Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) (Fees) Regulations 1994 (as amended) (“the principal Regulations”) so as to prescribe revised fees in respect of matters arising under the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) (regulation 2(b)).

The matters in respect of which the revised fees are prescribed are listed in the Schedule to these Regulations, and the fees which were chargeable before these Regulations came into force are printed in italics beside the revised fees.

Application, test, trial, observation plot, award and renewal fees have been increased by 3 per cent, rounded to the nearest £5. The fee for the purchase of a report from a testing authority in another country has been increased to accord with the international charge of 350 Swiss Francs. Other fees in Schedule 5 are unchanged.

The Regulations amend the principal Regulations by adding festulolium to the list of plant varieties for which fees are payable in respect of trials for value for cultivation and use.

These Regulations also remove the exception from charging for those varieties listed in Part II of Schedule 3 contained in regulation 3(3) of the principal Regulations. Part I and Part II of Schedule 3 have therefore been combined (regulation 2(a)).

A Compliance Cost Assessment has been prepared and placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Plant Variety Rights Office and Seeds Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, White House Lane, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0LF.