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= European Seed Association =

In that sense, ESA lobbies on all seed related issues and specifically on:
 * Seed marketing, incl. GM and organic seed
 * Intellectual Property Rights (Plant Breeders Rights, Biotech Patents, etc.)
 * Plant/ seed health (phytosanitary rules; seed treatments)
 * Biodiversity and access to genetic resources
 * Land use and food production
 * Competitiveness of the EU agri-food chain

It also aims at solving collective problems of its membership like e.g. market access in third countries.

Fields of interst declared by the organization are:

 * Agriculture and Rural Development
 * Climate Action
 * Consumer Affairs
 * Energy
 * Enterprise
 * Environment
 * Food Safety
 * Internal Market
 * Public Health
 * Research and Technology
 * Trade

It has been granted observer status with::
International Seed Federation (ISF), International Union for the Protection of new Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) International Seed Testing Assocation (ISTA) International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)

ESA PRESIDENTS
2009 – 2012: Christoph Amberger, KWS Saat AG (DE) 2006 – 2009: Francois Desprez, Francois Desprez (FR) 2003 – 2006: Sten Moberg, Svalöf Weibull (SE) 2000 – 2003: Anthony Keeling, Elsoms Seed (UK)