Act on Seed Trade (No. 669 of 1975)

No 669 Seed Trade Act Promulgated in Helsinki on Augu~t 25, 1975 The following is decreed in accordance with a decision by Parliament: § 1 This Act is concerned with imports, sales and exports of field and horticultural plant seed. The Act shall only apply to the sale of seed by the grower himself, however, when the sale occurs publicly. Whatever this Act prescribes regarding the sale of seed shall also be valid when seed is otherwise surrendered for contract cultivation. Seed refers to the seeds of plants mentioned under paragraph 1 inten ded for sowing or planting, and other propagation material. What is meant by the public sale of seed will be prescribed by statute. § 2 Compliance with this Act and the regulations and orders issued under .it shall be supervised by the State Seed Te~ting Station and the National Board of Agriculture and, on the latter's orders, by the agricultural office~ of agricultural districts and municipal agricul tural boards. Apart from the aforementioned authorities, compliance with prohibitions and re~trictions relating to imports and exports of seed shall also be supervi~ed by the Customs Office. Advisory agricultural organizations can be u~ed to assi~t with supervision. § 3 He who intends to engage in the kind of activity referred to under paragraph 1 of § 1, should give notice of this to the State Seed Testing Station at least one month before starting operations.Notifi cation is not required, however, if sales involve only seed which is packed in retailing packages and about which the buyer is provided the information referred to under paragraph 1 of § 11 by another party requiren to give notice, nor when the grower only occasionally sells seed produced by himself publicly. § ~. The Ministry o~ Abriculture and Forestry may decide what seed shall be allowed on retail sale on the basis of a per'1it referred to under paragraph 2, packed in r-e t.a Ll.Lng P?J"~"'~""~: " ..... pa« dDced and packed under supervision of the State Seed Testing Station. The packing permit referred to above under paragraph 1 shall be gran ted by the National Board of Agriculture. The permit may be granted if the applicant fo~ the pcZ"'mit has the necessary eq~?'jent and skilled staff at his dinpos~l a~d the applicu~t also meets the other condi tions required fo~ the proper cischarg0 cf packing. The National Board of Agricult~re m~y cancel a granted permit when the conditions for granting it no longer ex~st or when the receiver of the permit or the pe~son othe~~ice res?oncible £or packing has been convicted and sentenced for violation of this Act or regulatiuns and orders issued uncier l t. S .3 The person req~irod to ~~ve notice rAferred to above under § 3 and the p~cker re~e~red to under § 4 shall keep books, which provide the information necessary for supervision, in accorQ~nce with instructions issued ~y t~e Min~~try of Agriculture and Forestry. § 6 Imported seed sh~ll be kept ~n a place approved by the State Seed Testing S'ta t r.ori urrt a L .J.;he Seed Te£-ting Sta.tion has carried out an inspectio~ of it on the b~sis of a saffiple, or in some other way, or has given notice t~ut the cca~'l.::.res ~entioneci ~ill not be carried out. The importer s~all r-c por-t the ~;.r.:por.t? tio:l to the State Seed Testing Station in g ocd t~:·c. In carryi.~1.g out the ~nspection tih o Seed Testi:l.g Station shall be entitled to receive service assistance fron other authorities. Seed, which is f'o und -;;0 be unfit for i:'!:?crtntion d ur Lng the inspection, shall be ~et"rned or destroyed by the inporter, or some other proce dure approved by the !:inis~ry 0f Lcricu~turo and r.o~estry shall be acoptcd ~ith Z"'egarr. to it. The Natior.al Boa~d of Agr~culture can require that imported seed be appropriately mar-ked wh en it is necessary to distinquish it from correspo~di~g finnish £eed. § 7 The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry may, on h~vir.G cvnsulted the National Board of Agriculture. issue prohibitions a •.r': restrictions regarding imports or exports of seed l)"!+':' ~·· .... +:r.er notice or for a fixed period. A condition for issuing a properties of its species and ~6riety, are such that they are unsuitable for cultivation in Fin land ot that their importation would result in the spread of pests or harm~l weeds. A condition for issuing a prohibition or restriction on exports is that unrestricted exports result in a shortage of Seed in Finland. The Ministry of Agric~lture and Forestry may, o~ application, grant exceptions to the probibition referred to under p~r~graph 1. § 8 The National Board of' J.gricul t ur-c ch.a Ll, keep a list of the varieties of the most icport~nt pl~nt species, the cultivcticn of which has proved to be pr~ctical. The Ministry of A~-ricultLlre and Foz-o s t r y r..:c.:y decide in the case of' particular plant species that o~ly seed cf varieties entered in the list ref'erred to under p~ragr2ph 1 cay be offered fo~ sale. For speci f'ic . reaso::s t~~e M; nistry of kg-ric :11ture arid Fo r-e s t r-y z.ay , on appli cation, grant an e xc ep t Lon to th::::; z-cs t zLcv.a or; , The Ministry of' Agriculture and ForeGtr:,r shall c.ppo Lrrt a plant varieties co~~ittee for three yeurs ~t a time, whose tack is to submit proposals to the Nation~l Bo~~d of Agriculture regarding plant varie ties to be included in tae list referred to under paragraph 1. The State Seed Tecting Station experireental and counselling services, growers producing seed and those using then, the foodstuffs industry, horticulture and the seed trade shall be represented on the committee. § 9 Of' the plant species and v~rietios referred to under pQr~graph 1 of' § 8, only seed froe the plant b~eecer~s b~ce1ing stock or f'rom among the varieties appr07ed by