GENERAL SEED CERTIFICATION STANDARDS

1 GENERALSEEDCERTIFICATIONSTANDARDS'TheGen eralSeedCertificationStandardsareapplica bletoallcropswhichareeligibleforcertific ation,andwithfieldandseedstandardsforthe individualcrops, ' seed 'or'seeds' ,PurposeofSeedCertification. Thepurposeofseedcertificationis tomaintainandmakeavailabletothepublic,th roughcertification, oftheSeedsAct, oftheSeedsAct, ,inertmatter, oftheSeedsAct, ,namely, , , ,thefollowingguidelinesshallbeobserved:( a)CertifiedFoundationseedproduceddirectl yfromBreederseedshallbedesignatedasFound ationseedstage-I;(b)CertifiedFoundations eedproducedfromFoundationseedstage-Ishal lbedesignatedasFoundationseedstage-II;(c )CertifiedFoundationseedstage-IIwillnotb eusedforfurtherincreaseofFoundationseeda ndshallbeusedonlyforpro-ductionofCertifi edseedclass;Cd)MinimumSeedCertificationS tandardsshallbethesameforbothFoundations eedstage-IandIIunlessotherwiseprescribed .

2 (e)Certificationtagshallbeofwhitecolourf orbothFoundationseedstage-IandIIandshall containtheinformationastoitsstage;(I)Pro ductionofFoundationseedstage-IIshallorid inarilybeadoptedinrespectofsuchcropvarie tiesprovided,whenitisexpresselyfeltbythe CertificationAgencythatBreederseedisinsh ortsupply;(g)ProductionofFoundationseeds tage-IImaybeadoptedforthefollowinggroupo fcrops:2-vegetativelypropagatedcrops;-ap omicticallyreproducedcrops; ;-oftencross-pollinatedandcross-pollinat edcrops,thesebeinggene-poolsshouldnotloo setheirgeneticidentityandpurityifmeasure stosafeguardthesameareadequatelytaken;-c ompositeandsynthetics; \' (a)CertifiedseedshallbetheprogenyofFound ationseedanditsproductionshallhesohandle dastomaintainspecificgeneticidentityandp urityaccordingtostandardsprescribedforth ecropbeingcertified;'"(b)Certifiedseedma ybetheprogenyofCertifiedseedprovidedthis reproductiondoesnotexceedthreegeneration sbeyopdFounda-tionseedstage-Iand;--it isdeterminedbytheCertific'ltionAgencytha tgeneticiden-tityandgeneticpuritywillnot besignificantlyaltered;-andwhentheCertif icationAgencyissatisfiedthatthereisgenui neshortageofFoundationseeddespiteallther easonableeffortsmadebytheseedPfQducer.

3 (c)Certificationtagshallbeofbluecolour( )forCertifiedseedclass.(d)Certifiedseedp roducedfromCt'\' whichis noteligibleforfurtherseedincreaseunderce rtificationshallbesuperscribedwith,"note ligibleforfurtherseedincreaseundercertif ication." :(a)receiptandscrutinyofapplication;(b)v erificationofseedsource,classandotherreq uirementsoftheseedusedforraisingtheseedc rop;(c)fieldinspectionstoverifyconformit ytotheprescribedfielqstandards;<,3,,;,Cd )supervisionatpost-harveststagesincludin gprocessingandpacking;Ce)seedsamplingand analysis,includinggeneticpuritytestand/o rseedhealthtest,if any,inordertoverityconformitytothepres-c ribedstandards;and(f)grantofcertificatea ndcertificationtags, ,oneormorerelevantevidencesuchascertific ationtags,seals,labels,seedcontainers,pu rchaserecords,salerecordsetc.

4 ,asmaybedemandedbytheCertificationAgency duringsub-missionoftheapplication,itsscr utinyand/orduringfirstinspectionofthesee dcrop,inordertoconfirmif ! ,.Thereis'nominimumormaximumlimitforthea reaofferedbyapersonforcertification, ,theentireareaplantedunderseedproduction byanindividualshallconstituteoneunitprov ided:(a)it isallunderonevariety;(b)itdoesnotexceedt enhectares;(c)it is notdividedintofieldsseparatedbymorethanf iftymetersbetweeQ,them;Cd)itisplantedwit horismeanttoproduceseedbelongingtothesam eclassandstageinthegenerationchain;(e)th ecropovertheentireareaismoreorlessofthes amestageofgrowthsothatobservationsmadear erepresentativeoftheentirecrop;Cf)thetot alareaplanted,byandlarge,correspondstoth equantityofseedreportedtohavebeenused;an dtheCertificationAgency'spermissionhadbe enobtainedtosowa larger:areabyeconomis-iugonseedrate;if thatbethecase.

5 4(g)raisedstrictlyasa singiecropandneverasmixed;(h)notsoheavil yanduniformlylodgedthatmorethanonethirdo ftheplantpopulationis trailingonthegroundleavingnoscopeforit tostandupagainthusmakingit impossiblefortheCertifi-cationAgencytoin specttheseedcropattheappropriategrowthst ageintheprescribedmanner;(i)asfaraspossi ble,somaintainedastoshowadequateevidence ofgoodcrophusbandrytherebyimprovingthe'r eputationforcerti-fiedseeds;and(j)notgro wnasinter, " (CHAs')(a)Incaseofhybridseedproduction,t heseedproducercanuseproperChemicalHybrid isingAgents(CHA:s')onseedparent(femaleli ne) '~A'and~'4inestsha1 Hnotbeapplicablei'ortherelevanthybrid.(b )Thehybridseedproducedthroughtheapplicat ionofCHAs'shallbecompulSorilysubjectedto grow-outtestasa (a)thefieldinspt'ctionworkwhichrequirest echnically-trainedpersonnel,shallbeperfo rmedbythepersonswhohavebeensoauthorisedb ytheCertificationAgency;(b)fieldinspecti onmeanttoverifythosefactorswhichcancause irrevel'sibledamageto'the-geneticpurityo rseedhealthshallbeconductedwithoutpriorn oticetotheseedproducer.

