Tools and directories

The check, before the packets are printed

Updated October 2026

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One: when was the germination test completed?Two: does the result meet the standard for the crop?Three: what does a filled container weigh?Four: is it hermetically sealed, and can you prove it?Five: has the seed been treated?Then record the window per lot And keep retained samples References

Five questions. Four of them have to be answered before anything is printed, because each one changes the label.

One: when was the germination test completed?

Month and year, from the laboratory report. The window runs from the last day of that month: five calendar months to interstate shipment, or twenty-four if the seed is in a hermetically sealed container and the test preceded packaging.

Two: does the result meet the standard for the crop?

Look it up in 7 CFR 201.31. Carrot 55, lettuce 80, turnip 80, pepper 55, and about seventy-five entries. At or above and under a pound, the percentage and date need not appear; below it, "Below Standard" does, at 8 points or larger.

Three: what does a filled container weigh?

Weighed, not computed from capacity, because seed density varies by crop. Over one pound the germination figures and a lot number are required regardless of the standard. The same jar can be on either side for two different crops.

Four: is it hermetically sealed, and can you prove it?

That is a question about your filled package and your sealing process, not about a closure part number. If the twenty-four month window is part of the plan, settle it before the production schedule depends on it.

Five: has the seed been treated?

If so, the label carries the treatment disclosure in type no smaller than 8 point with the substance or process named, and more where the residue is harmful. If you are repackaging, get that information from the supplier in writing.

Then record the window per lot

Lot, crop, test month, window end date, sealed or not. Nothing in the warehouse signals the date passing, and a calendar is the only control that works.

And keep retained samples

Sealed from each packing run, stored as the stock is stored, and germinated later. The laboratory tested your seed; a retained sample tests your package, and only one of those is under your control.

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 CFR 201.29 and 201.29a. Vegetable seed in containers of 1 pound or less that equals or betters the 201.31 standard need not show the germination percentage or date of test; below standard it carries "Below Standard" conspicuously in type no smaller than 8 points plus the percentage and hard seed. Over 1 pound, every variety shows the germination percentage and hard seed. law.cornell.edu

7 CFR 201.31, Minimum germination standards for vegetable seeds in interstate commerce, established under section 403(c) of the Act: carrot 55, celery 55, pepper 55, onion 70, tomato 75, radish 75, cucumber 80, lettuce 80, pea 80, turnip 80, and around seventy more by crop. law.cornell.edu

7 CFR 201.31a, Labeling treated seed, which requires type no smaller than 8 point to indicate that the seed has been treated and to name the substance or process, with additional statements where the substance remaining with the seed is harmful to humans or other vertebrate animals. 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.