The Seed Marketing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

PART 2 Official labels

Official labels: general requirements

5.—(1) An official label is a label supplied by, or on behalf of, the Department.

(2) It must be on the outside of the package.

(3) It must not have been previously used.

(4) It must be adhesive, or secured by a sealing device approved by the Department.

(5) It must be in one of the official languages of the European Union.

(6) It must be at least 110mm x 67mm.

(7) It must have an officially assigned serial number.

(8) It must be fixed to the package by an authorised officer of the Department, a licensed seed sampler or any person being supervised by such a person.

(9) By way of derogation from the above, in the case of cereal seed, fodder seed and oil and fibre seed, classified in each case as CS, C1, C2 or C3, the whole bag may be used as the label, provided that this is done with the approval of the Department and the bag is the same colour as is required for the label.

Official labels for pre-basic seed

6.—(1) The following must appear on an official label on pre-basic seed—

(a) the name of the certification authority;

(b) the name or initials of the member State;

(c) the reference number of the seed lot;

(d) the country of production;

(e) the month and year of sealing expressed as “sealed ...[month and year]”;

(f) the species (this must be the botanical name, which may be given in abridged form and without the authors’ names, except that, in the case of beet or vegetable seed, the common name may be used);

(g) the variety;

(h) the description “pre-basic” or “PB”;

(i) the declared net or gross weight or number of seeds (or, in the case of beet, the declared number of clusters or pure seeds);

(j) where granulated pesticides, pelleting substances or other solid additives are used, the nature of the additive and the approximate ratio between the weight of the seed and the total weight (or, in the case of beet, the ratio between the weight of pure seed and the total weight);

(k) the number of generations preceding the category “certified seed (CS)” or “certified first generation (C1) seed”.

(2) The label must be white with a diagonal violet stripe.

Official labels for basic seed and certified seed

7.—(1) The following must appear on an official label on certified seed—

(a) the words “EU rules and standards”;

(b) the name of the certification authority;

(c) the name or initials of the member State;

(d) the reference number of the seed lot;

(e) either—

(i) the month and year of sealing expressed as “sealed ...[month and year]”; or

(ii) the month and year of the last official sampling for the purposes of certification expressed as “sampled ...[month and year]”;

(f) the species (this must be the botanical name, either in full or in abridged form except that, in the case of beet or vegetable seed, the common name may be used);

(g) the variety;

(h) the category;

(i) the country of production;

(j) the declared net or gross weight or number of seeds (or, in the case of beet, the declared number of clusters or pure seeds);

(k) where granulated pesticides, pelleting substances or other solid additives are used, the nature of the additive and the approximate ratio between the weight of the seed and the total weight (or, in the case of beet, the ratio between the weight of pure seed and the total weight);

(l) where the germination has been retested the word “retested” followed by the month and year of re-testing.

(2) the label must be coloured—

(a) white for basic seed;

(b) blue for certified seed and certified seed, first generation;

(c) red for certified seed of the second and third generation.

Official labels for commercial seed not certified as to variety

8.—(1) The following must appear on an official label on commercial seed not certified as to variety—

(a) the words “EU rules and standards”;

(b) the name of the certification authority;

(c) the name or initials of the member State;

(d) the reference number of the seed lot;

(e) either—

(i) the month and year of sealing expressed as “sealed ...[month and year]”; or

(ii) the month and year of the last official sampling for the purposes of certification expressed as “sampled ...[month and year]”;

(f) the species (this must be the botanical name, either in full or in abridged form except that, in the case of beet or vegetable seed, the common name may be used);

(g) the words “commercial seed not certified as to variety”;

(h) the country of production;

(i) the declared net or gross weight or number of seeds;

(j) where granulated pesticides, pelleting substances or other solid additives are used, the nature of the additive and the approximate ratio between the weight of the seed and the total weight;

(k) where the germination has been retested the word “retested” followed by the month and year of re-testing.

(2) The label must be coloured brown.

Labelling mixtures

9.—(1) The following must appear on an official label on a mixture of seed—

(a) the authority responsible for sealing the package;

(b) the name or initials of the member State;

(c) the reference number of the seed lot;

(d) the month and year of sealing expressed as “sealed ...[month and year]”;

(e) the species, category, variety, country of production and proportion by weight of each of the components;

(f) the declared net or gross weight or declared number of seeds;

(g) where the weight is indicated and granulated pesticides, pelleting substances or other solid additives are used, the nature of the additive and the approximate ratio between the weight of the pure seed and the total weight;

(h) where the germination of all of the components of the mixture has been retested, the word “retested” followed by the month and year of re-testing;

(i) in the case of cereals the words “mixture of” followed by the species and varieties and a qualifying statement that the mixture is effective against the propagation of a harmful organism;

(j) in the case of fodder plants the word “mixture of seeds for” followed by an indication of the intended use.

(2) But for fodder mixtures registered with the Department, provided the label shows the registered name of the mixture, the percentage by weight of each of the components may be omitted provided that—

(a) this information is supplied to the customer on request; and

(b) customers are informed that they can request these details.

(3) The label must be coloured green.