Section 1. That sections 907.01, 907.02, 907.03, 907.04, | 7 |
907.07, 907.08, 907.081, 907.09, 907.10, 907.12, 907.13, 907.15, | 8 |
907.16, and 907.31 be amended and new section 907.14 of the | 9 |
Revised Code be enacted to read as follows: | 10 |
(C) "Certifying agency" means an agency authorized by the | 19 |
laws of a state or a foreign country to certify officially seed, | 20 |
tubers for seeding purposes, or plants for varietal
identification | 21 |
or for other factors and, in the case of seed, an
agency | 22 |
determined by the United States secretary of agriculture
to follow | 23 |
procedures and standards of seed certification
comparable to those | 24 |
generally followed by seed certifying
agencies whichthat are | 25 |
members of the association of official seed
certifying agencies. | 26 |
(K) "Label," except as used in "inspection fee label,"
means | 59 |
anya tag or other device that is attached to or written, stamped, | 60 |
or printed, or graphic matter upon or attached to
aon any | 61 |
container of seed or the invoice pertaining theretothat | 62 |
accompanies any lot of bulk seed and that describes the kind of | 63 |
seed together with any other information required by law. "Label" | 64 |
includes an invoice under which any seed is imported into the | 65 |
state. | 66 |
(S) "Processing" or "conditioning" means cleaning to remove | 89 |
chaff, sterile
florets, immature seeds, weed seeds, inert matter, | 90 |
and other crop
seeds, scarifying, blending to obtain uniform | 91 |
quality, or any
other operation whichthat would change the purity | 92 |
or germination of
the seed and therefore require retesting to | 93 |
determine the quality
of the seed. "Processing" or "conditioning" | 94 |
does not include such operations as
packaging, labeling, blending | 95 |
uniform lots of the same kind or
variety without cleaning, or | 96 |
preparing a mixture without
cleaning, any of which would not | 97 |
require retesting to determine
the quality of the seed. | 98 |
(U) "Records" means the complete data, including | 102 |
representative samples, concerning each lot of agricultural, | 103 |
vegetable, or flower seed that is sold. "Records" includes | 104 |
information about the seed's source of purchase,and
origin,; the | 105 |
results of germination,tests; the results of purity,tests | 106 |
regarding the amount of pure seed, inert matter, crop seed, weed | 107 |
seed, and noxious weed seed contained in the lot of seed; and | 108 |
information concerning the processing, and disposition of each
lot | 109 |
of agriculturalthe seed sold. | 110 |
(AA) "Type" means either a group of varieties so nearly | 135 |
similar that the individual varieties cannot be clearly | 136 |
differentiated except under special conditions or, when used with | 137 |
a variety name, seed of that variety whichthat may be mixed with | 138 |
seed
of other varieties of the same kind and of similar character. | 139 |
In
either case, ninety per cent of the pure seed shall be of the | 140 |
variety or group of varieties named or, upon growth, shall
produce | 141 |
plants having characteristics similar to the variety or
group of | 142 |
varitiesvarieties named. | 143 |
(EE) "Coated agricultural seed" means an agricultural seed | 154 |
with a film or layer applied to the seed, whichthat is greater | 155 |
than
one per cent of the net weight, for purposes of, including, | 156 |
but not
limited to, accurate seeding, nitrogen fixation, nutrient | 157 |
improvement, or protection from insects and pathogens. "Coated | 158 |
agricultural seed" does not include seeds treated with dusts or | 159 |
liquids, whichthat are virtually unmeasurable using association | 160 |
of
official seed analysts rules. | 161 |
(II) "Pure live seed" means the sum of seed's percentage of | 173 |
germination plus the percentage of hard seed or dormant seed, | 174 |
multiplied by the percentage of pure seed, the product of which is | 175 |
divided by one hundred. The result is expressed as a whole number. | 176 |
Expressed as an equation, the definition of "pure live seed" is as | 177 |
follows: (percentage of germination plus percentage of hard seed | 178 |
or dormant seed) multiplied by the percentage of pure seed equals | 179 |
(product) divided by one hundred equals pure live seed. | 180 |
(JJ) "Cool season grass seed" means the agricultural seed of | 181 |
Kentucky bluegrass, red fescue, chewings fescue, hard fescue, tall | 182 |
fescue, perennial ryegrass, intermediate ryegrass, annual | 183 |
ryegrass, colonial bentgrass, creeping bentgrass, and mixtures or | 184 |
blends containing only those grass seeds. | 185 |
(B) No person shall use, orally or in writing, alone or with | 204 |
other words,
"certified," "registered," "foundation," or any other | 205 |
term whichthat suggests that
the seed, tubers for seeding | 206 |
purposes, or plants have been certified unless
the seed, tubers | 207 |
for seeding purposes, or plants have been
certified by the Ohio | 208 |
seed improvement association. The prohibition established in this | 209 |
division does not apply to use of the word "certified" for the | 210 |
purpose of describing seed, tubers for seeding purposes, or plants | 211 |
