The supervision of seed production and marketing was not always proper and reliable. The fees for seed testing were not updated since 2014, although only in the audited period the average consumer prices increased by 25%. The Chief Inspector for Plant Health and Seed Production did not take effective steps to update those fees, although the relevant ordinance had been amended several times.
The State Inspectorate for Plant Health and Seed Production was set up in 2002. It undertakes tasks related to seed production as well as the use of pesticides, monitoring and fight with pests. This audit was to verify if the supervision exercised by the State Inspectorate over the production and marketing of agricultural plant seeds was proper and reliable. The audit covered activities of the Chief Inspector for Plant Health and Seed Production in Warsaw and five provincial inspectorates from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2023.
Key audit findings
By 31 December 2020, the organisational structure of the Chief Inspectorate for Plant Health and Seed Production was adjusted to supervise the production and marketing of agricultural plant seeds. On 1 January 2021, the Seed Production Act was amended and new tasks were assigned to the Chief Inspector, e.g.: tasks linked to to seed testing, conducting training programmes, supervising work of official and accredited laboratories. Though, an independent function of the seed testing coordinator was created only after 18 months since the amended law became effective.
The Chief Inspector did not give reasons for this delay. According to NIK the failure to prepare the organisational structure of the general inspectorates for the new legal status impacted the quality of supervision over the production and marketing of agricultural plant seeds. One of the main irregularities identified by NIK was too low fees for seed testing. The fees remained unchanged from December 2014 to December 2023, despite the fact that the average level of consumer prices increased by 25% only in the audited period. The Chief Inspector for Plant Health and Seed Production informed the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development about the need to change the regulations on the level of fees, but with no effect. At the same time, the Chief Inspector himself did not take any further steps to update the price list. The lack of updated information on the level of fees resulted in depletion of the state budget revenues. The audit also revealed sluggishness of provincial inspectors in enforcing receivables for laboratory tests of seed material.
The supervision of provincial inspectorates over the production and marketing of agricultural plant seeds was insufficient. Out of 341 cases audited by those inspectorates, irregularities were found in 17 cases (approx. 5%). For instance, protocols from inspections of an official qualifier’s work were not prepared properly and the work of an official sample collector was not controlled at all. Some bills for seed testing were issued with irregularities.
Recommendations
NIK has made two recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to:
- take measures to amend the Ordinance of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on fees related to seed testing in terms of the fee levels;
- consider commissioning research work by supervised units to analyse the impact of supervision in the field of production and marketing of agricultural plant seeds on the quality of the seeds placed on the market.
