Seed Audit Programme
Under the requirements of EU Directive 2001/18/EC, no GM seeds may be imported into and/or marketed in the UK for commercial purposes without authorisation. Companies importing or producing conventional seed in the UK should therefore take appropriate steps to minimise the risks of adventitious presence of GM seed in their conventional seed. The GM Inspectorate undertakes voluntary audits of seed importers and producers in order to assist them in meeting these duties.
Our audits are intended to help companies ensure that they have taken appropriate steps and that these are correctly documented. The audits include seed that is to be marketed for commercial production and seed intended for trial purposes. Further information regarding the implementation of the audit programme can be found in the following question and answer document: Seed Audit Q&A
The audit currently focuses on conventional seed of Brassica napus (winter and spring oilseed rape, swede and swede forage rape), Brassica rapa (turnip, turnip fodder rape, stubble turnip, pak choi, Chinese cabbage, etc.), Zea mays (maize and sweet corn) and Glycine max (soya). These crops are targeted because GM varieties of these species are grown commercially and/or in GM release trials in many seed producing countries around the world and there is judged to be an increased risk, relative to other crops, that adventitious GM events may be present. The GM Inspectorate keeps the audit programme under regular review and additional crops may be added if they are considered to be risk. The decision to add an extra crop to the audit rests with Defra and not the GM Inspectorate.
The GM Inspectorate produces a guidance document for each crop species audited to assist seed producers and importers, and seed processors. The documents offer guidance on seeking production assurances, also sampling and testing for GMOs.
On completion of each company audit the GM Inspectorate provides a detailed report to Defra PVS for each crop the company has marketed. The findings of the audit are summarised in seed audit summary tables.
The GM Inspectorate aims to audit all companies marketing seed within the current audit programme, if there are any companies you think we may have missed, please contact us.
It is important to note that the audit does not relieve companies of their obligations
nor should it be seen as an assurance that the GM Inspectorate will not exercise
its powers in appropriate cases under Part
VI of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.