Below standard went unlabeled
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How it happens
Most garden seed packets show no germination percentage, which is lawful because they are under a pound and at or above standard. Treating that as a general rule rather than a conditional one is the mistake.
The condition is per crop
7 CFR 201.31 sets a different minimum for each kind. A 60 percent result clears parsley at 60 and fails lettuce at 80. There is no single threshold to remember, which is why the table has to be consulted each time.
What was then missing
The words "Below Standard" in a conspicuous place at 8 points or larger, the percentage of germination, and the percentage of hard seed if any. Three omissions from one unchecked comparison.
And the fix is a reprint
Because the disclosure has a minimum type size and a conspicuous placement requirement, it is not something a sticker on the back reliably satisfies. Catching it before the print order is the whole saving.
A retest can create the problem
A lot at standard when first tested can be below it when retested months later. The label was correct when printed and is not correct now, which is a sequence worth anticipating.
It is a disclosure, not a disqualification
Below-standard seed can be sold with the disclosure. The temptation to quietly ship it unlabeled or to write off the lot both misread the rule, and the disclosure is cheaper than either.
Check the table at the same moment you get the result
The laboratory gives you a percentage; the table turns it into a labeling decision. Doing both in one step, recorded together, is what stops this.
The exception reads like a norm
Because almost every packet on a garden center rack shows no percentage, the absence looks like the standard practice rather than a conditional exemption that happened to apply. That is the real cause, and it is cultural rather than technical.