More than 30 representatives of state institutions took part in a two-day working session to study and discuss standards and procedures for the upcoming establishment of a national seedling certification system in Georgia. The event was organized by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the EU funded project The Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia.

The event was opened by Giorgi Khanishvili, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, who expressed his gratitude towards EU and FAO for supporting the country in establishing a national seedling certification system. He stressed the importance of developing a certification system to unleash the competitive potential of the private nurseries in the national and EU markets.

This certification system of seedlings is beneficial for Georgian farmers and cooperatives as they can be assured that the fruit trees and grapevines that they plant will be of a certified quality, free of viruses and diseases.

FAO’s project supports the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) in the development of a seedling certification scheme with the Scientific Research Centre of Agriculture (SRCA) and the National Food Agency (NFA). This normative scheme will be introducing new requirements for private nurseries to be able to produce certified seedlings. FAO will support nurseries to increase their capacities and ensure that they will be able to comply with the new standards.

During two days, experts from SRCA, NFA, Laboratory of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and other specialists of MEPA received an intensive training from FAO experts on the different options and requirements of a certification scheme, and covered legal issues, organizational aspects and technical requirements for the quality control in plants and propagation materials.

This project, implemented by FAO, is part of the Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia, an EU-funded initiative implemented by FAO and other UN agencies in cooperation with private companies and business associations. Drawing on an overall budget of up to 6 million USD, the initiative will continue until the end of 2023.

The project is part of the wider EU4Business support to the private sector development in Georgia, which aims to assist Georgian entrepreneurs, improve legal environment, facilitate access to finance and strengthen the ties with the European Union.