b'HOW TOSTRENGTHEN TRADE?LEARNINGS FROM THE COVID-19 CRISIS FOR THE SEED SECTORBY: MARCEL BRUINST he COVID-19 outbreak led to con- negatively affected by the COVID-19 pan-cerns that seed supply chains woulddemic, and that recovery had been slow. be disrupted and countries relyingCompanies reported that seed demand on imported seed would not have suffi- had dropped, with the demand for vegeta-cient supplies for the upcoming seasons.ble seed falling behind other crop groups. A recent OECD report titled The ImpactThis was mainly caused by finding appro-of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Globalpriate freight solutions and many com-and Asian Seed Supply Chains lookedpanies reported a negative impact for at how the seed supply chain had beeninternational seed shipments. affected by the pandemic, with a focusThe survey results also show that on Asia.seed companies with headquarters in We focussed on the impact ofCsaba Gaspar Annelies Deuss the Asia Pacific region experienced a COVID-19 from the perspective of seedlarger decrease in seed demand than companies and the formal seed sectortheir counterparts outside the region. In and found out that the global seed sectorcomparison to the rest of Asia, the survey was reasonably resilient during the crisis,results for Japanese seed companies indi-although seed companies headquarteredTHE REPORTS POLICYcated a less severe impact of COVID-19. in the Asia Pacific region were more neg- RECOMMENDATIONS The Japanese seed companies reported atively affected than their counterparts Ensure production andthat by autumn 2020 they were not expe- in other regions, says Csaba Gaspar,movement of seed during a crisis riencing any major obstacles to importing Program Manager at the OECD Support the development ofseed. According to the study, the two maininternational seed supply chainsWe wanted to draw up learnings bottlenecks were the availability of staffand the diversification of seedfor the future and extracted several in the seed production chain and in gov- production policy recommendations from the data. ernment administrations, and the distri- Implementation of these measures will bution of seed to farmers.Support digitalization of the seedstrengthen the resilience of the seed AnneliesDeuss,Agriculturalsupply chain supply chain and mitigate or avoid the Economist at OECD explains, If we Ensure public availability ofnegative effects of the current pandemicwant to build a more resilient seed supplyinformation on seed productionand future crises, says Gaspar.chain, it will require policies to ensureand supply chainsthe uninterrupted production and move- POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS:ment of seed during lockdowns; the fur-Ensure production and movement ther development of international seedof seed during a crisis: It is crucial that supply chains; and the diversification ofthe agricultural sector remains classified seed production.did this in cooperation with the Japaneseas essential in all countries to ensure She notes that digitalization couldMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry andthe continued production and movement also improve the availability of infor- Fisheries (MAFF), and we got greatof seed during any crisis. At the same mation on seed production and trade,assistance from the International Seedtime, it is important to carefully consider enabling faster government responses toFederation (ISF), the Asia and Pacificany sudden changes to existing regula-disruptions. Seed Association (APSA) and the Worldtory frameworks (e.g., certification and It was good that many countriesVegetable Center (WorldVeg), saysphytosanitary requirements, customs classified the food and agriculture sectorDeuss. clearance) and prevent any techni-(which includes seed) as essential,The report focused on vegetablecal barriers to trade when the relevant thereby facilitating the free movementseeds in the Asia Pacific region, whichauthorities are short of staff and under of goods and allowing employees to con- accounts for over half of the interna- pressure, and thus cannot easily adjust to tinue working in this sector, Gaspartional seed trade in the region. Thechanging requirements. Communication explains.data for the report came from severaland coordination between governments To better understand the impact ofonline surveys of seed companies overand authorities is even more important COVID-19 on the seed supply chain, wethe course of 2020.during a crisis to avoid interruptions in carried out a detailed analysis from theThe survey responses indicated thatthe seed supply chain.perspective of seed companies and weseed trade in the Asia Pacific region was Support digitalization of the seed 40IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'