The certification scheme of propagating materials in Hungary [antikvár]

1. INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND The National Institute for Agricultural Qualifity Control (hereinaíter: OMMI) is a central administrative organisation financed by state budget. As a national designated authority, OMMI carries out in Hungary authority tasks as follows: -statutory supervision of animal breeding and feeds, -state registration of plánt varieties and animal breeds, -seed and reproduvtion material test, supervision and certification. OMMI represents Hungary in the international technical organisations and schemes (ISTA, UPOV, OECD reproduction material systems, etc.), issues and adaptates the international certificates of origin and participates in the development of technical methods. The Institute carries out its tasks through the headquarters (Budapest) and the field units (inspectorates, experimentál stations). With a staff of 17 persons at the headquarters and 19 field inspectors, the Institute's Department for Horticulture and Forestry performs the inspection of propagating materials of grapevine, fruit, ornamental and forestry plants. In Hungary, the observation of plánt protection regulations is supervised by the plánt health organization under the management of the Department for Plánt Protection and Agroenvironment of the FM. The central management is performed by the Coordination Unit of the Budapest Plánt Health and Soil Conservation Station which coordinates the activity of the 19 County Plánt Health and Soil Conservation Stations. The plánt health organization carries out the official local inspections, registration and laboratory control for crop production as weil as for import and export trade of the planting materials, in addition it makes phytosanitary forecasting and research. The plánt protection inspectors carry out bordér checks of plánt protection, too. 1.2. History Study and registration of varieties as weil as production, training, marketing of propagating materials are made in legally approved conditions under state supervision in Hungary. Test and check of seeds started in 1872. The first legal measure was the Law No XLVI of 1895. The first variety trials started in 1892 and the use of the varieties was legally first regulated by the Order No 53.040 FM of 1915. Check of the vegetative propagating materials of woody plants and small fruits started pursuant to Statutory Law No 22 of 1968. Hungary is a foundation member (1921) of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). Since 1970, OMMI has been a national designated body of the OECD variety certification scheme. In 1983 Hungary joined the UPOV Agreement on the protection of new plánt varieties (published in the Statutory Law No 14 of 1983). Having recognised the plánt protection risks of the intensive trade of plants and plánt products as weil as the need for prevention, having regard to the necessity of international cooperation, several countries of the world signed the first multilateral plánt protection convention on 14 April 1929 in Rome.