it in paragraph (3);

• “seed source” is a type of basic material and has the meaning given it in paragraph (3);

• “seed unit” is a type of reproductive material and has the meaning given it in paragraph (4);

• “specified purpose” in Schedules 3 and 5 has the meaning given it in Schedule 3, in the paragraph headed “General”;

• “stand” is a type of basic material and has the meaning given it in paragraph (3);

• “standard” means basic material or reproductive material which serves as a comparator in comparative tests and is defined more specifically in Schedule 5, paragraph 3(b);

• “subsequent multiplication by vegetative propagation” means propagation by vegetative methods from forest reproductive material in respect of which a Master Certificate has been issued or sought

• “supplier” means any person who, acting in the course of a business or trade (whether or not for profit), markets or imports forest reproductive material;

• “supplier’s label or document” means, except in regulations 23 and 24, the label or document setting out the particulars required under regulation 19(1);

• “third country” means a country or territory outside the United Kingdom;

• “the Tribunal” means the Tribunal continued under section 42 of, and Schedule 3 to, the Plant Varieties Act 1997[^f00010];

• “unit of approval” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 7(5); and

• “verification test” means an assessment, whether by observation or measurement of characteristics, including molecular methods of measurement, or by other means, of the proportion of hybrid material in reproductive material, where that reproductive material is produced as an artificial hybrid.

• (3) In respect of basic material–

• “clonal mixture” means a mixture of identified clones in known proportions;

• “clone” means a group of individuals (referred to as “ramets”) derived originally from a single individual (referred to as an “ortet”) by means of vegetative propagation, such as cuttings, micropropagation, grafts, layers or divisions;

• “parents of family” means trees used to obtain progeny by controlled or open pollination of one identified parent used as a female;

• “seed orchard” means a plantation of selected clones or families which is isolated or managed so as to avoid or reduce pollination from outside sources, and managed so as to produce frequent, abundant and easily collected crops of seed;

• “seed source” means trees within an area from which seed is collected; and

• “stand” means a delineated population of trees possessing at least a moderate degree of uniformity in composition.

• (4) In respect of reproductive material,

• “parts of plants” means–buds,cuttings of stem, leaf or root,explants or embryos for micropropagation,layers,roots,scions,sets, andany other part of a plant intended for the production of planting stock;

• “planting stock” means plants which are produced from seed units or from parts of plants, or which originated by natural regeneration; and

• “seed unit” means cones, infructescenses, fruits and seeds intended for the production of planting stock.

• (4A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Application

3

These Regulations shall not apply to forest reproductive material intended for export or re-export to third countries.

PART II — FOREST REPRODUCTIVE MATERIAL AND APPROVAL OF BASIC MATERIAL FOR ENTRY IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER

Categories of Forest Reproductive Material

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• (1) Forest reproductive material shall be categorised as follows–

• (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) “selected” material shall be so categorised if the basic material from which it is derived meets the requirements of Schedule 3;

• (c) “qualified” material shall be so categorised if the basic material from which it is derived meets the requirements of Schedule 4; and

• (d) “tested” material shall be so categorised if the basic material from which it is derived meets the requirements of Schedule 5.

• (2) In these Regulations “the relevant Schedule” refers, in respect of each category of forest reproductive material described in sub-paragraphs (1)(a) to (d), to the Schedule referred to in the sub-paragraph in which the category is described.

Demarcation of regions of provenance in respect of certain basic material

5

• (1) The Department shall demarcate a region of provenance in respect of each of the species listed in Schedule 1 which exist in Northern Ireland and shall allocate to the region of provenance an identity code.

• (2) The Department shall draw up maps showing the demarcated regions of provenance referred to in paragraph (1), distinguishing areas by different altitudes where relevant, and shall make such maps available to the public, whether by electronic means or in paper form, upon payment of the prescribed fee, if any.

Establishment and maintenance of the National Register

6

• (1) The Department shall establish and maintain a register of approved basic material which shall be known as the National Register of Approved Basic Material for Northern Ireland (“the Northern Ireland Register”).

• (2) The Department shall make the Northern Ireland Register available to the public, whether by electronic means or in paper form, upon payment of the prescribed fee, if any.

Approval of basic material for use in the production of forest reproductive material

7

• (1) The Department may approve basic material where, subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), it is satisfied that it meets the requirements set out in at least one of Schedules 2 to 5 and in the case of basic material in the form of clones and clonal mixtures, it may give approval which lasts for a specified number of years or to a specified maximum level of production.

• (2) The Department may give approval (“conditional approval”) lasting for a period of up to ten years in respect of basic material under paragraph (1) for the production of forest reproductive material categorised pursuant to regulation 4(1)(d) as “tested” notwithstanding the absence of concluded genetic evaluation or comparative tests, where the Department is satisfied that the provisional results of genetic evaluation or comparative tests referred to in Schedule 5 demonstrate that the basic material is likely to meet the requirements for approval under these Regulations once the genetic evaluation or comparative tests are concluded.

• (3) The Department may, up to and including 31st December 2012, approve basic material under paragraph (1) for the production of forest reproductive material categorised pursuant to regulation 4(1)(d) as “tested”:

• (a) in the case of forest reproductive material of the species and artificial hybrids not previously controlled by the 1977 or 1973 Regulations, where concluded comparative test results are obtained using a testing method which does not satisfy the requirements set out in Schedule 5, if such comparative tests begun before 1st January 2003 have shown to the satisfaction of the Department that the reproductive material derived from the basic material is superior to the relevant standard as provided for in Schedule 5; and

• (b) where genetic evaluation test results are obtained using a testing method which does not satisfy the requirements set out in Schedule 5, if such genetic evaluation tests begun before 1st January 2003 have shown to the satisfaction of the Department that the reproductive material derived from the basic material is superior to the relevant reference population as provided for in Schedule 5.

• (4) Basic material consisting of a genetically modified organism shall not be approved under this regulation unless–

• (a) the Department is satisfied that it is safe for human health and the environment; and

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .