Statement

Non-GMO declaration

All vegetable varieties presently marketed by Syngenta in EAME have been created using traditional breeding methods without the use of genetic modification techniques leading to genetically modified organisms as defined in Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms.

The methods used in the development and maintenance of those varieties are aimed at achieving high purity standards and avoiding the presence of off-types, including genetically modified organisms.

Seed production has been carried out in accordance with existing legal requirements related to marketing of varieties and seed production rules including stipulated isolation distances. The risk of adventitious contamination in seed multiplication areas although unlikely cannot however be totally excluded.

Good Agricultural Practices.

Syngenta applies many methods and procedures relating to good agricultural practices. These methods and procedures relate among other things to seed production, site selection and management, soil and substrate management, fertilizer use, irrigation systems and control of irrigation water, integrated pest management, responsible use of plant protection products, waste management, hygiene measures during seed production, worker health, safety and welfare, worker qualifications and training, customer care and complaint handling, communication of trading terms and conditions.

Sustainable Agriculture.

Syngenta regards sustainable agriculture as an essential element of its business strategy. To achieve this, Syngenta is creating product portfolios from sustainable agriculture principles and supported by appropriate knowledge and services.

Syngenta's objectives are:

to develop and promote programs to minimize soil erosion and maintain or even improve soil productivity;
to improve water quality and promote efficient water use;
to help preserve biodiversity through the conservation of germplasm;
to contribute to the long term success of agricultural practices.

Carbon footprint

Syngenta, as an environmentally responsible company, takes this subject very seriously and we report our carbon emissions on an annual basis to the general public. We are, however, not in a position to make a footprint calculation for each product in each market. That is just not possible and, considering the relatively low footprint we have, not useful either.

In the case of tomato seeds, for example, there are typically around 300,000 seeds per kg. One tomato plant produces, depending on the variety and growing method, between 8 - 50kg of fresh tomatoes. With 1kg of tomato seeds one can produce between 2 and 15 million kg of fresh tomatoes. With such ratio one can conclude that the seeds contribution to carbon emission for the production of fresh tomatoes to be entirely insignificant.

The Syngenta website is offering general information on carbon emissions of Syngenta and how Syngenta calculates its carbon emissions. Please note that these data are mainly based on the production of crop protection ingredients.
See: http://www.syngenta.com/en/corporate%5Fresponsibility/climatechange_impact.html

Intellectual Property Protection

Every year Syngenta Seeds invests heavily in Research & Development.
Some major innovations created by this long-term R&D commitment have been successfully launched and others are in the pipeline for launching over the coming years.

Syngenta Seeds, as well as other professional seed companies, can only continue this very high R&D commitment if profitability is maintained. If profitability decreases due to illegal marketing of reproductions or cheap copies, investments in R&D may go down. This would have a negative impact on the whole vegetable chain from seed distributors, young plant raisers, growers, traders to consumers.

In order to protect our R&D investments and innovations Syngenta Seeds implements a strong and active Intellectual Property Protection for parental lines, hybrids, varieties, processes, brands, know-how, etc.

This protection is based on:

The registration of varieties in European and/or National catalogues.
The protection of most varieties through Plant Variety Rights (PVR).
The protection of innovative traits and processes through patents.
The protection of our brands in order to secure their consistent use and display.

We actively monitor our products with Intellectual Property rights and will take appropriate legal actions in case of infringements of those rights.

Quality statement Syngenta Seeds Vegetables

The Syngenta Seeds objective is to be a reliable business partner and to supply seeds that meet Customer requirements and expectations.

The Syngenta Seeds products you received have been produced, tested and distributed in accordance with ISO certified processes. Syngenta Seeds is an ISO 9001-2000 certified Company.
Prescribed protocols to achieve and control production of high quality seeds are being followed and adequate seed treatments are applied.

Quality standards and communication on quality.

