Definitions for terms used in this chapter and in chapters 16-301 and 16-303 WAC may be found in chapter 15.49 RCW, Seeds. For the purposes of these chapters, the following definitions shall apply unless otherwise provided for in law or rule:
"Agricultural seed" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, includes grass, forage, cereal, oil, fiber, and other kinds of crop seeds commonly recognized within this state as agricultural seeds, lawn seeds, and combination of such seeds, and may include common and restricted noxious weed seeds but not prohibited noxious weed seeds.
"AOSA" means the Association of Official Seed Analysts.
"AOSCA" means the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies.
"Approved trial grounds" means a specific parcel of land approved by the director for experimental or limited production or increase of seed.
"Bean" means common beans and adzuki beans.
"Blend" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seed consisting of more than one variety of a species, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.
"Blending" as related to this chapter shall be the process of commingling two or more lots of seed to form one lot of uniform quality of the same crop kind.
"Breeder seed" as defined in the Federal Seed Act at 7 C.F.R. § 201.2, is a class of certified seed directly controlled by the originating or sponsoring plant breeding institution, or person, or designee thereof, and is the source of the production of seed of the other classes of certified seed.
"Bulk seed" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seed distributed in a nonpackage form.
"Buyer" means a person who purchases seeds.
"Certifying agency" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means:
(a) An agency authorized under the laws of any state, territory, or possession to certify seed officially and which has standards and procedures approved by the United States Secretary of Agriculture to assure the genetic purity and identity of the seed certified; or
(b) An agency of a foreign country determined by the United States Secretary of Agriculture to adhere to procedures and standards for seed certification comparable to those adhered to generally by seed-certifying agencies under (a) of this subsection.
"Certification" is a process to verify crop and seed genetic purity through inspection and testing to meet standards published in the Standards Handbook.
"Certified seed" as defined in the Federal Seed Act at 7 C.F.R. § 201.2, means a class of certified seed which is the progeny of Breeder, Foundation, or Registered seed, except as provided in 7 C.F.R. § 201.70, and is produced and handled under procedures established by the department or certifying agency for producing the Certified class of seed, for the purpose of maintaining genetic purity and identity. It appears in an abbreviated form as CERT or Certified.
"Coated seed" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seed that has been treated and has received an application of inert material during the treatment process.
"Common bean" means Phaseolus vulgaris L. and all bean type species that are susceptible bean quarantine pests of concern.
"Complete record" means any and all information which relates to the origin, treatment, germination and purity (including variety) of each lot of seed. Records include seed samples and records of declaration, labels, purchases, sales, cleaning, bulking, treatment, handling, storage, analyses, tests and examinations.
"Conditioning" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means drying, cleaning, scarifying, and other operations that could change the purity or germination of the seed and require the seed lot to be retested to determine the label information.
"Cultivar" is hereinafter to be considered synonymous with variety or germplasm entity.
"Dealer" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means any person who distributes seeds.
"Department" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means the department of agriculture of the state of Washington or its duly authorized representative.
"Director" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means the director of the department of agriculture.
"Distribute" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means to import, consign, offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, barter, or otherwise supply seed in this state.
"Federal Seed Act (FSA)" means the Federal Seed Act found at 7 U.S.C. 1551-1611 as amended, and its implementing regulations.
"Field standards" means the tolerances permitted as determined by established field inspection procedures.
"Fiscal year" means the 12-month period from July 1st through June 30th.
"Flower seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, include seeds of herbaceous plants grown for their blooms, ornamental foliage, or other ornamental parts, and commonly known and sold as flower seeds in this state.
"Foundation seed" as defined in the Federal Seed Act at 7 C.F.R. § 201.2, is a class of certified seed which is the progeny of Breeder or Foundation seed and is produced and handled under procedures established by the department or certifying agency for producing the Foundation class of seed, for the purpose of maintaining genetic purity and identity. It appears in an abbreviated form as FND or Foundation.
"Genetic purity" means the application of standards for certain phenotypic traits relative to the developer's description of the variety or germplasm. It is not to imply verification of genotype or verification of all described traits.
"Germination" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means the emergence and development from the seed embryo of those essential structures which, for the kind of seed in question, are indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions.
