Consultation outcome

Summary of responses

Updated 23 January 2024

Background

The policy area of Plant Varieties and Seeds (PVS) covers:  

• plant variety rights (the intellectual property rights of plant breeders) 
• plant variety registration (often known as variety listing) 
• setting standards for marketing and certification of seed and other plant propagating material and ensuring that these standards are upheld 

Defra, DAERA, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government are working together to develop the UK PVS strategy. We intend the strategy to set direction for the PVS area and provide an overall framework to support prioritisation for both government and industry.

Through this work, government and industry have an opportunity to work together to set out shared visions, priorities, and actions. It will give agricultural and horticultural stakeholders an opportunity to have their say and be part of forming the future of this sector.

As a first step, the government launched a call for ideas in September 2022. At this early stage, we invited contributions from across industry to feed into our strategy. 

This call for ideas gave stakeholders the opportunity to:  

• comment on our proposed ‘vision’ and ‘outcome’ statements 
• provide ideas to help achieve our desired outcomes 
• inform Defra and the devolved administrations how respondents would like to be involved with development of the PVS strategy going forward 

In total, 56 responses were received, and this document provides a summary of those responses. In this summary, responses are treated equally regardless of respondent type (meaning responses are not weighted). This summary of responses is not an exhaustive list of all points raised but represents the most common views. The results of this consultation are only representative of those who responded to it. 

Findings 

PVS vision statements 

We asked respondents if the following vision statements cover the right set of priority functions for the PVS policy area. 

Vision 1

To enable a thriving and dynamic plant breeding sector capable of meeting the challenges and opportunities of a changing world. 

Vision 2

To uphold proportionate quality and marketing standards for seed and other propagating material to ensure a well-functioning internal market. 

Vision 3

To maintain and enhance the UK’s global reputation in plant breeding and marketing standards

Figure 1: Do the vision statements cover the right set of priority functions for the PVS policy area?

Response	% of respondents (rounded)
Agree	42%
Somewhat agree	25%
Disagree	28%
No clear answer	6%

While most responses agreed or somewhat agreed that the right priority functions were covered, several respondents shared priority areas of interest they believed to be missing or needed to be expanded upon, which have been categorised. A respondent could raise multiple categories within their response.

To note, due to the varied nature of open opinion questions, responses were summarised into derived categories (Agree, Somewhat agree or Disagree) which are susceptible to subjectivity. Therefore, please use this data with caution.

Figure 2: Percentage of respondents raising a priority area considered to be missing from the PVS vision statements

Response	% of respondents (rounded)
Resilient plant varieties	20%
Climate change	18%
International trade and cooperation	16%
Food security	16%
Stakeholder involvement (all levels of industry)	14%
Increasing registration costs	13%
Biodiversity	11%
Preserve genetic heritage varieties	9%
Intellectual property rights	7%
Heterogenous seeds	7%
GMO (genetically modified organism) regulation	7%
Food quality	5%
Farm saved seeds	4%

The main priority areas that respondents wanted the PVS vision statements to capture were resilient plant varieties (20%), climate change (18%), International Trade & Cooperation (16%) and food security (16%).

Additionally, 23% of respondents believed our suggested PVS vision statements were too vague. 

Some comments also focused on the phrasing of the PVS vision statements. In particular, they set out the need for a ‘plain English’ style of communication, which aims to be clear and easy to understand (even if the reader is unfamiliar with the topic area).

PVS outcome statements 

We asked respondents if there was anything important missing from the following proposed outcome statements. 

Outcome 1 

A system which supports each of the UK governments’ current and future objectives including environment, climate change and food security. 

Outcome 2 

International standards and schemes reflecting UK shared priorities. 

Outcome 3 

The UK is perceived as an attractive and stable option to develop and bring to market new plant varieties. 

Outcome 4 

A transparent and accessible regulatory regime that reflects the need for market intervention in different sectors. 

Outcome 5 

A responsive delivery system, capable of adapting to new initiatives in plant breeding and trade, providing efficient and value for money services. 

Outcome 6 

Working in partnership with stakeholders on the development and delivery of policies and optimising opportunities for responsibility sharing.

Respondents shared their opinions on what priority areas they believed to be missing or need expanding upon, which have been categorised. A respondent could raise multiple categories within their response.

