Items of Interest in Seed – Winter 2023 1 | P a g e

USDA Seed Regulatory and Testing Division

Winter 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

• Recent and Upcoming Activities.......................1

• History and Use of the PCR Exam at SRTD ........2

• Required Labeling for Vegetable Seed in 

Containers of One Pound or Less ....................2

• New OECD Seed Schemes Assessment Fees 

Effective July 1, 2023 .....................................3

• Labeling Austrian Winter Pea ..........................3

• Calendar of Events .......................................4

RECENT AND UPCOMING ACTIVITIES 

SEED REGULATORY AND TESTING DIVISION 

(SRTD) HOST REGINAL MEETINGS

From January 23 to January 25, SRTD Seed 

Marketing Specialists hosted the first quarterly 

regulatory regional meetings for 2023. The 

regional meetings were initiated to allow more 

communication between State Seed Control 

Officials and AMS and to keep both sides aware 

of seed market trends. During the January

meetings, SRTD staff clarified the differences 

between brand names and variety names and how 

they should be labeled. The next round of regional 

meetings will be in April.

NEBRASKA CROP IMPROVEMENT ANNUAL 

MEETING

On January 9 and 10, Seed Marketing Specialist 

Lan Chi Trinh, attended the Nebraska Crop 

Improvement Association Annual Meeting in 

Kearney, NE. At this meeting, Chi provided an 

overview of seed sampling and FSA labeling 

requirements. The presentation was well received 

by the participants. 

OECD BRIEFINGS 

The U.S. Organization for Economic Cooperation 

and Development (OECD) Seed Schemes 

Program staff hosted briefings for seed industry 

stakeholders and cooperating State seed 

certifying agencies on January 17, 2023. The 

purpose of these briefings was to review updates 

to the Seed Schemes Rules and Regulations 

approved in 2022. This forum also provides an 

opportunity for feedback and discussion with 

cooperators and stakeholders. 

SRTD’S VISIT TO FLORIDA ENHANCES 

COOPERATIVE SEED ACT AGREEMENTS

On January 31, 2023, S&T Deputy Administrator 

Ruihong Guo met with the Florida Department of 

Agriculture Director, Kelly Friend, to discuss Florida’s

cooperative activities with AMS. The meeting was 

extremely productive with constructive discussions 

covering the agricultural economy in Florida, and ways

to strengthen the Florida seed market by increasing 

Federal Seed Act monitoring throughout the state.

SEED OFFICIALS MEET IN WASHINGTON D.C.

The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) held 

an Executive Committee meeting in Washington D.C. 

during the week of February 13th. The meeting was 

arranged to discuss ways to improve seed testing 

uniformity between nations. Ernest Allen, SRTD 

Director and ISTA Vice President, represented the U.S. 

Designated Authority, USDA AMS, at the meeting. On 

February 15th, ISTA invited seed organizations from 

the United States and Canada to attend the 

meeting. These included the Association of Official 

Seed Analysts (AOSA), the Society of Commercial 

Seed Technologists (SCST), the American Seed Trade 

Association (ASTA), and the Association of American 

Seed Control Officials (AASCO). Todd Erickson, SRTD 

Laboratory Supervisor, attended the meeting to 

represent SRTD. Discussion topics included 

harmonization of ISTA and AOSA Rules, promoting 

better communication between the organizations, and 

cooperation between the committees of ISTA and 

AOSA/SCST. As host to the meeting, AMS Associate 

Administrator Melissa Bailey conducted the keynote 

address to the group. Her presentation highlighted 

AMS’s role in leading USDA’s response to the 

President’s Executive Orders to strengthen supply 

chains and ensure farmers have greater opportunities 

to access markets and receive a fair return for their 

products.

