French & European standards

Stricter requirements from the French industry supplement the European regulatory framework applicable in France, to ensure the highest quality of seedlings produced in France. This quality is guaranteed by stricter certification standards for most regulated diseases and pests.

Certification requirements for crops, pre-crops and seedling batches

In addition to these certification requirements, all plants must be free of Quarantine Pests (QP, in French ONQ): (Synchytrium endobioticum, Clavibacter sepedonicus, Ralstonia solanacearum, Meloidogyne chitwoodi, M. fallax, etc.)

Minimum crop requirements

		French classes (Technical regulation)		Union classes (Dir. 2014/20/EU)
Maximum percentage at each inspection	Blackleg (Pectobacterium atrosepticum, Pectobacterium carotovorum, Dickeya spp.)	PBTC, PB	0%	Union PBTC, PB	0%
		S	0%	Union S	0.1%
		SE	0%	Union SE	0.5%
		E	0.5%	Union E	1%
		A	1%	Union A	2%
Maximum percentage at different inspections	Plants not conforming to the variety and/or foreign varieties	PBTC	0%	Union PBTC	0%
		PB	0.01%	Union PB	0.01%
		S, SE, E	0.1%	Union S, SE, E	0.1%
		A	0.2%	Union A	0.5%
	Symptoms of virus diseases	PBTC	0%	Union PBTC	0%
		PB	0.1%	Union PB	0.1%
		S	0.2%	Union S	0.2%
		SE	0.33%	Union SE	0.5%
		E	0.5%	Union E	0.8%
		A	1%	Union A	2%
Maximum percentage at each inspection	Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum	All classes	0%	All classes	0%
	Candidatus Phytoplasma solani (Stolbur)	All classes	0%	All classes	0%
	Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd)	All classes	0%	All classes	0%
Maximum percentage on 1st inspection	Non-rising or stunted plants	PBTC	0%	–	–
		PB, SE, E, A	7%	–	–
		B	10%	–	–
Maximum percentage on last inspection	Severe Rhizoctonia symptoms (Thanatephorus cucumeris syn. Rhizoctonia solani)	PBTC	0%	–	–
		PB, S, SE, E	5%	–	–
		A, B	10%	–	–
Maximum percentage at each inspection	Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)	All classes	0%	–	–
At each inspection	Epitrix cucumeris, E. similaris, E. subcrinita, E. tuberis	All classes	Absence	–	–

Minimum requirements for the direct seedling progeny

	French classes (Technical regulation)		Union classes (Dir. 2014/20/EU)
Viruses (PVY, PVX, PLRV, PVA, PVM, PVS)	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
	PB	0.5%	PB	0.5%
	S	0.5%	S	1%
	SE	1%	SE	2%
	E	2%	E	4%
	A	5%	A	8%
	B	10%	B	10%
Leaf deformities (non-viral)	PBTC, PB	1%	–	–
	S, SE, E	2%	–	–
	A,B	5%	–	–
Non-conforming variety plants and plants of foreign varieties	PBTC, PB	0%	PBTC, PB	0%
	S, SE, E	0.25%	S, SE, E	0.25%
	A,B	0.5%	A,B	0.5%

Minimum quality requirements for seedling batches

	Symptoms	French classes (Technical regulation)		Union classes (Dir. 2014/20/EU)
Maximum content. in % of weight	External defects (deformed or injured tubers	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
	External defects (deformed or injured tubers	PB, S, SE, E, A, B	3%	PB, S, SE, E, A, B	3%
	Wilted tubers (Excessively dehydrated and wrinkled tubers, including dehydration caused by silver scurf)	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
		PB	0.5%	PB	0.5%
		S, SE, E, A, B	1%	S, SE, E, A, B	1%
	Dry and wet rots (not caused by quarantine pests)	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
		PB	0.2%	PB	0.2%
		S, SE, E, A, B	0.2%	S, SE, E, A, B	0,5% (0,2% pour pourriture humide seulement)
	Powdery scab (Spongospora subterranea)	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
		PB	0.2%	PB	1% (surface atteinte > 10%)
		S, SE, E, A, B	0.2%	S, SE, E, A, B	3% (surface atteinte >10%)
	Brown Rhizoctonia (Thanatephorus cucumeris syn. Rhizoctonia solani) Tubercles with >10% affected surface	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
		PB	1%	PB	1%
		S, SE, E, A, B	5%	S, SE, E, A, B	5%
	Common scab (Streptomyces spp) Tubercles with >1/3 affected surface	PBTC	0%	PBTC	0%
		PB, S, SE, E, A, B	5%	PB, S, SE, E, A, B	5%
	Total tolerance for all the above criteria	PB	5%	PB	6%
		S, SE, E	6%	S, SE, E	6%
		A, B	6%	A, B	8%
Maximum content. in % of weight	Soil and foreign bodies	PBTC, PB, S, SE, E	1%	Union PB, S, SE & E	1%
	Soil and foreign bodies	A, B	1%	Union A, B	2%
	Candidatus liberibacter solanacearum	All classes	0%	All classes	0%
	Ditylenchus destructor	All classes	0%	All classes	0%
	Superficial viral tubercular necrosis	PBTC	0%	–	–
	Superficial viral tubercular necrosis	PB, S, SE, E, A, B	0.1%	–	–
	Damage caused by parasites (wireworms, moths, slugs, flea beetles…): tubers with over 10 holes or 3 holes of 5 mm or more in depth	PBTC	0%	–	–
		PB, S, SE, E, A, B	4%	–	–
	Damage caused by cooling accidents	PBTC	0%	–	–
	Damage caused by cooling accidents	PB, S, SE, E, A, B	2%	–	–
	Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)	S, SE, E, A, B	0%	–	–
	Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)	All classes	Exempt tubers	–	–
	Potato moth (Phthorimaea operculella)	All classes	Exempt tubers	–	–

To go further...

French & European standards

Certification requirements for crops, pre-crops and seedling batches

Minimum crop requirements

Minimum requirements for the direct seedling progeny

Minimum quality requirements for seedling batches

To go further...

Learn about the certification framework

Discover all the production process of seed potatoes

Explore the potato diseases, pests and disorders