Press Release: Commission proposal on marketing of wild types of grass seeds boosts efforts to protect the EU’s biodiversity

Efforts to conserve the natural environment and protect biodiversity in the EU received a boost on 25 June 2010, after the Member States endorsed a Commission proposal providing for the placing on the market of certain types of wild plant seeds from conserved habitats. In particular, the proposal – adopted by the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry – relaxes stringent rules to allow the marketing of wild types of plant seeds, known as 'preservation seed mixtures'.