132 ~ Official Journal of the European Communities 2298/66 OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES "11.7.66 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed (66/401/EEC) - THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, Having regard to the Treaty establishing . the European Economic Community, and in particular Articles 43 and 100 thereof; Having regard to the proposal from the Commission; Having regard to the Opinion of the Furopean Parliament!; Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and . Social Committee; Whereas fodder plant production occupies an important place in the agriculture of the European Economic Community; Whereas satisfactory results in  fodder plant cultivation depend to a large extent on the use of appropriate seed; whereas to this end certain Member States have for some time restricted the marketing of fodder plant seed to’ high-quality seed; whereas they have been able to take advantage of the systematic plant selection work carried out over several decades which has resulted in the development of sufficiently stable and uniform fodder plant’ varieties which, by reason of their characters, promise to be of great value for the purposes in view; Whereas greater productivity will be achieved in Community fodder plant cultivation if for the choice of the varieties permitted to be marketed the Member States apply uniform rules whlch are as strict as possible; Whereas it is, however, justifiable to restrict - marketing to certain varieties only if the user can be sure of actually obtaining seed of those varieties; 1 0J No 109, 9.7.1964, p. 1751/64. Whereas certain Member States have for this purpose been applying certification schemes which are " intended by official control to ensure 1dent1ty and varietal purlty, Whereas such a scheme already exists at international level; whereas the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has established a scheme for the varietal certification of herbage seed moving in international trade; Whereas it is desirable to establish a uniform certification scheme for the Community based on the experience gained in the application of that scheme and of national schemes for this product; 1 Whereas the scheme should apply to marketing both in other Member States and on domestic markets; Whereas, as a general rule, fodder plant- seed, for whatever use it is intended as grown, should be allowed to be marketed only if it has been officially examined and certified, in accordance with the rules for certification, as basic seed or certified sced or if, in the case of certain genera and species, it has been officially examined and approved as commercial seed; whereas the choice of the technical terms ‘basic seed’ and ‘certified seed’ is based on already existing international terminology; Whereas there should be approval for commercial seed in order to take into account the fact that not all genera and species of fodder plant of importance for cropping have as yet produced either the desired varieties or sufficient quantities of seed of the existing varieties to meet all the needs of the Community; whereas - it is therefore necessary, in the case of certain genera and species, to approve fodder plant -seed which is not of a named variety, but which satisfies the regulations in all other respects; Whereas fodder plant seed which is not placed on the market should not, in view of its minor economic