Seed, propagating material and micropropagation in Estonia: licence and notices

Producing, packaging or marketing seed and plant propagating material in Estonia is regulated by the Plant Propagation and Plant Variety Rights Act. Several of these activities need a notice of economic activities filed before the start¹¹¹²¹³, while micropropagating a plant species needs an activity licence¹⁴. This page explains which rule applies, which authority handles it and what the filing contains.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Plant Propagation and Plant Variety Rights Act (taimede paljundamise ja sordikaitse seadus, "TPSKS") governs the production for marketing of seed, plant propagating material and forest reproductive material, including packaging, marketing and bringing them into Estonia¹. The act uses three product groups:

• Seed: seed of cereals, fodder, oil and fibre crops, beet and vegetables².
• Propagating material: seed potatoes and planting material of fruit, berry, ornamental and vegetable species, including rootstocks³.
• Forest reproductive material (kultiveerimismaterjal): seeds, plant parts and planting stock of tree species used for forestry⁴.

"Marketing" means offering for sale, holding for sale, selling or otherwise handing over, with or without payment⁵.

Not covered: seed and material produced for own use, intended for export, or seed used as industrial raw material⁶. Marketing small quantities of non-protected seed and propagating material is subject only to the act's specific rules for small quantities⁷.

The legal act and the authority

• Act: Taimede paljundamise ja sordikaitse seadus (TPSKS)¹.
• Authorities: Põllumajandus- ja Toiduamet (PTA, Agriculture and Food Board) and Keskkonnaamet (Environmental Board), each within the competence the act gives it⁸. Which authority handles each activity is shown in the table below.
• Register: notices filed and licences granted under TPSKS are entered in the plant health register (taimetervise register) established under the Plant Protection Act (taimekaitseseadus, "TaimKS")⁹. The General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (MSÜS) allows a register other than the Register of Economic Activities where a law so provides¹⁰.

Who must apply

Exemptions named in the act: a supplier of propagating material (not of forest reproductive material) needs no TPSKS notice for the micropropagation activity (TPSKS § 65¹), or for the activities in TaimKS § 31(2)(1)¹⁷. Under MSÜS, no notice is due where a licence obligation applies in the same field¹⁸.

A related rule in TaimKS: a business producing and marketing forest reproductive material, or producing, storing or packaging for marketing plants that need a plant passport, files a separate notice with PTA under TaimKS § 31(1)¹⁹.

Requirements for the applicant

Whether share-capital, own-funds or anti-money-laundering (AML/CFT) requirements apply is specified for the client's situation. What the act requires:

• Self-check system: a supplier identifies the critical points of production, documents the measures and applies them²¹.
• Premises: production premises that exclude contamination; micropropagation only in a compliant laboratory²². Micropropagated material must be true to species and variety²³. Detailed laboratory requirements are set by ministerial regulation²⁴.
• Licence test: the micropropagation licence is granted if the business and its undertaking meet the act's requirements; the licence names the plant species allowed as a secondary condition²⁵.
• Seed packaging: suitable premises and equipment, a technological scheme of the packaging process, a floor plan, and a designated person responsible for packaging²⁶.
• Records: seed and seed-potato production documents are kept five years, other propagating and forest material documents three years²⁷.

Documents filed

Micropropagation licence application²⁸:

• the general data required by MSÜS § 19(2): business name and registry code, contact details, the activity's legal name and classification code, the signatory and basis of representation²⁹;
• the plant species to be propagated;
• location and area of the property used, names and markings of the equipment, number of qualified staff, whether the production site is fenced and has irrigation.

Seed packaging notice (PTA)³⁰: among the data listed in TPSKS § 95(3), a short description of the packaging technology and the name and contact details of the person responsible for packaging.

Forest seed packaging notice (Keskkonnaamet)³¹: the tree species and a description of the building and equipment.

Supplier notice³²: the MSÜS general data plus the data listed in TaimKS § 31(3) — the data under Article 66(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, location and area of the production unit, and the person responsible for plant health.