that have been certified as organic in accordance with 7 U.S.C. | 212 |
6501 et seq. | 213 |
(D) The Ohio seed improvement association shall establish | 227 |
standards and procedures for seed certification that are no less | 228 |
stringent than those prescribed by the association of official | 229 |
seed certifying agencies and that do not conflict with sections | 230 |
907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised Code and rules adopted under them. | 231 |
The Ohio seed improvement association shall designate intervals at | 232 |
which it shall conduct a review of the certification standards and | 233 |
procedures. No proposed change to the standards and procedures may | 234 |
take effect unless the change first is approved by an affirmative | 235 |
vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the association's | 236 |
governing body. | 237 |
(a) The commonly accepted name of the kind, or kind and | 245 |
variety, of each agricultural seed component in excess of five
per | 246 |
cent by weight of the whole and the percentage by weight of
each | 247 |
in the order of its predominance. If the director of
agriculture | 248 |
has determined in rules prescribedadopted under section
907.10 of | 249 |
the Revised Code that any such component of agricultural seed is | 250 |
generally
labeled as to variety, the label shall bear, in addition | 251 |
to the
name of the kind, the name of the variety, or the statement | 252 |
"variety not stated." If any such component is a hybrid, the
label | 253 |
shall also bear the name of the hybrid. If more than one
component | 254 |
seed kind is required to be namedlisted on the label, the word | 255 |
"mixture," or "mixed," or "mix" shall be
statedappear | 256 |
conspicuously on the label. If more than one variety is listed on | 257 |
the label of seed consisting of a single kind, the word "blend" | 258 |
shall appear on the label. | 259 |
(i) In excess of one seed in each ten grams of timothy,
red | 267 |
top, tall meadow oatgrass, orchardgrass, crested dog's-tail, | 268 |
Kentucky bluegrass, Canada bluegrass, fescue, bromegrass, | 269 |
perennial and Italian ryegrass, crimson clover, red clover, white | 270 |
clover, alsike clover, sweet clover, alfalfa, or any other | 271 |
agricuturalagricultural seed of similar size, other grasses and | 272 |
clovers not otherwise classified, or any combination thereof; | 273 |
(f) The name and number of each kind of secondaryrestricted | 278 |
noxious-weed seed per pound when present, singly or in | 279 |
combination, in excess of one seed in each two hundred grams of | 280 |
wheat, oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, vetches, or any other seed
as | 281 |
large as or larger than wheat, or any combination thereof; | 282 |
(C) In the case of agricultural or vegetable seed sold
from | 419 |
vehicles, bins, or other bulk containers to which the
purchaser | 420 |
has access before buying, the seller shall attach a
complete label | 421 |
to the bulk container or display adjacent thereto
a placard | 422 |
bearing a complete label stating the information
required by this | 423 |
section. The label shall be conspicuous to the
buyer. If the buyer | 424 |
purchases more than ten pounds of the bulk
seed, the seller shall | 425 |
attach a label to the container of seed
being purchased stating | 426 |
the information required by this sectionBulk agricultural, | 427 |
vegetable, or flower seed that is offered for sale or sold shall | 428 |
comply with the labeling requirements established in division (A) | 429 |
of this section, except that the label shall be provided in the | 430 |
following manner rather than being attached to a container: | 431 |
(D) No information concerning a test date, pure seed, inert | 437 |
matter, crop seed, weed seed, germination, hard seed, or noxious | 438 |
weed seed shall be included on a label for agricultural, | 439 |
vegetable, or flower seed unless a test has been conducted on that | 440 |
lot of seed prior to its being sold to determine the accuracy of | 441 |
the information. | 442 |
Sec. 907.04. (A) Any person sellingwho holds a valid seed | 443 |
labeler permit issued under section 907.13 of the Revised Code and | 444 |
who sells agricultural or,
vegetable, or flower seed shall, for a | 445 |
period of eighteen months from the
date of the final sale or other | 446 |
final disposition he makesmade,
keep
complete records of each lot | 447 |
of agricultural or, vegetable, or flower seed
that hethe person | 448 |
sells; provided, that if. If purchases are made
from persons
who | 449 |
keep records available for inspection as required under this | 450 |
division, the keeping for
eighteen months of an invoice of each | 451 |
purchase and sale stating
the kind of seed and the lot number | 452 |
meets the requirement as to
records. The invoices and other | 453 |
records that are required to be kept under this division shall be | 454 |
maintained at a location in this state. | 455 |
(B) Any person located outside this state who distributes | 456 |
agricultural or vegetable seed within or into this state shall | 457 |
maintain the records required under division (A) of this section | 458 |
at a location in this state. If the director of agriculture or