"Grower" means any person who produces directly or through a growing contract, or is a seed-crop sharer in seed which is sold, offered for sale, transported, or offered for transportation.
"Hard seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seeds that remain hard at the end of the prescribed test period because they have not absorbed water due to an impermeable seed coat.
"Hybrid" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means the first generation seed of a cross produced by controlling the pollination and by combining (a) two or more inbred lines; (b) one inbred or a single cross with an open pollinated variety; or (c) two varieties or species, except open-pollinated varieties of corn (Zea mays). The second generation or subsequent generations from such crosses are not regarded as hybrids. Hybrid designations must be treated as variety names.
"Inert matter" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means all matter not seed, that includes broken seeds, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, and stones as determined by methods defined by rule.
"Interagency certification" means the participation of two or more official certifying agencies in performing the services required to certify the same lot or lots of seed.
"Inspector" is an individual employed by either WSDA or WSCIA with specific training in procedures, techniques, and seed crop knowledge to secure great accuracy for an objective observation of seed visual quality and/or seed crop purity based upon federal visual phytosanitary or state seed certification standards. The individual is both sound in judgments, impartial, and adequately trained to determine the merits of the seed inspection and/or field.
"Isolation standards" means the distance in feet from any contaminating source (i.e., distance from other fields of same species or different species that cross pollinate).
"Kind" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means one or more related species or subspecies that singly or collectively is known by one common name, for example, corn, oats, alfalfa, and timothy.
"Label" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, includes a tag or other device attached to or written, stamped, or printed on any container or accompanying any lot of bulk seeds purporting to set forth the information required on the seed label by chapter 15.49 RCW, and may include other information including the requirement for mediation.
"Land standards" means the number of years that must elapse between the destruction of a stand of a kind, and establishment of a stand of a specified class of a variety of the same kind (i.e., number of years out of production of same crop kind).
"Lot" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number or other mark, every portion or bag of which is uniform within permitted tolerances for the factors which appear in the labeling. It appears in this chapter as "lot of seed" and/or "seed lot."
"Mixture, mixed, or mix" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seed consisting of more than one species, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.
"No standard" means there are no published minimum standards for seed certification. It appears in an abbreviated form as NS.
"None found" is used on reports when that test or observation was conducted, and nothing was found. It appears in an abbreviated form as NF.
"Nursery" means an area of two acres or less in which grass for seed production is seeded in rows with 24 inch minimum spacing to facilitate roguing.
"OECD" means the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development certification scheme.
"Off-type" as defined in the Federal Seed act at 7 C.F.R. § 201.2, means a plant or seed which deviates in one or more characteristics from that which has been described in accordance with § 201.68(c) as being usual for the strain or variety.
"Official certificate" means a document issued by an official testing agency including, but not limited to, seed certification tags, bulk seed certification certificates, phytosanitary certificates, laboratory sanitary certificates, reports and other letters or memos, tags, stamps, or similar documents certifying seed quality, purity, or condition.
"Official sample" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means any sample taken and designated as official by the department.
"Official seed laboratory" means a seed testing laboratory approved by the director such as, but not limited to, Washington State Seed Laboratory, 21 N 1st Avenue, Yakima, Washington; Idaho State Seed Laboratory, Boise, Idaho; and Oregon State Seed Laboratory, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
"Open pollinated" means seed produced as a result of natural pollination as opposed to hybrid seed produced as a result of controlled pollination.
"Origin" means the county within the state of Washington, or the state, territory, or country where a specific seed lot was grown.
"Other crop seed" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seed of plants grown as crops, other than the kind or variety included in the pure seed, as determined by methods defined by rule.
"PNW" is an acronym for Pacific Northwest which is defined as the geographic region to include Washington, Idaho, and Oregon states.
"PVG" means pre-variety germplasm representing plant species seed which may be collected on native or naturalized sites for the purpose of replication and may be entered into seed certification when meeting eligibility requirements.
"PVP" means a plant variety protection for seed material that is developed by an owner and protected by the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) by providing legal intellectual property rights and protection to breeders of new varieties of plants which are sexually reproduced (by seed) or tuber-propagate. The Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) reviews applications and grants certificates that protect varieties for 20 years.
