The Ministry of Agriculture Seed Administration established to take over genetically modified management rights

The China Times reporter learned from the briefing issued by the Ministry of Agriculture on December 7 that the Seed Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture has been formally established. The report published the full text of the speech by Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu at the seminar on development of seed industry on November 17. The above content was mentioned in the speech.

The name of the “Seed Board” has also appeared on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture. However, no link has been added. The newspaper called the News Department of the Ministry of Agriculture did not get more information. However, it is understood that the seed bureau has been “upgraded” from the seeds of the Crop Management Division of the Ministry of Agriculture.

“The Seed Bureau took over all the functions of the previous seed department. In addition, the Science and Technology Education Department of the Ministry of Agriculture transferred the power of genetic management to the newly established Seed Management Bureau. The Seed Bureau has overall responsibility for the supervision of seed quality and seed safety.” Do not want to be named to disclose to this reporter.

According to the source, the establishment of the Seed Administration will strengthen the supervision and management of crop seeds, strengthen the production licenses and business licenses for seeds, and strengthen the integration of breeding and promotion with core competitiveness and strong international competitiveness. The cultivation of seed enterprises means that the merger and consolidation of seed industry will begin.

Ministry of Agriculture set up seed bureau

On the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, the "Seeds Bureau" has been presented in the "Institutions of Departmental Institutions" column. The reporter learned that the Seed Bureau is called the “Seed Administration” and was formally established on September 4 this year. It consists of a General Office, a Seed Industry Development Office, a Variety Management Office, and a Market Supervision Office.

In an article published by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture to Establish a Seed Industry Authority to Accelerate Industry Merger and Reorganization in August, the newspaper quoted a source from the Ministry of Agriculture as saying: The Department of Crop Management within the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the management of seed industry. The seed, but will soon be changed, the management of the seed industry will be upgraded to a divisional level unit.

“The establishment of a seed bureau is a requirement for the implementation of the national seed industry development plan and is also a requirement for industry management.” Song Hongyuan, director of the Rural Economic Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, said in an interview with this reporter.

At present, some seed management agencies have entrusted law enforcement, some have entrusted law enforcement, some have established regional offices, and some have set up stations. Such chaotic management also breeds administrative monopolies in the seed market. In some places, the county-level seed management station as a public institution still maintains inextricable links with its subordinate seed companies. Management stations often set entry barriers for foreign seed companies and varieties, increasing market entry costs, and In the areas of project bidding and seed administrative law enforcement, discriminatory treatment is applied to other companies outside the subsidiary companies.

A person in charge of the seed company revealed to reporters that some local administrative departments have limited the room for seed price increase, and in the process of implementing thoroughbred subsidy, through the method of “determining the variety by the department, setting the enterprise by tender”, the bid price of the tendered enterprise As an important basis, select the successful bidder and the successful bidder.

These practices will not only weaken the enthusiasm of seed companies in increasing their investment in scientific research and accelerating variety innovation, but also lead to varieties with high cost and quality but high quality and high quality. It is difficult to expand the market due to government intervention in the market, affecting the promotion of improved varieties. And seed enterprises with independent innovation capabilities grow.

Build a seed carrier

Enlarging and strengthening China's backbone seed enterprises is the most pressing task for the development of modern seed industry. It is understood that the establishment of the Seed Industry Authority will strengthen the supervision and management of crop seeds, strengthen the production licenses and business licenses for seeds, and strengthen the integration of breeding, breeding and promotion with core competitiveness and strong international competitiveness. The cultivation of seed enterprises.

Liang Tiangeng, president of the China Seed Association, once said that compared with the seed industry, China’s crop seed industry started late and has a short development time. It is still in its infancy, and many enterprises are scattered and the problem of weak competitiveness is prominent. At present, there are more than 8,700 licensed seed companies in China, 99% have no R&D capabilities, and the top 10 companies have a market share of only 13%.

In the eyes of people in the industry, clearing up seed production and operation companies, standardizing seed production and operation licenses, increasing the elimination of unqualified seed companies, and improving the overall quality of seed companies will become an important responsibility of the seed management authority in the future. The bureau is seen as a sign that the seed industry consolidation and integration will begin.

In fact, as early as April 18 this year, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Modern Crop Seed Industry".

After the establishment of the Seed Bureau, the increase in the threshold for planting enterprises was also highly concerned by the community. For example, the “Integration of breeding, breeding, pushing and pushing” enterprise requires a registered capital of 100 million yuan and a fixed asset of 50 million yuan; the registered capital of import and export companies is 30 million yuan and the fixed assets is 30 million yuan; the production of “two hybrids” requires a registered capital of 30 million yuan. , 10 million yuan in fixed assets; non-"two miscellaneous" crop production license requires a registered capital of 5 million yuan, business license requires a registered capital of 2 million.

It is precisely based on the unprecedented attention of the state to the seed industry and the starting point for the establishment of the “industry carrier”. Han Changfu proposed: First, increase investment in R&D for companies engaged in “incubation and promotion integration” and encourage seed industry research institutes and predominant seed enterprises. To cooperate closely to promote the flow of commercialized breeding talents and resources to predominant seed enterprises, explore new mechanisms for the integration of production, education and research; Second, to significantly increase access barriers in the seed market, strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, promote mergers and acquisitions of seed enterprises, and promote China The backbone seed companies are bigger and stronger.