United States Agricultural Livestock, Seed Regulatory and Testing Division 

Department of Marketing Poultry, and 801 Summit Crossing Place, Suite C 

Agriculture Service Seed Program Gastonia, NC 28054-2193 

 704-810-8871, FAX 704-852-4189 

 www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/fsa 

 

 

 

September	2017	–	Labeling	Requirements	for	Chemically	Treated	Seed	 Page	1	

LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICALLY TREATED SEED

FSA DEFINITION OF TREATED SEED

Act Section 101(23); The term “treated” means given an application of a substance or subjected to a 

process designated to reduce, control, or repel disease organisms or other pest, which attack seeds or 

seedlings growing there from. 

TOXICITY CATEGORY I SEED TREATMENTS

The Federal Seed Act (FSA) and FSA regulations refer to the most toxic class of seed treatments as 

“mercurials and similarly toxic substances.” The current classification used by the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) for this class of chemicals with toxicity similar to mercurial compounds is 

Toxicity Category I. FSA Regulations section 20131a (c) has been updated to include EPA Toxicity 

Category I. 

REQUIRED LABELING INFORMATION

There are three issues to be considered when labeling chemically treated seed: (1) labeling the 

treatment name, (2) labeling seed treated with a chemical not assigned to Toxicity Category I by the 

(EPA), and (3) labeling seed treated with a Toxicity Category I chemical. 

Section 201(i) of the Federal Seed Act (FSA) and Section 201.31a of the FSA regulations contain 

requirements for labeling chemically treated seed. Section 201.31a (a) of the FSA regulations requires 

agricultural and vegetable seeds that are chemically treated to be labeled with the name of the 

treatment. Examples of appropriate labeling include, “Treated with (name of substance or process)” or 

“(name of substance or process) treated.” Section 201.31a (b) of the FSA regulations requires the name 

of the treatment to be the “commonly accepted coined, chemical (generic), or abbreviated chemical 

name.” Examples of appropriate names include thiram and captan. Therefore, “Treated with Thiram” 

or “Thiram Treated” would be appropriate labeling. 

Section 201.31a (d) of the FSA regulations requires seed treated with a chemical not assigned to 

Toxicity Category I by EPA to be labeled with, “Do not use for food,” “Do not use for feed,” “Do not 

use for oil purposes,” or “Do not use for food, feed, or oil purposes,” if the amount remaining with the 

seed is harmful to humans or other vertebrate animals. The most commonly used labeling for seed with 

these types of seed treatments is “Treated with (name of substance)” and “Do not use for food, feed, or 

oil purposes.” 

Section 201.31a (c) (1) of the FSA regulations state, “Seed treated with a mercurial or similarly toxic 

substance, if any amount remains with the seed, shall be labeled to show a representation of a skull and 

crossbones at least twice the size of the type used for information required to be on the label under the 

paragraph (a) and shall also include the red letters on a background of distinctly contrasting color a 
September	2017	–	Labeling	Requirements	for	Chemically	Treated	Seed	 Page	2	

statement worded substantially as follows:” “This seed has been treated with Poison,” “Treated with 

Poison,” “Poison treated,” or “Poison.” The word “Poison” shall appear in type no less than 8 point. 

Products assigned Toxicity Category I based on oral, inhalation, or dermal toxicity by the EPA 

regulations are considered similar in toxicity to mercurials. This means that if a chemical is sold 

in a package or container labeled with a skull and crossbones and the word “Poison,” seed to 

which this chemical has been applied must also be labeled with a skull and crossbones and the 

word “Poison” even though the amount of the chemical applied to the seed is minimal. 

 

Appropriate labeling for seed treated with a Toxicity Category I chemical would be, “Treated 

with (name of substance),” the word “Poison” in red letters, and a depiction of a skull and 

crossbones. 

EXAMPLES OF TREATMENT LABELING

 Category I substances Other than Category I substances 

 Treated with 

 (NAME OF SUBSTANCE)

 Do not use for food, feed, 

 or oil purposes 

The FSA does not address the requirement that chemically treated seed be stained to indicate that 

the seed is chemically treated. The staining requirement for chemically treated seed is addressed 

in 21CFR2.25 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and is administered by the Food and 

Drug Administration. 

 

A current list of products, registered by the EPA for use as seed treatments, is not included due to 

constant additions of new products and the deletion of outdated products. Please refer to the 

appropriate EPA Web site for available products registered for seed treatment usage as well as 

their assigned Toxicity Categories. 

References: 

Federal Seed Act (FSA) and regulations (https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/fsa) 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (http://www.epa.gov) 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (http://www.fda.gov)

Treated with 

(NAME OF SUBSTANCE) 

POISON (in red)