European Union directives on the marketing of vegetable seed are valid, according to a judgement made in the European court of Justice on 12 July. He court ruled that; "The directives do take into account the economic interests of sellers of 'old varieties' in so far as they allow such varieties to be marketed under certain conditions."

The directive on the marketing of vegetable seed makes the marketing of such seed subject to the prior acceptance of varieties of the seed in one or more Member States, the court stated. A variety is, moreover, accepted for inclusion in the official catalogues of the Member States only if it is "distinct, stable, and sufficiently uniform".

The court recognised that another directive provides for certain derogations from that scheme of acceptance for inclusion in the national catalogues, in respect of 'conservation varieties' and 'varieties developed for growing under particular conditions'. Those 'old varieties' may be grown and marketed under certain conditions, even if they do not comply with the general requirements for acceptance for inclusion in the official catalogues.

The judgement was made in response to a request from the Court of Appeal of Nancy in France, following a case in 2008 regarding accusations of unfair competition in the selling of 'old seed' or 'collectors seed' involving a commercial seed merchant and the Kokopelli not-for profit biodiversity organisation.

The Court ruled that the validity of the two directives is "not affected by certain principles of EU law or by the EU's commitments arising from the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)".

The Court found that the primary objective of the rules relating to the acceptance of vegetable seed is to improve productivity in vegetable cultivation in the EU. As a means of guaranteeing increased productivity in cultivation, the establishment of a common catalogue of varieties of vegetable species on the basis of national catalogues is capable of ensuring that that objective is attained.

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