MAY 2026  |  SEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE  I  SEED WORLD EUROPE   I   5
Editor’s Note: The full article can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02964-0
any modern sense. They simply halted the 
movement of bulk goods. In doing so, they 
unintentionally revealed the true transmis­
sion pathway. The disease followed grain, 
not people.
The catastrophe came not from igno­
rance or recklessness, but from a lack of 
tools. Medieval societies did not understand 
microbes, vectors or biosecurity. They could 
stop trade, but they could not make it safe. 
We can.
FROM GRAIN HOLDS TO SEED 
PACKETS
Modern agriculture is built on lessons 
learned the hard way.
We now understand that seeds are not 
inert goods. They are biological material 
capable of carrying pests, diseases, invasive 
weeds and unwanted traits across borders. 
That is why modern seed systems rely on 
inspection, certification and traceability.
Legal seed does not simply move from 
seller to farmer. It is produced under con­
trolled conditions. Fields are inspected. 
Seed lots are tested for quality, purity 
and germination. Varieties are registered. 
Imports require phytosanitary documenta­
tion. Movement is recorded. If something 
goes wrong, authorities can intervene.
This is not bureaucracy for its own 
sake. It is the modern equivalent of cleaning 
the ship before it sails.
WHY ILLEGAL AND 
COUNTERFEIT SEEDS BREAK THE 
SYSTEM
Illegal and counterfeit seeds exist outside 
this framework by design. They bypass cer­
tification. They avoid inspection. They often 
move through informal trade or small-par­
cel e-commerce, where oversight is limited 
and accountability is weak. Packaging 
mimics trusted brands. Labels promise 
traits that may not exist. Sellers disappear 
when crops fail.
For farmers, the consequences are 
immediate: poor germination, failed har­
vests, lost income and no recourse. For 
rural economies, the damage spreads. For 
the environment, the risks persist long after 
a single season.
Illegal seeds may introduce noxious 
weeds or invisible plant species that are 
costly or impossible to eradicate. They 
may carry quarantine pests or seed-borne 
diseases. They may undermine trade by 
introducing unapproved traits into export 
chains. And because they move outside 
official systems, there is no safety net, no 
inspection trail, no recall, no responsibility, 
in essence no traceability.
SMALL PARCELS, OLD RISKS
The modern equivalent of the medie­
val grain ship is not a container vessel. It 
is a padded envelope. E-commerce has 
fragmented trade into millions of small 
shipments. Each one appears insignif­
icant. Together, they form a pathway 
that is extremely difficult to monitor. 
Fragmentation reduces the likelihood of 
inspection, just as scattering grain across 
hundreds of sacks once did. Biology exploits 
gaps. It always has.
CERTIFICATION IS NOT AN 
EMBARGO, IT IS PROGRESS
There is an important difference between 
medieval embargoes and modern seed regu­
lation. Embargoes stop trade. Certification 
enables trade to move safely. Inspection and 
certification do not block markets. They 
protect them. They ensure that biological 
material moves with knowledge, account­
ability and care.
Illegal and counterfeit seeds undo that 
progress. They reintroduce unfiltered bio­
logical movement into systems designed to 
be clean. In historical terms, they lift the 
gates without cleaning the cargo.
CHOOSING NOT TO RELEARN 
HISTORY THE HARD WAY
The Black Death was not inevitable. It 
spread because biological trade resumed 
without any means to detect, contain 
or stop the disease. We now have the 
knowledge medieval societies lacked. 
We understand vectors. We understand 
pathogens. We understand that seeds 
carry more than yield potential.
The choice we face is not whether 
trade should exist. It is whether we 
allow unclean, unverified pathways to 
flourish alongside systems designed 
to protect agriculture, farmers and the 
environment.
History has already shown us what 
happens when we get that wrong.
The ships are smaller now.
The routes are digital.
The stowaways are harder to see.
The lesson remains unchanged: clean 
systems protect societies; dirty shortcuts 
do not. 
History shows what happens when 
biological material crosses borders with­
out effective safeguards. If Europe wants 
to protect its agriculture, environment and 
farmers, it must do more to stop illegal and 
counterfeit seeds from bypassing inspec­
tion, certification and enforcement.   
Marcel Bruins
editorial director, Seed World Europe
mbruins@seedworldgroup.com

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