§ 3.1-263. (Repealed effective October 1, 2008) Definitions
As used in this article, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Advertisement" means all representations, other than those required on the label, disseminated in any manner, or by any means, relating to seed within the scope of this article.
"Agricultural seeds" means seed which includes, but is not limited to, the seeds of grass, forage, cereal and fiber crops, and any other kinds of seed commonly recognized within the Commonwealth as agricultural seed, lawn and turf seed and mixtures of such seed, and includes noxious-weed seeds, if present.
"Bag" or "packet" means a container in the form of a sack or pouch usually made from a flexible material.
"Blend" means a mechanical combination of varieties of the same kind, identified by a blend designation, which combination is always present in the same percentages in each lot so designated.
"Board" means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services of Virginia.
"Brand" means the name, term, design or trademark under which any person offers seed for sale.
"Bulk lot" or "in bulk" means loose seed in bins, or other containers. The term does not refer to seed in bags or packets.
"Certified seed," "registered seed" or "foundation seed" means seed that has been produced and labeled in accordance with the procedures, and in compliance with the requirements, of an official certifying agency.
"Code designation" means a code designation not generally known to the public, assigned at the discretion of the Commissioner, to any person engaged in the seed business, which, under conditions prescribed by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article, may be used to identify the person responsible for labeling seed in interstate commerce.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department.
"Conditioning" means cleaning, scarifying, treating, or blending, to obtain uniform quality, and other operations which would change the purity or germination of the seed, and therefore require retesting to determine the quality of the seed. The term does not include processes after which retesting would not be required to determine the quality of the seed; including, by way of example but not by way of limitation, packaging, labeling, blending together of uniform lots of the same kind or variety without cleaning, and the preparation of a mixture without cleaning.
"Controlled conditions" means those minimum standards for genetic purity of seed stocks, isolation, planting ratio, detasseling, roguing, harvesting, and other factors necessary for the production of hybrid seed; such standards to be established by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Department" means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
"Distribute" means to import, consign, produce, mix, blend or condition seeds, or to offer for sale, sell, barter, warehouse or otherwise supply seeds in the Commonwealth.
"Distributor warehouse business" means a company owned, contracted, or operated business from which the company's seed is distributed to a wholesaler or retailer who usually makes payment directly to the company.
"Dormant seed" means viable seeds, other than hard seed which fail to germinate when provided the specified germination conditions for the kind of seed in question.
"Flower seeds" means by way of example, but not by way of limitation, seeds of herbaceous plants grown for their blooms, ornamental foliage, or other ornamental parts commonly known and sold under the name of flower seeds in the Commonwealth, and which from time to time shall be specified by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Germination" means the percentage by count of seeds under consideration, which are capable of producing normal seedlings in a given period of time, and under conditions specified by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Guarantor" means the person whose name appears on the label.
"Hard seeds" means seeds which, because of hardness or impermeability, do not absorb moisture, and germinate but remain hard during the period prescribed for germination by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Hybrid" means the first generation seed of a cross, produced by controlling the pollination, or by use of sterile lines, and combining (a) two, three, or four inbred lines, or (b) one inbred line, or a single cross, with an open-pollinated variety, or (c) two varieties or species, except open-pollinated varieties of corn.
"Inbred line" means a relatively stable and pure breeding strain, resulting from not less than four successive generations of controlled self-pollination; or four successive generations of backcrossing, in the case of male sterile lines.
"Inert matter" means all matter not seeds, and includes, but is not limited to, broken seeds, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, and stones, determined by methods prescribed by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Kind" means one or more related species or subspecies which singly or collectively are known by one common name, including, but not limited to, wheat, oats, hairy vetch, white sweet clover, cabbage, and cauliflower.
"Labeling" means all labels, and other written, printed, or graphic statements or representations, in any form whatsoever, accompanying or pertaining to any seed whether in bulk or in containers, and includes representations on invoices.
"Lawn and turf seeds" means the seeds of grasses commonly recognized and sold for lawns, recreational and utilitarian areas where turf is grown for beautification or erosion control.