State fee and processing time

• Fee: a notice under TaimKS § 31(1) costs 32 euros³³. Whether a state fee applies to the micropropagation licence and to the TPSKS supplier and packaging notices is specified for the client's case. Applications for field inspection, seed sampling and seed analysis licences carry no state fee³⁴.
• Time limit: the authority decides a licence application within 30 days, counted from the submission of all required data, and may extend this once by up to 30 days³⁵. Under TPSKS, the time limit starts only after the fee is paid and the application with all supporting documents is received; the decision is notified within ten working days³⁶. The authority may ask for further data³⁷. Silent approval does not apply where a licence must be granted with secondary conditions³⁸, which is the case for the micropropagation licence²⁵.
• A licensed activity may start from the grant of the licence, or from a later date or condition stated in the licence³⁹; a notifiable activity starts after the notice is filed¹¹.

These are the law's time limits, not a promise; the outcome and its timing are decided by the authority.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

For a licence or notice under TPSKS we use the general service Activity licence application documentation. As the site describes it, the service covers:

• the requirements of the act for the activity, from its official text;
• the application and the documents it needs;
• the submission and the written follow-up of the authority's questions⁴⁰.

The price is from €3,500, one-time; no VAT is added⁴¹. The starting price covers one licence of ordinary scope; more work is agreed in writing before it starts. The state fee is separate and paid by the company⁴¹.

Not included: legal advice, meeting the act's premises or staff requirements, and any promise of the licence — the authority named in the act grants or refuses it⁴². LexorCorp Global OÜ gives no tax advice or audit and does not promise a date.

Order: order form

Sources

1. TPSKS § 1(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
2. TPSKS § 3(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
3. TPSKS § 4(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
4. TPSKS § 5(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
5. TPSKS § 103(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
6. TPSKS § 1(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
7. TPSKS § 1(1^1)1, § 4^1(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
8. TPSKS § 7^1 — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
9. TaimKS § 30(4)2; TPSKS § 95(4) — text in force from 01.07.2023
10. MSÜS § 8(1) — text in force from 01.09.2025
11. TPSKS § 63(1)-(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
12. TPSKS § 95(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
13. TPSKS § 97(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
14. TPSKS § 65^1 — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
15. TPSKS § 66(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
16. TPSKS § 78(1), § 79(1), § 84, § 85(1), § 90, § 91(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
17. TPSKS § 63(3) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
18. MSÜS § 14(3)1 — text in force from 01.09.2025
19. TaimKS § 31(1)3 and 5 — text in force from 01.07.2023
21. TPSKS § 64(3) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
22. TPSKS § 65(1)1 and 3 — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
23. TPSKS § 65(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
24. TPSKS § 65(5)-(6) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
25. TPSKS § 70, § 71 — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
26. TPSKS § 96(1) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
27. TPSKS § 77(4) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
28. TPSKS § 66(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
29. MSÜS § 19(2)1 with § 15(1)1-4,7 — text in force from 01.09.2025
30. TPSKS § 95(3) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
31. TPSKS § 97(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
32. TPSKS § 63(4); TaimKS § 31(3) — text in force from 01.07.2023
33. Riigilõivuseadus § 261^19 (redaction in force 01.11.2026, RT I, 21.10.2026, 10) — text in force from 01.11.2026
34. TPSKS § 79(4), § 85(4), § 91(4) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
35. MSÜS § 20(1), (3) — text in force from 01.09.2025
36. TPSKS § 7(1)-(2) — text in force from 01.01.2025 (RT I, 19.12.2024, 5)
37. MSÜS § 19(6) — text in force from 01.09.2025
38. MSÜS § 20(4) — text in force from 01.09.2025
39. MSÜS § 16(4) — text in force from 01.09.2025
40. LexorCorp Global price list and service description (price list)
41. LexorCorp Global price list and service description (price list)
42. LexorCorp Global price list and service description (price list)

Sources are named in the text, without links. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.