Agricultural, forestry, horticultural, aquacultural and apicultural services

Tender description

This requirement is for the provision of technical services relating to EU and UK legislation for National Listing (official registration) of new varieties of the main agricultural and vegetable crop species, plant variety rights and certification of seed of agricultural species. For UK National Listing, this is testing for DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) and for VCU (Value for Cultivation and Use). DUS is also part of testing for plant variety rights. The seed certification service is for England and Wales. The main components are the collation of data relating to seed crops and seed lots, pre control plots of seed used for further multiplication, inspection of seed crops, monitoring the quality of marketed seed, and monitoring the performance of licensed crop inspections and seed testing stations. The contracting authorities will also require advice on issues relating to the technical services. This contract is provisionally divided into the following lots: — Lot 1: DUS testing for wheat, barley, oats, winter oilseed rape, sugar beet, field beans, fodder kale and some ornamental plant species and other support services. — Lot 2: Design and Organisation of VCU trials for all agricultural species subject to applications for UK National Listing, except for potatoes and grasses and clovers. The main species are wheat, barley, winter oilseed rape, forage maize and sugar beet. — Lot 2A: Design and Organisation of VCU trials for grasses and clovers. — Lot 3: Testing new varieties for resistance to economically damaging diseases, to provide data for VCU decisions. — Lot 4: Independent review and reporting of VCU data and the disease resistance tests. — Lot 5: Seed certification service (England and Wales). — Lot 6: Seed testing service (England and Wales). National Listing is a statutory requirement before marketing seed or other reproductive material of varieties the main agricultural and vegetable species. Defra, Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and Welsh Government act jointly as the National Authorities for National Listing in the UK. The testing requirements are DUS for all of these species and VCU for agricultural species. DUS is also a requirement for plant variety rights and the same test may be used for both purposes subject to certain conditions. The new contract(s) is expected to commence from the 01/04/2017. A phased handover from the current contractor may be necessary. The duration of the contract(s) is likely to be 60 months with the option to extend for up to 36 months. Please note: EU and UK legislation specifies that most of the work must be performed without ‘private gain’, which the contracting authorities have interpreted to mean for ‘no profit’.