After years of post-Brexit disruption, EU–UK SPS negotiations offer a critical chance to simplify seed trade. Reduced border delays, regulatory alignment, and greater predictability could cut costs and restore efficiency. Euroseeds warns success depends on meaningful coverage for seed, mutual recognition, and active industry engagement to avoid complexity persisting in practice.
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Euroseeds’ Claudius Marondedze on why “ongoing negotiations” could mean fewer border headaches, or a new kind of bureaucracy.
WHY IT MATTERS
After years of post-Brexit friction, seed moving between the EU and the UK has become a masterclass in delays, duplicated costs, and regulatory conjecture. Now, with EU–UK SPS negotiations gathering momentum, the seed sector has a rare window to swap complexity for clarity and simplicity. And maybe even rebuild something close to smooth trade. In this interview, Claudius Marondedze, technical manager plant health and seed trade at Euroseeds’ explains what’s really at stake for European seed companies, what “success” should look like in practice, and why the sector can’t sit back and hope the details take care of themselves.
Seed World Europe (SWE): Claudius, we’re in that awkward “negotiations are ongoing” phase, not a deal yet, but clearly momentum. From Euroseeds’ perspective, what’s the significance of these SPS talks for the seed sector?
Claudius Marondedze (CM): Let me start by first pointing out that UK-exit from the European Union family of Member States in 2020 has brought considerable challenges to the seed businesses across both the EU and UK in moving plant breeding material and trading seed as a consequence of a lack of regulatory alignment, including on the phytosanitary measures.
Euroseeds welcomes the shared commitment of the UK government and the EU Commission to negotiate a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement between the parties with the aim to address barriers to trade that have been put in place since the UK’s exit from the EU.
The ongoing SPS negotiations between the EU and the UK are extremely significant for the seed sector. These negotiations hold the potential to streamline trade processes, reduce regulatory divergence, and establish a more predictable framework for seed movement between the EU and UK.
SWE: If seed companies remember one thing about this moment, what should it be?
CM: I believe that the seed sector welcomes the commitment by both the EU-UK to negotiate a new SPS agreement. The outcomes of these negotiations have a direct impact on seed movement (including genetic resources) between the EU and UK in addition to directly impacting the ability to operate efficiently and competitively between the two markets. Positive outcomes will beyond no doubt influence both short- and long- term logistics and strategic planning.
SWE: In practical terms, what would success look like for European seed companies trading with the UK? Is it fewer checks, faster clearance, less paperwork — or simply more predictability?
CM: All the above simply because all the dots are connected. A successful implementation of an SPS Chapter between EU and UK would be a great milestone towards dynamic alignment since UK-exit of the Union. For the European seed companies, it would mean engaging in trade more efficiently with the UK and in a more predictable manner. Practically, it would mean reduction in import checks, expedited border control, minimised administrative burden, and an increased regulatory predictability. By and large, companies can optimise operational efficiency, reduce costs, and adopt a more competitive position within the market.
SWE: Where are European seed companies currently losing the most time or money when moving seed between the EU and the UK? If you had to rank the top two: is it border delays, certification requirements, administrative costs, or uncertainty over how rules are applied?
CM: Currently, the two principal areas where European seed companies are experiencing the most significant losses of time and financial resources are border control delays (import monitoring) and cost burden on variety registration in the two jurisdictions (the UK and the EU) when applying for plant breeders’ rights. Border control delays have been shown to extend waiting times, which disrupts supply chains in addition to increasing storage and transport costs. On the other hand, having no mutual DUS (Distinct, Uniform and Stability) takeover of reports presence an additional cost burden than pre-UK exit.
SWE: What are the biggest risks or blind spots for the seed sector while these negotiations are still being shaped? Is the concern that seed might not be fully covered, that implementation could vary at borders, or that we end up with a deal that sounds simple on paper but stays complex in practice?
CM: The European seed sector remains very optimistic that our concerns and proposals will be taken into consideration, because we have and continue to advocate for a good SPS chapter that removes trade barriers and facilitate seed movement and provision of new innovative genetics to the farmgate. However, it remains in the hands of the negotiators to ensure that all sectors including the seed sector’s concerns are addressed. The principal risks that we may encounter is that our main concerns may not be well addressed which is why we encourage dialogue between the EU Commission and its stakeholders, and the UK Government and its stakeholders to ensure that the SPS chapter can stand firm and relevant for decades to come.
A critical point of concern could emanate from the divergence of regulatory frameworks between the EU and the UK, where it may disadvantage the seed sector. An example could be a “no mutual recognition of variety registration” which will derail the prospects of takeover of reports. This would mean that companies may continue to face duplicated costs and procedures, regardless of the headline terms of the deal.
SWE: Looking ahead: do you expect EU-UK seed trade to become genuinely easier — or just differently complicated? If you could give seed companies one piece of “don’t wait until the last minute” advice, what would it be?
CM: Looking ahead, the reset momentum among EU Commission, UK government and Stakeholders is definitely to ease trade relations including seed trade between the EU and UK. Euroseeds expects a genuinely better future the sector where trade barriers will become a thing of the past. However, some concerns may be easier resolved than others, and we believe mutual understanding can be reached that would be beneficial to the seed sector on both sides of the channel. We are positive that the proposals we shared with policy makers provide the basis of addressing the European seed sector concerns and will be taken into consideration.
To the seed companies, a piece of advice I can give would be remain optimistic and proactively engage relevant stakeholders to ensure that the voice of the sector and the rest of the value chain is heard and our input is taken up in the text during these ongoing negotiations.
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