ITEMS OF INTEREST IN SEED
Items of Interest in Seed – Winter 2023 2 | P a g e

HISTORY AND USE OF THE PCR EXAM AT 

SRTD 

In 1985, Kary Mullis developed the polymerase 

chain reaction (PCR), a scientific technique used 

to amplify copies of a specific DNA fragment which 

can be studied in greater detail for a variety of 

purposes. This revolutionary technique was 

picked up remarkably fast by the scientific 

community and has a wide range of applications 

and uses in the bio-technology field. SRTD 

regularly use this technique to test seed samples 

for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) for a 

variety of crops. 

There are three major steps in PCR: denaturation, 

annealing, and amplification. In the first step, DNA 

is subject to a high temperature of 95°C or above 

which denatures the nucleic acids and results in 

the separation of the two strands of DNA. The 

temperature is then lowered to a specific primer 

temperature, and the selected primer anneals to 

the complimentary strands of DNA. In the final 

step, extension occurs at 72°C to create a 

complimentary strand of DNA. After about 32-35 

thermal cycles, close to a million copies of the 

DNA fragment are produced and amplified. To see 

and quantify the result, the sample is run through 

an agarose gel with the help of an electrical 

current. Depending on the size of the DNA 

fragment, it is possible to see if sample contains 

the intended marker or not.

Several countries require proof that the seed

exported from the United States do not contain the 

presence of GMOs. To verify this, SRTD uses

PCR and gel electrophoresis as previously 

described. A universal 35S and NOS primers 

approach is used to search for any inserted 

foreign gene indicative of genetic modification. If 

the sample is genetically modified, then the primer 

will locate and amplify the gene, resulting in a 

clear band in the electrophoresis gel. The process 

itself is efficient and the turnover rate for GMO 

testing is high, which is fantastic news for US seed 

companies that need to provide that information to 

various countries overseas to sell their product. 

The discovery of PCR also has an odd but 

interesting story attached to it. Kary Mullis, who 

not only developed the technique but won the 

1993 Nobel Prize for it, claimed that before he 

came up with the idea he was visited by a talking, 

fluorescent, alien raccoon which appeared to him 

near his cabin the woods. While it is probably 

unscientific to correlate visions of glowing 

Procyonidae with the development of PCR, it is 

certainly fun to think about.

References:

• Joshi, M and Deshpande, J.D. 2010. 

Polymerase chain reaction: methods, 

principles, and application. International 

Journal of Biomedical Research. 5: 81-97.

• Mullis, K. 1998. Dancing Naked in the Mind 

Field. Vintage Books A Division of Random 

House, Inc. New York. 130-137.

• Press release. NobelPrize.org. Nobel 

Prize Outreach AB 2023. Fri. 27 Jan 

2023.https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/ch

emistry/1993/press-release/

For more information regarding this article, contact 

Botanist Kathryn McGinnis (704) 810-8872; 

Kathryn.mcginnis@usda.gov.

REQUIRED LABELING FOR VEGETABLE 

SEED IN CONTAINERS OF ONE POUND OR 

LESS

The Federal Seed Act (FSA) regulates agricultural 

and vegetable seed shipped in interstate 

commerce. It is important to note, the required

FSA labeling for vegetable seed in one-pound 

containers or less may be different than what is 

required by State seed laws. 

The labeling requirements of vegetable seed in

containers of one pound or less with germination 

percentages equal to or above the standard in 

Section 201.31 of the FSA Regulations are as 

follows: 

- the name of each kind and variety,

- if two or more kinds or varieties are present, 

the percentage of each must be listed, 

- hybrid seed must be so designated, and 

- the name and address of the interstate shipper 

or the name and address of the person to 

whom the seed was sold (for resale) and the 

AMS number of the interstate shipper. 

The labeling requirements of vegetable seed in 

containers of one pound or less with germination 

less than the standard in Section 201.31 of the 

FSA Regulations are as follows: 
Items of Interest in Seed – Winter 2023 3 | P a g e

- the name of each kind and variety,

- if two or more kinds or varieties are present, 

the percentage of each must be listed, 

- for each kind and variety:

• the germination percentage,

• the hard seed percentage; if present,

• the month and year the germination test 

was completed,

• the words “Below Standard” (no smaller 

than 8-point type), and 

• the name and address of the interstate 

shipper or the name and address of the 

person to whom the seed was sold (for 

resale) and the AMS number of the 

interstate shipper. 

