Seed Marketing Fees Consultation

Overview

This consultation concerns fees for the Defra agency Fera (Food and Environment Research Agency) seeds marketing service for the main agricultural and vegetable species in England and Wales.

It is government policy to recover the full cost of providing statutory services from the businesses which directly benefit. However, current fee income of £0.90 m per year for the seeds marketing service does not match the government’s £1.72 m costs. This represents a subsidy of £0.82 m per year to the seeds industry and an equivalent cost to the taxpayer.

The policy objective under consultation is to increase fees for seeds marketing to recover the full cost from businesses using the services and to remove the cost to the taxpayer.