his | 459 |
the director's designated representative determines that an
audit | 460 |
of such a
person who is required to keep records under division | 461 |
(A) of this section is necessary in order to determine the sales | 462 |
of seed made
within or into this state by that person and the | 463 |
amount of the
fee that the person owes this state under section | 464 |
907.13907.14 of the
Revised Code, the director or the director's | 465 |
authorized agent may request the auditor of state to
audit the | 466 |
person. Upon receiving a request from the director
under this | 467 |
division, the auditor of state shall conduct such an
audit. If the | 468 |
audit occurs at a location outside this state, the
person being | 469 |
audited shall pay the director all the costs
incurred by the | 470 |
auditor of state in conducting the audit. The
costs of any audit | 471 |
under this division shall be charged to the
department of | 472 |
agriculture in the same manner as costs of an audit
of the | 473 |
department. | 474 |
(3) A thirty-six-month period immediately prior to sale, | 491 |
exclusive of the calendar month in which the test was completed, | 492 |
if the seed is in hermetically sealed packages or containers: | 493 |
provided, that any. Any such seed may be sold more than thirty-six | 494 |
months after the month in which it has been testedat any time | 495 |
after the thirty-six-month period has expired if it is
retested | 496 |
within a nine-month period immediately prior to sale. Seed that | 497 |
has been retested may be sold for an additional time period if it | 498 |
is accompanied by a new label that complies with the labeling | 499 |
requirements established in sections 907.01 to 907.17 of the | 500 |
Revised Code. The time period shall consist of twelve consecutive | 501 |
months, not including the month in which the retest was performed. | 502 |
After the twelve-month period has expired, the cycle of retesting | 503 |
and relabeling followed by a twelve-month saleable period may be | 504 |
repeated one or more times. | 505 |
(D) If the seed contains, singly or collectively, primary | 511 |
prohibited
noxious-weed seeds, subject to a tolerance of not to | 512 |
exceed nine
primary noxious-weed seeds per pound in seed of | 513 |
redtop, timothy,
orchardgrass, bluegrass, fescue, bromegrass, red | 514 |
clover, white
clover, alsike clover, sweet clover, or any other | 515 |
seed of similar
size;seed. In addition, no person shall sell any | 516 |
tree or shrub seed that contains prohibited noxious-weed seed. | 517 |
(E) If the seed contains, singly or collectively, primary | 518 |
noxious-weed seeds, subject to a tolerance of not to exceed five | 519 |
primary noxious-weed seeds per pound in seed of millet, rape, | 520 |
flax, sudangrass, wheat, oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, vetches,
or | 521 |
any other seed as large as or larger than wheat; | 522 |
(K)(J) By variety name if the seed is not certified by a | 546 |
certifying agency if the seed is a variety for which a
certificate | 547 |
of plant variety protection has been applied for or
granted under | 548 |
the federal "Plant Variety Protection Act," public
law 91-57784 | 549 |
Stat. 1542 (1970), 7 U.S.C. 2321 et seq., as amended, which | 550 |
application or granted certificate specifies
sale as a class of | 551 |
certified seed only:, provided, that seed from
a certified lot may | 552 |
be labeled by variety name when used in a
mixture by, or with | 553 |
approval of, the owner of the variety; | 554 |
(B) Disseminate, with the intention of inducing a sale,
any | 562 |
false or misleading claim or advertisement concerning the
vigor, | 563 |
vitality, growth, yield capability, or any other quality
or | 564 |
performance characteristic of any agricultural or, vegetable, or | 565 |
flower
seed,; disseminate any advertisement concerning the vigor, | 566 |
vitality, growth, yield capability, or any other quality or | 567 |
performance characteristic of any agricultural or, vegetable, or | 568 |
flower seed
for which hethe person does not maintain complete and | 569 |
accurate records of
the tests used to determine the characteristic | 570 |
and of the results
of the tests and submit suchthe records to the | 571 |
director of
agriculture pursuant to section 907.081 of the Revised | 572 |
Code,; or
make any claim in suchan advertisement that cannot be | 573 |
substantiated
by an official seed laboratory as defined by rules | 574 |
adopted
pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code by the | 575 |
director or a
state experiment station, or by regulations adopted | 576 |
by a federal
experiment station; | 577 |
Sec. 907.081. Any person who disseminates, with the | 613 |
intention of inducing a sale, any advertisement or makes any
claim | 614 |
concerning the vigor, vitality, growth, yield capability,
or any | 615 |
other quality or performance characteristic of any
agricultural | 616 |
or, vegetable, or flower seed shall maintain complete and
accurate | 617 |
records of the tests used to determine the
characteristic and of | 618 |
the results of the tests and shall submit
suchthe records to the | 619 |
director of agriculture as requested by himupon request.
