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Seed storage
All Containers›Shop by use case›Seed storage›The test date›Hermetically sealed, and what that asks of a packageShop all seed and propagation →
The test date

Hermetically sealed, and what that asks of a package

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated

On this page8
The twenty-four months rests on two words, and they describe a finished package rather than a part.

What it is being asked to do

The statutory logic is viability: container materials and conditions that will maintain the viability of the seed under ordinary conditions of handling for the longer period. A seal that keeps moisture and air out is the mechanism.

Why moisture is the variable

Dry, dormant seed keeps; seed that takes up moisture resumes metabolism and loses viability. The reason the rule credits the package is that the package is what controls that exchange.

What a screw cap does and does not do

A cap with a compressed gasket seals while it is on and tight, and it is opened and closed. That is a closure, and whether it produces a hermetic package is a question about the assembly, not about the cap.

Induction seals are the realistic route on this shelf

A foil membrane bonded to the container land stays sealed with the cap off and is visibly broken once opened. 64 of the 235 closures here carry an HIS liner, and it requires a sealing machine rather than a torque setting.

What we do not stock

No foil pouches and no seamed cans, which are the formats most associated with hermetically sealed seed. If that is your package, this is not the shelf for it, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.

And we do not certify packages

We publish material, neck finish and liner on every item. Whether your filled, sealed package qualifies for the twenty-four month window is a question for your own testing and your closure supplier, and no part number answers it.

Decide it before you plan the season

The whole value of the long window is being able to test once and pack for two seasons. That is a production plan, and it depends on a packaging capability you either have or need to acquire.

References

7 CFR 201.30a, Date of test, which allows no more than 5 calendar months between the last day of the month the germination test was completed and the date of transportation in interstate commerce, except for seed in hermetically sealed containers, where it is 24 calendar months from a test completed prior to packaging. law.cornell.edu
7 U.S.C. 1571, the Federal Seed Act’s prohibited acts. Subsection (b) sets the label content for vegetable seed by container weight and by whether germination meets the established standard; subsection (c) sets the five-month test window and lets the Secretary designate a longer period for seed "packaged in such container materials and under such other conditions" as will maintain viability. law.cornell.edu
Written from federal statute and regulation, not from a seed bench. Every state also runs its own seed law, and the Federal Seed Act reaches interstate commerce, so a local sale can answer to a different set of requirements. Nothing here certifies a package as hermetically sealed; that is a question about the package and the sealing process.