the Stnte Seed Testing Station and pro'-u~ed in accordance with the quality Cl3ssification syste~, the basic principles of which shall be laid d own by decree, may be offered for sale. The National Board of Agriculture wsy, however, if the 4. availability of an adequate supply of seed for sale is considered to require it, decide that seed of the kind referred to under paragraph I of § 8, produced other than in accordance witL the quality classifi cation system, may be offered for sale. § 10 The National Board of Agriculture shall lay down quality requirements for the most important seeds. Seed, which does not meet the quality requirements shall not be sold or otherwise surrendered for use as seed. The National Board of Agriculture may, however, for specific reasons, permit the sale or surrender of seed which does not meet the quality requirements set. § 11 The seller shall provide the buyer information on the seed offered for sale, as stipulated by statute. The information shall be based on an inspection carried out by the State Seed Testing Station, which shall be carried out, unless the State Seed Testing Station directs otherwise, o~ ~ sample taken of the goods by a person authorized by the Station. In the case of seed imported fro~ abroad, the State Seed Testing Station may accept that the buyer be given information pr~vi­ ded by a foreign ~uthority. The National Board of Agriculture may also entitle the seller to prOVide the information referred to under paragraph 1 on the basis of an inspection carried out by the seed-testing laboratory of the State Granary. § 12 A buyer, who seeks assurance that the seed purchased complies with the information provided cn it, shall send, within the time limit laid down by statute, a sample taken by a sa~pler authorised by the State Seed Testing Station to that Station for investigation. Notification of the time and place where the sample is to be taken shall be ~ade to the seller or his repreEBntative, who shall be entit led to be present when the sample is taken. The National Board of Agriculture shall lay down the permissible tole rance for inspection results in a post-control of seed of the kind referred to under pragraph 1. The buyer is not obliget to accept delivery of goods, which, c orre Lde r-Lng the tolert .ic e d..) not comply with the information provided. § 13 The investigations and inspections referred to under this Act shall be paid for by charges to be laid down by statute, which Shall be determined in accordance with the general principles prescribed by the Act (980/73) on the basis for charge~ by the State, promulgated on December 29, 1973. No charges shall be levied, however, when the investigation or inspection is carried out on the initiative of the contro] authorities. § 14 For purposes of supervising compliance with this Act and the regula tions and orders issued under itt the control authorities shall be entitled to access to areas under crops for seed and to places where seed in cleaned, packed, stored and sold, to take samples of seed for examination purposes free of charge, to inspect the books kept on trade in seed and, when the seed does not meet the conditions prescribed for sale by this Act, toprohibit sale of the seed and provide the goods with a seal or mark of the State Seed TestingStation in order to prevent sale. The prohibition shall be in force until the State Seed Testing Station, to which a sample of the suspected seed shall be sent i~~ediate1y, has confirmed that the seed complies with the information provided on it. For the purposes mentioned under paragraph 1, representatives of the control authorities are also entitled to access to any cultivation or area located close to the seed crop being inspected, which may bear upon approval of the area under crops for seed, and to take any sample necessary from there. In such cases, however, no more damage or harm shall be causEd than that unavoidable in carrying out the task. The representative of the control authorities shall mot divulge to others any business or professional secrets he may come to know in the course of carrying out his duties. 6. § 15 If anyone violates this Act or the regulations and orders issued under it, he shall be sentenced, unless a more evere sentence is prescribed for the act elsewhere in law, to a fine or, if the cir cumstances involved are very aggravating, to a maximum prisen sentence of six months. Furthermore, the seed and its packaging or part of the goods or its value may be sentenced to forfeiture by the State. Notification of initiation of legal proceedingd for a violation of the kind referred to under paragraph 1 is carried out on behalf of the State by State Seed Testing Station. When the violation is minor, however, the State Seed Testing Station may omit such notification. § 16 Any damage sustained by the user of the seed as a result of the fact that the seed does not comply with the information provided on it, shall be compensated for by the seed processor and packer of the goods. The same responsibility falls on the seller if he has caused the damage through carelessness. § 17 More detailed directives regarding enforcement of this Act shall be issued by statute. § 18 'This Act shall come into force on September 1, 1975, and it repeais the Act (148/37) on imports, exports and sales of seed promulgated on April 9, 1937 and the regulations and orders issued under it. He who, at the moment of this Act's coming into force, is engaged in the kind of activity referred to under § 3, shall give the notice referred to under said clause to the State Seed Testing Station , within three months of the Act's coming into force. Helsinki, August 25, 1975 Urho Kekkonen President of the Republic Weikko Ihamuotila Minister of Agriculture and Forestry