Seed import compliance in France
Authorities reviewed 2026-10-19
Short answer
Variety testing and official seed control are carried out by GEVES; SEMAE is the seed and plant interprofession; plant health sits with the Ministry of Agriculture, under EU rules.
As an EU member state, seed marketing and plant-health rules follow EU legislation, applied and enforced by the national authorities listed.
Responsible authorities and official sources
- GEVES (incl. SOC – Service Officiel de Contrôle et de Certification)
Variety testing and official seed control and certification.
- SEMAE
Interprofessional organisation for seeds and plants.
- Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Souveraineté alimentaire
Plant-health policy and import controls.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against plant pests
EU-wide plant-health rules, including phytosanitary certificates for seed imported from third countries.
- Council Directive 2002/55/EC on the marketing of vegetable seed
EU framework for marketing vegetable seed, including variety listing and seed lot standards.
Documents to prepare
- Confirm the variety is listed in the EU Common Catalogue or the national catalogue.
- Phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country's plant-protection organisation for imports from outside the EU.
- Seed lot label and test data (germination, purity) meeting the applicable marketing standard.
- Check whether a specific pest requirement applies to the crop (for example tomato and pepper seed).
This is orientation, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm the current requirement with the authority for each crop, origin and shipment.
Next steps
- Start a seed sourcing request (qualified requests from USD 250,000)
- Seed price calculator (historical import unit values by HS code, not supplier prices)
- Seed import market map (UN Comtrade HS 1209 and HS 120991 imports by country, 2024)
- Seed, greenhouse and crop output journeys