Syngenta Seeds complies with all relevant legislation of the European Union (EU).
The Syngenta Seeds products meet the quality standards as agreed upon by the European Seed Association (ESA). See Annex 1.
In case our quality tests reveal that a seed lot is not meeting these standards, seeds are not delivered unless previous communication with customers has taken place.

Quality testing.

Seed quality test-methods used by Syngenta Seeds are based on internationally accepted standards, such as ISTA (International Seed Testing Association) and ISHI (International Seed Health Initiative).

Seed germination and usable plants.

Germination tests that follow the official ISTA test-methods are performed on paper or sand under laboratory conditions. ISTA methods provide the germination potential, but not an estimation of the usable plant potential.
For seed germination, Syngenta Seeds has developed in-house usable plant test methods. These market-conform methods safeguard that the seeds we supply meet customer's expectations (especially plant-raisers) under regular practical conditions.

The Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture (Naktuinbouw) has accredited the Syngenta Seeds Quality Laboratory (NAL-accreditation). This means that test-protocols and procedures are approved and Naktuinbouw regularly audits the Syngenta laboratory.

Syngenta Seeds constantly monitors the performance of the seed batches on commercial performance in order to validate and improve the used testing methods.

The internal Syngenta Seeds standards for germination are well above the legal EU standards and are in accordance with the standards agreed by the European Seed Association (ESA).

Varietal purity.

Seed lots of Vegetable seeds are seldom 100% genetically pure. Sibs and other off-types may occur as a result of technical limitations and variable seed production conditions. Additionally the expression of sibs and other off-types may vary depending on growing conditions.

Varietal purity is defined as: "the percentage of plants from a seed lot that meet the official variety description as made in UPOV-format for variety registration". UPOV guidelines allow a certain variation in expression, within the variety description. This variation is crop-dependent and is related to the multiplication techniques used for that crop.
State of the art production techniques, process controls and test methods are used to safeguard adequate levels of varietal purity. Syngenta Seeds applies strict internal varietal purity standards, in line with ESA standards. (See Annex 1)

Seed health.

Syngenta Seeds gives a very high priority to the production of healthy seeds and the use of adequate seed treatments.

Syngenta Seeds is one of the founding members of the International Seed Health Initiative (ISHI).

ISHI is a platform under the umbrella of the International Seed Federation (ISF), where seed industry, Institutes, Universities and Inspection bodies co-operate on a global level, to share know-how, to develop improved tests and to agree on minimum standards. Syngenta Seeds is an active participant and supporter of ISHI, which enables us to apply State of the Art technologies and testing protocols.

Syngenta Seeds applies strict internal seed health standards, considered to be adequate for modern horticultural practices and conditions.

Following treatments and tests are always done. Seed lots have to pass these tests to qualify for delivery by Syngenta Seeds:

Crop	Treatment	Test
Beans		Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli
Broccoli, Br. Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower		Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris Phoma lingam
Carrot		Xanthomonas campestris pv. carotae
Cucumber (long)	Hot air
Leek		Pseudomonas syringae pv. porri
Lettuce		Lettuce mosaic virus
Melon		Melon necrotic spot virus Squash mosaic virus Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli
Pea		Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi Pea seed borne mosaic virus
Pepper	Trisodium phosphate (Na₃PO₄)	Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria Tobamovirus
Squash		Squash mosaic virus
Tomato	Acid extraction & Sodium hypochlorite disinfection (NaOCl)	Clavibacter michig. subsp. michiganensis Pepino mosaic virus
Watermelon		Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli

A more detailed seed health statement is available for the Key crops

Disease and insect resistances.

Syngenta Seeds offers vegetable seed varieties with resistances against a range of diseases and insect pests.

Resistance patterns vary from variety to variety.

Variety resistances are tested using test-protocols that are approved by the Authorities responsible for registration of varieties in national Lists and the EU Catalogue for Vegetable Varieties.

Syngenta Seeds is using scientific disease/insect names and abbreviations as agreed by the International Seed Federation (ISF) and ESA.