Figure 3: Percentage of respondents raising a priority area considered to be missing from the PVS outcome statements

Priority area	% of respondents (rounded)
UK PBR (Plant Breeders’ Rights) and VL (varieties listing) registration processes or regulation	29%
International trade and cooperation	21%
Stakeholder Involvement (all levels of industry)	21%
Resilient plant varieties	18%
Incentivise innovation or research	13%
Heterogeneous seeds	13%
Biodiversity	13%
Climate change	11%
Preserve genetic heritage varieties	9%
Right to preserve seeds (FSS)	7%
GMO regulation	7%
Food security	5%

The most commonly raised themes respondents said were missing from the outcomes were:

• ‘UK PBR and VL registration processes or regulation’ is the leading issue for the outcome statements and is often mentioned in the context of streamlining seed certification procedures

• ‘Stakeholder involvement’ was often mentioned in the context of smaller businesses and breeders wanting more representation. Additionally, there is an appetite for clear publicly accessible project timelines

• ‘International trade and cooperation’ were often mentioned in the context of making international trade, including with the EU, more straightforward

Summary of ideas for PVS outcome statements 

Respondents were asked to provide ideas which would contribute to achieving the proposed outcome statements. Certain themes have been identified for each outcome.

These were identified by summarising common ideas shared by respondents or highlighting unique ideas which hold significant relevance to the outcome statements. 

UK PBR and VL registration processes or regulation

UK PBR and VL registration processes or regulation would contribute to outcomes by: 

• making regulation proportionate to the business size, risk profile, and economic importance 
• streamlining the registration process 
• registering heterogeneous varieties 
• creating more affordable IP rights   

International trade and cooperation

International trade and cooperation would contribute to outcomes by: 

• aligning regulatory standards to resolve import and export issues 
• preventing isolation of UK market 
• increasing access to EU seed varieties 

Stakeholder involvement

Stakeholder involvement (all levels of industry) would contribute to outcomes by: 

• creating steering groups (workshops) with industry representatives 
• focusing on including smaller stakeholders 
• creating clear and publicly accessible project timelines  

Incentivising innovation and research

Incentivising innovation and research would contribute to outcomes by: 

• investing in new certification technologies (for example modern phenotypic and genomic sequence data)  
• opening public funding to small stakeholders (for example on-farm variety trials) 

Involvement with international bodies

Involvement with international bodies would contribute to outcomes by: 

• participating in international bodies such as UPOV (Union for the Protection of Varieties), WIPO (World International Property Organisation) and Global Crop Diversity Trust 
• increasing clarity around agreed shared priorities

Stakeholder engagement preferences

How would stakeholders want to engage with the development of the PVS strategy going forward? 

This question was presented as multiple choice with the option to provide additional comments to explain the response. Please note that a respondent could select more than one preferred method of engagement.

Figure 4: How do respondents want to engage with the strategy development process?

Response	% of respondents (rounded)
Written responses	73%
Wider stakeholder group meetings	70%
Other	13%
I would prefer not to be contacted	2%

The 2 leading preferences for engagement are ‘written responses’ and ‘wider stakeholder group meetings’. A common request amongst respondents was to hold workshops tailored to a specific audience, as well as webinar presentations with Q&A.

The category ‘Other’ enabled respondents to make further suggestions, and included requests for social media involvement, using existing stakeholder forums and further consultation work.  

Only 2% of respondents chose not to involve themselves further and not be contacted. 

We will take these responses into account when designing the next phase of industry engagement on the PVS strategy. 

Next steps

The results of this consultation will be evaluated by Defra, DAERA, Scottish and Welsh governments. 

Developing the PVS strategy further 

We are grateful for the feedback on our initial ideas, which we will consider as we continue to develop the PVS strategy further. 

We plan to host a series of themed stakeholder workshops in 2024. The logistics and timings for these workshop events are not yet set, but further information will be provided soon.

A further consultation will also be launched on more detailed proposals before the PVS strategy is finalised and published. 

Contact details 

If you did not respond to the call for ideas but would like to be contacted about further development of the PVS strategy or if you have any additional questions, contact Defra-Plant-Varieties-and-Seeds@defra.gov.uk.