
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC1561]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
                            CHAPTER 37--SEEDS
 
                        SUBCHAPTER I--DEFINITIONS
 
Sec. 1561. Definition of terms

    (a) When used in this chapter--
        (1) The term ``United States'' means the several States, 
    District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
        (2) The term ``person'' includes a partnership, corporation, 
    company, society, or association.
        (3) The term ``interstate commerce'' means--
            (A) commerce between any State, Territory, possession, or 
        the District of Columbia, and any other State, Territory, 
        possession, or the District of Columbia; or
            (B) commerce between points within the same State, 
        Territory, or possession, or the District of Columbia, but 
        through any place outside thereof; or
            (C) commerce within the District of Columbia.

        (4) For the purposes of this chapter with respect to labeling 
    for treatment, variety and origin (but not in anywise limiting the 
    foregoing definition), seeds shall be considered to be in interstate 
    commerce, or delivered for transportation in interstate commerce, if 
    such seeds are part of, or delivered for transportation in, that 
    current of commerce usual in the transportation and/or merchandising 
    of seeds, whereby such seeds are sent from one State with the 
    expectation that they will end their transit in another, including, 
    in addition to cases within the above general description, all cases 
    where seeds are transported or delivered for transportation to 
    another State, or for processing or cleaning for seeding purposes 
    within the State and shipment outside the State of the processed or 
    cleaned seeds. Seeds normally in such current of commerce shall not 
    be considered out of such current through resort being had to any 
    means or device intended to remove transactions in respect thereto 
    from the provisions of this chapter.
        (5) The term ``foreign commerce'' means commerce between the 
    United States, its possessions, or any Territory of the United 
    States, and any foreign country.
        (6)(a) The term ``district court of the United States'' means 
    any court exercising the powers of a district court of the United 
    States,
        (b) Omitted
        (7) The term--
            (A) ``Agricultural seeds'' shall mean grass, forage, and 
        field crop seeds which the Secretary of Agriculture finds are 
        used for seeding purposes in the United States and which he 
        lists in the rules and regulations prescribed under section 1592 
        of this title.
            (B) ``Vegetable seeds'' shall include the seeds of those 
        crops that are or may be grown in gardens or on truck farms and 
        are or may be generally known and sold under the name of 
        vegetable seeds.

        (8) For the purpose of subchapter II of this chapter, the term 
    ``weed seeds'' means the seeds or bulblets of plants recognized as 
    weeds either by the law or rules and regulations of--
            (A) The State into which the seed is offered for 
        transportation, or transported; or
            (B) Puerto Rico, Guam, or District of Columbia into which 
        transported, or District of Columbia in which sold.

        (9)(A) For the purpose of subchapter II of this chapter, the 
    term ``noxious-weed seeds'' means the seeds or bulblets of plants 
    recognized as noxious--
            (i) by the law or rules and regulations of the State into 
        which the seed is offered for transportation, or transported;
            (ii) by the law or rules and regulations of Puerto Rico, 
        Guam, or the District of Columbia, into which transported, or 
        District of Columbia in which sold; or
            (iii) by the rules and regulations of the Secretary of 
        Agriculture under this chapter, when after investigation he 
        shall determine that a weed is noxious in the United States or 
        in any specifically designated area thereof.