Relevant resistances per Variety can be found in Leaflets/Catalogues.
Syngenta Seeds uses the following definitions as agreed by the Vegetable Section of the International Seed Federation (Santiago, May 2005).

Immunity: Not subject to attack or infection by a specified pest or pathogen.

Resistance is the ability of a plant variety to restrict the growth and development of a specified pest or pathogen and/or the damage they cause when compared to susceptible plant varieties under similar environmental conditions and pest or pathogen pressure. Resistant varieties may exhibit some disease symptoms or damage under heavy pest or pathogen pressure.

High Resistance describes plant varieties that highly restrict the growth and development of the specified pest or pathogen under normal pest or pathogen pressure when compared to susceptible varieties. Highly resistant varieties may, however, exhibit some symptoms or damage under heavy pest or pathogen pressure.

Intermediate Resistance describes varieties that restrict the growth and development of the specified pest or pathogen, but may exhibit a greater range of symptoms or damage compared to highly resistant varieties. Intermediately resistant varieties will still show less severe symptoms or damage than susceptible plant varieties when grown under similar environmental conditions and/or pest or pathogen pressure.

Susceptibility is the inability of a plant variety to restrict the growth and development of a specified pest or pathogen.

Tolerance is the ability of a plant variety to endure abiotic stress without serious consequences for growth, appearance or yield. A tolerant plant variety will usually show fewer symptoms than sensitive plant varieties when grown under similar conditions of abiotic stress.

Seed Treatments.

Syngenta Seeds develops and provides a range of insecticide and fungicide coatings for the vegetable industry.

Seed treatments are mentioned on labels and packages, in line with legal requirements.
Additionally, Insecticide treatments are highlighted on the front side of the seed package.
Insecticide treated seeds are also coated with a clear colour.

Annex 1. ESA Product Specifications per Crop for Precisem and pellets.

Precision seed

Pellets

Brassica's

(Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Curly Kale, Chine cabbage)

germ.

var. pur.

Cauliflower

germ.

var. pur.

seed size

90%

93%

90%

0,20/0,25 mm

Dwarf beans

germ.

1 unit

Climbing beans

germ.

85%

100.000 seeds

95%

Beetroot (monogerm)

germ.

Beetroot (multigerm)

germ.

seed size

80%

90%

0,50 mm

Carrots

germ.

seed size

85%

0,20/0,25 mm

Cucumber

germ.

indoor var. pur.

outdoor var. pur.

pickling var. pur.

92%

99%

98%

Eggplant

var.pur.

germ.

98%

90%

Endive

germ.

90%

92%

Gherkin germ.

88%

Leek OP

germ.

seed size

90%

85%

0,20/0,25 mm

90%

85%

Lettuce - (Butter head, Cos, Iceberg, Batavia) germ.

var. pur.

- other types

germ.

var. pur.

93%

98%

93%

95%

Melons

Charentais type

germ.

var. pur.

Other types

germ.

var. pur.

95%

98%

90%

98%

Onions

germ.

seed size

90%

2,0/2,75 mm

Peas

germ.

1 unit

85% - 88%

100.000 seeds

Radish

germ.

seed size

92%

0,20/0,25 mm

Spinach

germ.

seed size

85%

0,75 mm

Sweet corn

normal germ. supersweet germ.

90%

85%

Sweet/Hot pepper

germ.

var. pur.

90%

97%

Squash germ.

var. pur.

92%

97%

Tomato

germ.

fresh market - var. pur.

processing - var. pur.

92%

98%

95%

Watermelon

normal germ. seedless germ.

var. pur.

90%

85%

98%

Active ingredients are detailed on the backside of the seed package.

Crop specific seed health statements.

To be added to the crop specific websites.
Objectives:

Verified standard information to all customers
Verified standard information to be used by all CS, PM's, KAM, Sales Reps. Etc.
Prevents a lot of questions from customers to CS
Prevents a lot of batch-related statements or e-mails by CS