Any | 620 |
person who uses an agricultural or, vegetable, or flower seed may | 621 |
request
the director to require the person who disseminated any | 622 |
advertisement concerning any of the above characteristics to | 623 |
submit histhe person's records to the director. | 624 |
(2) Agricultural orUnprocessed agricultural, vegetable, or | 636 |
flower seed in storage in,or being transported to, or
consigned | 637 |
to a seed processing establishment:, provided, that the label | 638 |
accompanying a shipment of the seed shall bear the statement "seed | 639 |
for
processing"; and provided further, that any label or other | 640 |
representation
whichthat is made with respect to the unprocessed | 641 |
seed shall be subject to sectionsections
907.01 to 907.17 of the | 642 |
Revised Code; | 643 |
(B) No person shall be subject to section 907.99 of the | 646 |
Revised Code for
selling any agricultural or vegetable seed which | 647 |
is incorrectly labeled or
represented as to kind, variety, type, | 648 |
or origin if the seed cannot be
identified by examination unless | 649 |
he has failed to
obtain an invoice or
grower's declaration | 650 |
stating, if required, the kind, or kind and variety, or
kind and | 651 |
type, and origin and to take other reasonable precautions to | 652 |
ensure
that the seed is correctly identifiedIn the case of | 653 |
agricultural, vegetable, or flower seed that is being exported in | 654 |
bulk or containers directly to a foreign country and that is in | 655 |
quantities of twenty thousand pounds or more regardless of the | 656 |
number of lots included, the labeling requirements established | 657 |
under section 907.03 of the Revised Code do not apply, provided | 658 |
that all of the following requirements are satisfied: | 659 |
(A) Sample, inspect, analyze, and test agricultural and, | 675 |
vegetable, and flower seed sold for sowing purposes, at such times | 676 |
and places
and to such extent as hethe director regards necessary | 677 |
to
determine whether
the seed complies with sectionsections | 678 |
907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised
Code and notify promptly the | 679 |
person who sold the seed of any
violation; | 680 |
(1) Adopt rules and regulations governingGovern the methods | 683 |
of
sampling, inspecting, analyzing, testing, and examining | 684 |
agricultural and, vegetable, and flower seed and the tolerances to | 685 |
be
followed. The rules and regulations shall be in general accord | 686 |
with officially prescribed practice in interstate commerce
applied | 687 |
in analyzing and testing the seed;. | 688 |
Sec. 907.12. Any lot of agricultural or, vegetable, or | 727 |
flower seed not in compliance with
sections 907.01 to 907.17 of | 728 |
the Revised Code shall be subject to seizure on
complaint of the | 729 |
director of agriculture to a court of competent jurisdiction
in | 730 |
the locality in which the seed is located. If the court orders the | 731 |
condemnation of the seed, the seed shall be denatured, destroyed, | 732 |
or otherwise
disposed of in compliance with the laws of this | 733 |
state:, provided, that the
court shall not order such disposition | 734 |
without giving the claimant an
opportunity to apply to the court | 735 |
for the release of the seed or for
permission to process or | 736 |
relabel it so as to be in compliance with sections
907.01 to | 737 |
907.17 of the Revised Code. | 738 |
Sec. 907.13. (A) No person shall selllabel agricultural or, | 739 |
vegetable, or flower seed within or intothat is intended for sale | 740 |
in this state, except as provided in
division (F) of this section, | 741 |
unless he has attached
to the seed
container Ohio seed inspection | 742 |
fee tags or labels obtained fromthe person holds a valid seed | 743 |
labeler permit that has been issued by
the director of agriculture | 744 |
in accordance with this section or,
in lieu thereof, has obtained | 745 |
from the director a permit pursuant
to division (D) of this | 746 |
section. | 747 |
(E) For each failure to report in full the amount of seed | 784 |
sold or to submit the required seed inspection fees in full by
the | 785 |
due date, any person who holds a permit to use his own tags
or | 786 |
labels shall pay a penalty of ten per cent of the amount due
or | 787 |
ten dollars, whichever is greater. Failure to pay either the
fee | 788 |
or the penalty within thirty days after the due date is cause
for | 789 |
cancellation of the annual permit or refusal to renew the
permit | 790 |
without a hearing. | 791 |
The applicant shall include the applicant's full name and | 805 |
address on the application together with any additional | 806 |
information that the director requires by rules adopted under | 807 |
section 907.10 of the Revised Code. If the applicant's address is | 808 |