        (B) For the purpose of subchapter III of this chapter, the term 
    ``noxious-weed seeds'' means the seeds of Lepidium draba L., 
    Lepidium repens (Schrenk) Boiss., Hymenophysa pubescens C. A., Mey., 
    white top; Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop., Canada thistle; Cuscuta spp., 
    dodder; Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv., quackgrass; Sorghum halepense 
    (L.) Pers., Johnson grass; Convolvulus arvensis L., bindweed; 
    Centaurea picris Pall., Russian knapweed; Sonchus arvensis L., 
    perennial sowthistle; Euphorbia esula L., leafy spurge; and seeds or 
    bulblets of any other kinds which after investigation the Secretary 
    of Agriculture finds should be included.
        (10) The term ``origin'' means the State, District of Columbia, 
    Puerto Rico, or possession of the United States, or the foreign 
    country, or designated portion thereof, where the seed was grown.
        (11) The term ``kind'' means one or more related species or 
    subspecies which singly or collectively is known by one common name, 
    for example, soybean, flax, carrot, radish, cabbage, cauliflower, 
    and so forth.
        (12) The term ``variety'' means a subdivision of a kind which is 
    characterized by growth, plant, fruit, seed, or other characters by 
    which it can be differentiated from other sorts of the same kind, 
    for example, Marquis wheat, Flat Dutch cabbage, Manchu soybeans, 
    Oxheart carrot, and so forth.
        (13) The term ``type'' means either (A) a group of varieties so 
    nearly similar that the individual varieties cannot be clearly 
    differentiated except under special conditions, or (B) when used 
    with a variety name means seed of the variety named which may be 
    mixed with seed of other varieties of the same kind and of similar 
    character, the manner of and the circumstances connected with the 
    use of the designation to be governed by rules and regulations 
    prescribed under section 1592 of this title.
        (14) The term ``germination'' means the percentage of seeds 
    capable of producing normal seedlings under ordinarily favorable 
    conditions (not including seeds which produce weak, malformed, or 
    obviously abnormal sprouts), determined by methods prescribed under 
    section 1593 of this title.
        (15) The term ``hard seeds'' means the percentage of seeds which 
    because of hardness or impermeability do not absorb moisture or 
    germinate under prescribed tests but remain hard during the period 
    prescribed for germination of the kind of seed concerned, determined 
    by methods prescribed under section 1593 of this title.
        (16) The term ``inert matter'' means all matter not seeds, and 
    includes among others broken seeds, sterile florets, chaff, fungus 
    bodies, and stones, determined by methods prescribed under section 
    1593 of this title.
        (17) The term ``label'' means the display or displays of 
    written, printed, or graphic matter upon or attached to the 
    container of seed.
        (18) The term ``labeling'' includes all labels, and other 
    written, printed, and graphic representations, in any form 
    whatsoever, accompanying and pertaining to any seed whether in bulk 
    or in containers, and includes invoices.
        (19) The term ``advertisement'' means all representations, other 
    than those on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means, 
    relating to seed within the scope of this chapter.
        (20) Subject to such tolerances as the Secretary of Agriculture 
    is authorized to prescribe under the provisions of this chapter--
            (A) the term ``false labeling'' means any labeling which is 
        false or misleading in any particular;
            (B) the term ``false advertisement'' means any advertisement 
        which is false or misleading in any particular.

        (21) The term ``screenings'' shall include chaff, sterile 
    florets, immature seed, weed seed, inert matter, and any other 
    materials removed in any way from any seeds in any kind of cleaning 
    or processing and which contain less than 25 per centum of live 
    agricultural or vegetable seeds.
        (22) The term ``in bulk'' refers to seed when loose either in 
    vehicles of transportation or in storage, and not to seed in bags or 
    other containers.
        (23) The term ``treated'' means given an application of a 
    substance or subjected to a process designed to reduce, control, or 
    repel disease organisms, insects or other pests which attack seeds 
    or seedlings growing therefrom.
        (24) The term ``seed certifying agency'' means (A) an agency 
    authorized under the laws of a State, Territory, or possession, to 
    officially certify seed and which has standards and procedures 
    approved by the Secretary (after due notice, hearings, and full 
    consideration of the views of farmer users of certified seed and 
    other interested parties) to assure the genetic purity and identity 
    of the seed certified, or (B) an agency of a foreign country 
    determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to adhere to procedures 
    and standards for seed certification comparable to those adhered to 
    generally by seed certifying agencies under (A).

(Aug. 9, 1939, ch. 615, title I, Sec. 101, 53 Stat. 1275; June 25, 1948, 
ch. 646, Sec. 1, 62 Stat. 870; Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 852, Sec. 1, 70 Stat. 
908; Pub. L. 85-581, Secs. 1-3, Aug. 1, 1958, 72 Stat. 476; Pub. L. 89-
686, Secs. 1-3, 19, Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 975, 979; Pub. L. 91-89, 
Sec. 1, Oct. 17, 1969, 83 Stat. 134; Pub. L. 97-439, Sec. 5(a), Jan. 8, 
1983, 96 Stat. 2288.)

                          Codification

    Section was enacted without a subsec. (b).
    Former subsec. (a)(6)(b), which extended the former term ``circuit 
court of appeals,'' in case the principal place of business or residence 
of the person against whom a cease and desist order was issued was in 
the District of Columbia, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia, for purposes of this chapter, has been omitted 
from the Code as obsolete due to the enactment of act June 25, 1948. The 
District of Columbia is now a judicial circuit under sections 41 and 43 
of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. See, also, Change of Name 
notes under sections 1599, 1600, and 1601 of this title.