These requirements can be found in Section 

201(b) of the FSA and Sections 201.25 through 

201.31 of the FSA Regulations.

For more information regarding this article, contact 

Seed Marketing Specialist Kevin Robinson (704) 

810-7264; kevin.robinson2@usda.gov. 

NEW OECD SEED SCHEMES ASSESSMENT 

FEES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2023

Implementation of the Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development (OECD) Seed 

Schemes in the United States is administered by 

the USDA AMS which serves as the National 

Designated Authority (NDA). The program helps 

U.S. seed producers export seed to many 

international destinations. 

Administration of the U.S. OECD Seed Schemes 

program is funded by assessment fees which 

SRTD collects quarterly from Seed Certifying 

Agencies (SCAs) based on the quantity of seed 

certified under the program. SCAs charge the 

seed companies accordingly along with their other 

normal charges for inspections and 

testing. Assessment fees are necessary to cover 

program costs because the program does not 

receive appropriated funds. Major costs include 

the annual country participation fee to OECD, 

salary and benefits for the U.S. OECD Seed 

Schemes Program Manager, partial salary and 

benefits for a Seed Marketing Specialist who 

serves as the program assistant, travel related to 

program delivery, share of facility costs at the 

Gastonia office, and S&T and AMS overhead.

Current assessment fee rates are 29 cents per 

hundredweight (cwt) for corn and 18 cents per 

hundredweight for all other crop species, which 

will remain through June 30, 2023. Effective July 

1, 2023, the rates will increase by 4 cents/cwt 

across the board. The new rates will be 33 

cents/cwt for corn and 22 cents/cwt for all other 

species.

SRTD will continue to monitor program costs and 

revenue so that we can continue to effectively 

manage the OECD Seed Schemes program on 

behalf of the U.S. seed industry.

For more information regarding this article, contact 

OECD Program Manager Steve Malone (704)

810-8888; stephen.malone@usda.gov.

LABELING AUSTRIAN WINTER PEA

SRTD often sees labeling of kind and variety 

names abbreviated or used as common names. 

This can be confusing in the marketplace since 

different common names are used in different 

geographical areas. This is commonly seen with 

labeling ‘Austrian Winter Pea’. Federal Seed Act 

(FSA) Regulations lists Field Pea as an 

agricultural kind requiring a kind and variety name

(section 201.10(a)). ‘Austrian Winter’ was 

originally considered a variety name of field pea 

that is now considered a type.

When labeling ‘Austrian Winter’ pea, the label

should show ‘Austrian Winter’ as a ‘type’. The 

correct kind name is ‘Field Pea’, and the variety 

name should be ‘Variety Not Stated’ per FSA 

requirements. 

If a company would like to advertise the seed as

Austrian Winter Pea, this can be accomplished by 

advertising as ‘Type: Austrian Winter Pea’. This 

statement should not be used in a manner which 

could be interpreted as a variety name.

For more information regarding this article, contact

Seed Marketing Specialist Kevin Robinson (704)

810-7264; kevin.robinson2@usda.gov. 
Items of Interest in Seed – Winter 2023 4 | P a g e

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

• International Seed Testing Association 

Annual Meeting 

Verona, Italy; May 29-June 3, 2023

• Association of Official Seed Certifying 

Agencies Annual Meeting

Bloomington, MN; June 3-7, 2023

• Association of Official Seed Analyst/ Society of 

Commercial Seed Technologist Annual 

Meeting 

Saskatoon, Canada; June 9-15, 2023

• Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development Seed Schemes Annual Meeting 

Antalya, Turkey; June 19-23, 2023

• Association of American Seed Control Officials 

Lafayette, IN; July 11-14, 2023 

• Seed Regulatory and Testing Division Seed 

School 

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