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In the Federal Republic of Germany the Federal States
are given responsibility for exercising official authority
on the basis of the German Seed Act.
At present in Germany there are 15 Seed Certification Agencies
of Agricultural Seed. These Agencies are co-operating closely
in the framework of the Working Group of the German Seed
Certification Agencies.
This Working Group has been established with the aim to
harmonise the application of the measures of the German Seed
Act and its respective decrees. Representatives of other
German authorities and institutions, i.e. representatives
of the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and
Agriculture, the Federal Office of Plant Varieties, the Federal
Institute of Agriculture and Food, the Working Group of Seed
Fraud/Control Agencies and of experts of the seed testing
stations, are participating regularly in the meetings of
the Working Group.
To ensure the uniform technical application of the regulations
within seed certification procedure, the Working Group has
established guidelines for field inspection, for sampling,
fastening and labelling, for the authorisation of inspectors
for field inspection under official supervision as well as
for authorisation of seed testing laboratories under official
supervision.
Concerning the administrative procedures and the certification
fees there are at present substantial differences between
the Federal States.
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