                               Amendments

    1983--Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 97-439, Sec. 5(a)(1)(B), struck out 
``(A)'' before ``For the purpose of subchapter II of this chapter''.
    Subsec. (a)(8)(A). Pub. L. 97-439, Sec. 5(a)(1)(C), substituted 
``(A)'' for ``(i)'' before ``The State into which''.
    Subsec. (a)(8)(B). Pub. L. 97-439, Sec. 5(a)(1)(A), (D), substituted 
``(B)'' for ``(ii)'' before ``Puerto Rico, Guam, or District of 
Columbia'' and struck out a former subpar. (B) which had, for purposes 
of subchapter III, defined ``weed seeds'' to mean seeds or bulblets of 
plants found by Secretary to be detrimental to agricultural interests of 
the United States or any part thereof.
    Subsec. (a)(17). Pub. L. 97-439, Sec. 5(a)(2), redesignated par. 
(18) as (17). Former par. (17), which, for purposes of subchapter III, 
had defined ``pure live seed'' as the portion of any lot of seed subject 
to this chapter consisting of live agricultural or vegetable seed 
determined by methods prescribed under section 1593 of this title, was 
struck out.
    Subsec. (a)(18) to (25). Pub. L. 97-439, Sec. 5(a)(2), redesignated 
pars. (18) through (25) as (17) through (24), respectively.
    1969--Subsec. (a)(25). Pub. L. 91-89 inserted provision authorizing 
Secretary (after due notice, hearing, and full consideration of the 
views of interested parties) to approve of the standards and procedures 
of seed certifying agencies authorized under the laws of a State, 
Territory, or possession.
    1966--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 89-686, Sec. 1, struck out references 
to ``Alaska,'' and ``Hawaii,'' before and after ``District of 
Columbia,''.
    Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 89-686, Sec. 19, inserted ``treatment'' 
before ``variety''.
    Subsec. (a)(7)(A). Pub. L. 89-686, Sec. 2, redefined ``agricultural 
seeds'' to be such as are listed in rules and regulations rather than in 
statutory text as added to or taken therefrom pursuant to rules and 
regulations.
    Subsec. (a)(8)(A)(ii), (9)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 89-686, Sec. 1, struck 
out reference to ``Alaska, Hawaii,'' before ``Puerto Rico''.
    Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 89-686, Sec. 1, struck out references to 
``Alaska,'' and ``Hawaii,'' before and after ``District of Columbia,''.
    Subsec. (a)(11). Pub. L. 89-686, Sec. 3, substituted ``soybean, 
flax, carrot, radish'' for ``wheat, oat, vetch, sweetclover''.
    1958--Subsec. (a)(7)(A). Pub. L. 85-581, Sec. 1, included sugar 
beets in list of seeds subject to this chapter by striking out 
``excluding sugar beet'' after ``Beta vulgaris L.--Field beet''.
    Subsec. (a)(24). Pub. L. 85-581, Sec. 2, added par. (24).
    Subsec. (a)(25). Pub. L. 85-581, Sec. 3, added par. (25).
    1956--Subsec. (a)(8)(A)(ii). Act Aug. 1, 1956, Sec. 1(a), inserted 
``Guam'' after ``Puerto Rico''.
    Subsec. (a)(9)(A)(ii). Act Aug. 1, 1956, Sec. 1(b), inserted 
``Guam'' after ``Puerto Rico''.


                    Effective Date of 1958 Amendment

    Pub. L. 85-581, Sec. 16, provided that: ``This Act, and the 
amendments [amending sections 1561, 1562, 1571 to 1574, 1581, 1582, and 
1586 of this title] made hereby, shall take effect upon the date of 
enactment [Aug. 1, 1958].''


                             Effective Date

    See section 1610 of this title.


               Admission of Alaska and Hawaii to Statehood

    Alaska was admitted into the Union on Jan. 3, 1959, on issuance of 
Proc. No. 3269, Jan. 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, and Hawaii was 
admitted into the Union on Aug. 21, 1959, on issuance of Proc. No. 3309, 
Aug. 21, 1959, 24 F.R. 6868, 73 Stat. c74. For Alaska Statehood Law, see 
Pub. L. 85-508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 339, set out as a note preceding 
section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions. For Hawaii 
Statehood Law, see Pub. L. 86-3, Mar. 18, 1959, 73 Stat. 4, set out as a 
note preceding section 491 of Title 48.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 1571 of this title.