not within this state or it does not represent a location in this | 809 |
state where the director can collect samples of the applicant's | 810 |
seed for analysis, then the applicant shall include on the | 811 |
application an address within this state where samples of the | 812 |
applicant's seed may be collected for those purposes or shall | 813 |
agree to provide the director or the director's authorized | 814 |
representative with seeds for sampling upon request. | 815 |
Each person who obtains a seed labeler permit shall label the | 822 |
seed that the person intends for sale in this state in accordance | 823 |
with the requirements established in sections 907.01 to 907.17 of | 824 |
the Revised Code. Each person who holds a valid seed labeler | 825 |
permit shall keep the permit posted in a conspicuous place in the | 826 |
principal seed room from which the person sells seed and shall | 827 |
comply with the reporting and fee requirements that are | 828 |
established in section 907.14 of the Revised Code. | 829 |
Sec. 907.14. (A) A person who holds a valid seed labeler | 830 |
permit issued under section 907.13 of the Revised Code shall | 831 |
report to the director of agriculture concerning the amount of | 832 |
seed that the person sells in this state. The report shall be made | 833 |
semiannually on a form that the director prescribes and provides. | 834 |
One semiannual report shall be filed with the director prior to | 835 |
the first day of February of each year with respect to all sales | 836 |
that the person made during the period from the first day of July | 837 |
to the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year. The | 838 |
second semiannual report shall be filed prior to the first day of | 839 |
August of each year with respect to all sales that the person made | 840 |
during the period from the first day of January to the thirtieth | 841 |
day of June of that year. | 842 |
(C) For each failure to report in full the amount of seed | 864 |
sold or to submit the required seed fees in full by the due date, | 865 |
a person who holds a valid seed labeler permit shall pay a penalty | 866 |
of ten per cent of the amount due or fifty dollars, whichever is | 867 |
greater. Failure to pay either the fee or the penalty within | 868 |
thirty days after the due date is cause for suspension or | 869 |
revocation by the director of the seed labeler permit or refusal, | 870 |
without a hearing, to issue a subsequent seed labeler permit for | 871 |
which the person applies. | 872 |
Sec. 907.15. The director of agriculture may suspend, | 875 |
revoke, or refuse to issue a permit to label seed for any | 876 |
violation of sections 907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised Code. No | 877 |
permit to label seed shall be suspended or revoked except for | 878 |
failure to pay either the fee or penalty provided in section | 879 |
907.13907.14 of the Revised Code until the permit holder thereof | 880 |
has been
given a hearing by the director in regard to the proposed | 881 |
suspension or revocation or unless a hearing is waived by the | 882 |
nonappearance of the permit holder at the time and place | 883 |
designated by the director. Any appeal from any such suspension, | 884 |
revocation, or refusal mustshall be made within thirty days after | 885 |
the
suspension, revocation, or refusal. | 886 |
Sec. 907.16. All money received from permit fees, seed | 887 |
inspection fees,
packet seed inspection stamps, purity analysis | 888 |
and germination test fees,
sales of seized or condemned seed, and | 889 |
fines recovered under sections 907.01
to 907.17 of the Revised | 890 |
Codecollected by the director of agriculture under sections | 891 |
907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised Code shall be paid to the director | 892 |
of agriculture.
The director shall deposit the moneydeposited | 893 |
into the treasury of the state to the
credit of the general | 894 |
revenue fundseed fund, which is hereby created in the state | 895 |
treasury. Money credited to the fund shall be used to administer | 896 |
and enforce those sections and rules adopted under them. | 897 |
Sec. 907.31. Any person who submits an application for the | 898 |
registration of a
brand of legume inoculant shall pay annually, | 899 |
prior to the first day of
AugustJanuary, a registration and | 900 |
inspection fee based on his dollar sales volume of
that brand in | 901 |
Ohio within the twelve month period ending the last day of June | 902 |
immediately preceding the registration renewal date, in accordance | 903 |
with the
following schedule: | 904 |
Section 2. That existing sections 907.01, 907.02, 907.03, | 917 |
907.04, 907.07, 907.08, 907.081, 907.09, 907.10, 907.12, 907.13, | 918 |
907.15, 907.16, and 907.31 and section Sec. 907.14. of the Revised Code | 919 |
are hereby repealed. | 920 |