"Person" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means an individual, partnership, corporation, company, association, receiver, trustee, or agent.
"Prohibited (primary) noxious weed seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, are the seeds of weeds which when established are highly destructive, competitive, and/or difficult to control by cultural or chemical practices.
"Proprietary variety" means that crop variety for which a person has exclusive production and/or marketing rights.
"Pure live seed (PLS)" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means the product of the percent of germination plus hard or dormant seed multiplied by the percent of pure seed divided by 100. The result is expressed as a whole number.
"Pure seed" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means seed exclusive of inert matter and all other seeds not of the seed being considered as determined by methods defined by rule.
"Purity" means the name or names of the kind, type, or variety and the percentage or percentages thereof; the percentage of other agricultural seed; the percentage of weed seeds, including noxious weed seeds; the percentage of inert matter; and the names of the noxious weed seeds and the rate of occurrence of each.
"Registered seed" as defined in the Federal Seed Act at 7 C.F.R. § 201.2, is a class of certified seed which is the progeny of Breeder or Foundation seed and is produced and handled under procedures established by the department or certifying agency for producing the Registered class of seed, for the purpose of maintaining genetic purity and identity. It appears in an abbreviated form as REG or Registered.
"Restricted (secondary) noxious weed seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, are the seeds of weeds which are objectionable in fields, lawns, and gardens of this state, but which can be controlled by cultural or chemical practices.
"Representative sample" means a sample drawn in accordance with sampling procedures adopted in WAC 16-301-095.
"Screenings" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, mean chaff, seed, weed seed, inert matter, and other materials removed from seed in cleaning or conditioning.
"Seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means agricultural or vegetable seeds, or other seeds as determined by rules adopted by the department.
"Seed labeling permit" means a permit issued by the department pursuant to RCW 15.49.400 to a person labeling seed for distribution in this state.
"Seed program advisory committee" means a committee of representatives from the small grains, pea, lentil, bean, vegetable, small seeded legumes, hemp, sunflower, and grass seed industries selected by the program manager in consultation with the industry.
"Seed standards" means the tolerances permitted as determined by established seed inspection procedures. Seed standards for the purpose of production of certified seed are listed in chapter 16-302 WAC by crop or kind.
"Serology" means precipitation, agglutination, immunodiffusion, or labeled antibody test methods (such as ELISA) that use the specificity of antigen-antibody reactions to detect and identify antigenic substances and the organisms such as viruses and bacteria that carry viruses.
"Stock seed" means breeders, prebasic, or like initial generation of seed.
"Stop sale, use, or removal order" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means an administrative order restraining the sale, use, disposition, and movement of a specific amount of seed.
"Sudangrass" means Sorghum bicolor x drummondii.
"Top cross" means the first generation of a cross of an open pollinated variety with either an inbred line, a foundation backcross, or a foundation single cross.
"Treated" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means that the seed has received an application of a substance, or that it has been subjected to a process for which a claim is made.
"Type" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means a group of varieties so nearly similar that the individual varieties cannot be clearly differentiated except under special conditions.
"Variety" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, means a subdivision of a kind that is distinct, uniform, and stable; "distinct" in the sense that the variety can be differentiated by one or more identifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics from all other varieties of public knowledge; "uniform" in the sense that variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are describable; and "stable" in the sense that the variety will remain unchanged in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its uniformity when reproduced or reconstituted as required by the different categories of varieties.
"Varietal identity" defined as, and limited to, the verification of the identity of a variety, cultivar, or germplasm entity through (a) documentation of the pedigree, i.e., tracing the particular cycle of reproduction back to its origins with the developer, and (b) the application of the developer's variety/germplasm description for certain visible, phenotypic traits in field inspections and seed laboratory analysis.
"Vegetable seeds" as defined in RCW 15.49.011, includes the seeds of those crops that are grown in gardens and on truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable or herb seeds in this state.
"United States" means the several states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
"University" means the Washington State University.
"USDA" means the United States Department of Agriculture.
"WSCIA" means the Washington state crop improvement association.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 15.49.005, [15.49].021, [15.49].310, [15.49].370, 15.140.030, and chapter 15.49 RCW. WSR 25-09-035, s 16-302-006, filed 4/9/25, effective 5/10/25.]