6 " )soonafterthecompletionofthefieldinspect ion,a ,the-CertificationAgencyshall,uponthereq uestofseedpro-ducerandafterheremovesthes ourcesofcontaminationintheseedfieldandwi thintheprescribedisolationdistanceand/or thecontaminatedplantsintheseedfield(ifso directedbytheCertificationAgency)perform one-ormorere-inspectionsprovidedsuchremo valcanensureconformityoftheseedcroptothe ptescrihedstanda!dsand'providedfurtherth anoirreversi-bledamagehas"been'causedtot hequalityofse~d;'bythecontaminant(s).5 TheCertificationAgencymayatitsdiscretion ,alsoperformoneotmotefe-inspectionsovera ndabovetheminimumnumberofinspectionspres cribed,if ,ThreshingandTransportationSeedcropmeeti ngfieldstandardsforcertificationshallbeh arvested, , :-belongtothesamecertifiedseedproducer;- belongto thesamecrop,variety,classof seedandstageinthegenerationchain;-werepr oducedinthesameseasonandundersimilaragro -climaticconditions;-weresubjectedtocert ificationbythesameCertificationAgency;-h avemoreorlesssimilarphysicalappearancean dlevelsofmoisture.

7 , ,000kilogrammesforseedsofthesizeofriceor larger6(exceptmaizeseed,seedpotato,sweet potato,yams,taroandchow-chowforwhichthem aximumsizeofthelotmaybe40,000kilogrammes )and10,000kilogrammesforseedssmallerthan ricesubjecttoa specificnumberinordertofacilitatemaintai ningitsidentity,tracingbacktoitsorigin,h andlinginstores,transitetc.,accountingan dinventorymaintenanceandreferring/commun icatingabouta ,drying,treating, , ,smallseeds,damagedseeds,brokenandshrive lledseeds,straw,chaff,leaves,twigs,stone s, , , (byweight). variety,seedofwhichisundercertificationi ssusceptibletoa seedbornediseaseorganismorwhenseedunderc ertificationiscarryinga seedbornepathogenanda seedtreatmentisavailablewhichmaycontrolt hediseaseorpathogenwhenproperlyapplied, ,thechemicalcalculatedattherecommendeddo seshallbekeptina plasticpacketandplacedinsidethe' ' ,thefollowinginstructionsshallalsobecomp liedwith.

8 '(a)a statementindicatillgthattheseedhasbeentr eat~d.;1(b)thecommontyacceptedchemicaior abbreviatedchemica1nameoftheappliedsubst ance;and(c)if ~thervertebrateanimals,a cautionstatementsuchas"Do_notUseforFood; FeedorOilpurposes".Thecautionformercuria lsandsimilarlytoxicsubstancesshallbethew ord"POISON"whi<:hshallbe,intypesize, ~ , ~ ,andoneshallbesent"foranalysistoanotifie dSeedTestingLaboratory, , (a)Allcertifiedseedlotsshallconformtothe followingMinimumStandardsforgeneticpurit yunlessotherwiseprescribed:ClassSta!ldar dsforMinimumGeneticPurity(%)FqundationCe rtified:(i)Varieties,composites,syntheti cs,multililles(ii)Hybrids99., (b)Grow-outTestTheCertificationAgencysha llconductgrow-outtesttodetermine-genetic purityofa seedlotwherever-itisa ,ResamplingandRetestingWhena seedlotdoesnotmeettheprescribedI( seed [st andards,theCertificationAgencyonthereque stofseedproducermaypermitrecleaning.)]

9 1g, seedfieldora seedlotisnotfoundmeetingprescribedstanda rdsfortheclassforwhichit hasbeenregisteredbutconformstotheprescri bedstandardstotheimmediatelowerclass, , ,quality,colour,layoutandcontentsofthece rtification, ,Tagging, (a)OnreceiptofSeedAnalysisReportandthere sultsofthegrow-9outtestwhereverprescribe d,andifseedlothasmetprescribedstandards, theCertificationAgencyshallensurepacking , ' (b) , ~rsection11(1)oftheSeedsAct, , ,eitheronreferencemadetoitinthisbehalfor otherwisethat:(a)thecertificategrantedby it undersection9(3)oftheActhasbeenobtainedb ymisrepresentationastoanessentialfact;or (b)theholderofthecertificatehas,withoutr easonablecause,failedtocomplywiththecond itionssubjecttowhichthecertificatehasbee ngrantedorhascontravenedanyoftheprovisio nsoftheActortheRulesmadethereunder,then, withoutprejudicetoanyotherpenaltytowhich theholderofthecertificatemaybeliableunde rtheAct,theCertificationkgimcymay,afterg ivingtpe10holrierofthecertificateanoppor tunityofshowingcauserevokethecertificate .