Seeds Division

THE SEEDS RULES, 1968

1. Short title. These rules may be called the Seeds Rules, 1968.

2. Definitions. In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) Act means the Seeds Act, 1966 (54 of 1966);

(b) advertisement means all representations other than those on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means relating to seed for the purposes of the Act;

(c) certification sample means a sample of seed drawn by a certification agency or by a duly authorised representative of a certification agency established under section 8 or recognized under section 18 of the Act;

(d) certification tag means a tag or label of certain design to be specified by the certification agency and shall constitute the certificate granted by the certification agency;

(e) certified seed means seed that fulfils all requirements for certification provided by the Act and these rules and to the container of which the certification tag is attached;

(f) certified seed producer means a person who grow or distributes certified seed in accordance with the procedure and standards of the certification agency;

(g) complete record means the information which relates to the origin, variety, kind, germination and purity of seed of any notified kind or variety offered for sale, sold or otherwise supplied;

(h) form means a form appended to these rules;

(i) origin means the State, Union Territory or foreign country where the seed is grown and in case seeds of different origin are blended the label shall show the percentage of seed of each origin;

(j) processing means cleaning, drying, treating, grading and other operations which would change the purity and germination of the seed and thus requiring re-testing to determine the quality of the seed, but does not include operations such as packaging and labelling;

(k) section means a section of the Act;

(l) service sample means a sample submitted to the Central Seed Laboratory or to a State Seed Laboratory for testing, the results to be used as information for seeding, selling or labelling purposes;

(m) treated means that the seed has been subjected to an application of a substance or process in such a manner as to reduce, control or repel certain disease organisms, insects, or any other pests attacking such seeds or seedlings growing therefrom and for other purposes.

PART II Central Seed Committee

3. Functions of the Central Seed Committee. In addition to the functions entrusted to the Committee by the Act, the Committee shall,-

(a) recommend the rate of fees to be levied for analysis of samples by the Central and State Seed Testing Laboratories and for certification by the certification agencies;

(b) advise the Central or State Governments on the suitability of seed testing laboratories;

(c) send its recommendations and other concerning records to the Central Government;

(d) recommend the procedure and standards for certification, tests and analysis of seeds; and

(e) carry out such other functions as are supplemental, incidental or consequential to any of the functions conferred by the Act or these rules.

4. Travelling and Daily Allowances Payable to Members of the Committee and its sub-Committees. The members of the committee and its sub-committees shall be entitled to draw travelling and daily allowances as specified below when they are called upon to attend a meeting of the committee or a sub-committee thereof:

(a) An official member of the committee or its sub-committees shall be entitled to draw travelling and daily allowances in accordance with the rules of the Government under which he is for the time being employed and from the same source from which his pay and allowances are drawn.

(b) A non-official member shall be allowed travelling and daily allowances in accordance with the general orders issued in this behalf by the Central Government from time to time.