"Lawn or turf seed mixture" means two or more kinds of agricultural seeds when combined and sold for lawns, recreational areas, and other areas where turf is grown for beautification or erosion control.
"Lot" means a definite quantity of seed, identified by a lot number or other identification, which is uniform throughout for the factors which appear on the label.
"Mixture" means seeds consisting of more than one kind or variety, when claimed or present, in excess of five percent of the whole.
"Name of mixture" means the name or term used to designate a particular specification of a lawn or turf seed mixture.
"Noncoded pedigree" means the usual designated combination of two or more symbols of letters or numbers, or letters and numbers, identifying the inbred lines or varieties combined to make a hybrid.
"Noxious-weed seeds" means "prohibited noxious-weed seeds" and "restricted noxious weed seeds", as such terms are defined below:
(a) "prohibited noxious-weed seeds" are the seeds of weeds which, when established, are highly destructive, and are not controlled in the Commonwealth by cultural practices commonly used.
(b) "restricted noxious-weed seeds" are the seeds of weeds which are very objectionable in fields, lawns and gardens in the Commonwealth and are difficult to control by cultural practices commonly used.
"Official certifying agency" means an agency recognized and designated as a certifying agency, by the laws of a state, the United States, a province of Canada, or the government of a foreign country wherein said seed were produced.
"Origin" means the state, Puerto Rico, or possession of the United States, or the foreign country, or designated portion thereof, where the seed was grown.
"Pack" means to condition and put into containers in order to preserve, transport or distribute.
"Pure seed" means agricultural or vegetable seeds, exclusive of inert matter, weed seeds, and all other seeds distinguishable from the kind, or kind and variety, being considered. Pure seed is to be determined by methods prescribed by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Quantity statement" means the net weight (mass), net volume (liquid or dry), count or other form of measurement of a commodity.
"Recognized variety name" and "recognized hybrid designation" mean the name or designation, (which may be symbols, letters or numbers), which was first assigned the variety or hybrid by the person who developed it, and first introduced it for production or sale.
"Registrant" means the person registering a lawn or turf seed mixture pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Retailer" means a person who sells any seed or mixture defined in this article to a consumer.
"Sale" means the transfer of ownership of seed, evidenced by exchange of payment, or seed, or payment and seed, in whole, or in part.
"Screenings" means, by way of example but not by way of limitation, seed, inert matter and other materials removed from agricultural or vegetable seed by cleaning or conditioning.
"Stop sale, use, removal, or seizure order" means an order which prohibits the distributor from selling, relocating, using, or disposing of a lot of seed, or portion thereof, in any manner, until the Commissioner or his agent, or the court gives written permission to sell, relocate, use or dispose of the lot of seed or portion thereof.
"Tolerance" means the allowable deviation from any figure, used on a label to designate the percentage of any fraction, or rate of occurrence, in the lot in question, and is based on the law of normal variation from a mean.
"Transgenetic" means any plant material, or seed produced from such plants, that has undergone the transfer of a gene from one genera to another.
"Treated" means that the seed has received an effective application of (i) a generally approved substance; or (ii) a process, such substance or process having been designed to control, or repel, certain disease organisms, insects or other pests, which attack such seeds or seedlings grown therefrom; or (iii) has received some other treatment to improve its planting value.
"Tree and shrub seeds" means by way of example, but not by way of limitation, seeds of woody plants commonly known and sold as tree and shrub seeds in the Commonwealth, and which from time to time shall be specified by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Variety" means a subdivision of a kind characterized by growth, plant, fruit, seed, or other characters by which it can be differentiated from other plants of the same kind.
"Vegetable seeds" means by way of example, but not by way of limitation, seeds of those crops which are grown in gardens and on truck farms, and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seed in the Commonwealth, and which from time to time shall be specified by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
"Weed seeds" means by way of example, but not by way of limitation, the seeds, bulblets or tubers of all plants generally recognized as weeds within the Commonwealth, and includes noxious-weed seeds.
"Wholesaler" means any person engaged in the business of selling seed to a retailer or jobber.
(Code 1950, § 3-219.2; 1958, c. 483; 1966, cc. 9, 702; 1994, c. 577.)
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