81-2,147.03. Sale; unlawful acts.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell any agricultural, vegetable, or flower seed within this state:

(a) Unless the test to determine the percentage of germination required in section 81-2,147.02 has been completed within a nine-month period, exclusive of the calendar month in which the test was completed, immediately prior to sale, except that for those seeds as established in rules and regulations, the test to determine the percentage of germination shall have been completed within a twelve-month period, exclusive of the calendar month in which the test was completed, immediately prior to sale. Seeds packaged in hermetically sealed containers under the conditions established in rules and regulations may be sold for a period of thirty-six months after the last day of the month that the seeds were tested prior to packaging. If the seeds in hermetically sealed containers are sold more than thirty-six months after the last day of the month in which they were tested prior to packaging, they shall have been retested for germination within a nine-month period, exclusive of the calendar month in which the retest was completed, immediately prior to their sale;

(b) Not labeled in accordance with the provisions of the Nebraska Seed Law or having a false and misleading labeling. In case agricultural seed is sold in bulk or sold from bulk, the information required under section 81-2,147.02 may be supplied by a printed or written statement to be furnished to any purchaser of such seed;

(c) Pertaining to which there has been a false or misleading advertisement, statement, invoice, or declaration;

(d) Consisting of or containing primary noxious weed seeds;

(e) Consisting of or containing prohibited noxious weed seeds, subject to recognized tolerances;

(f) Consisting of or containing restricted noxious weed seeds per pound in excess of the number declared on the label attached to the container of the seed or associated with the seed, subject to recognized tolerances. The recognized tolerances shall not exceed one-half of one percent by weight;

(g) Containing more than two percent by weight of all weed seed other than primary noxious weed seed, prohibited noxious weed seed, and restricted noxious weed seed. This subdivision does not apply to agricultural, vegetable, or flower seeds specifically allowed in the rules and regulations to contain four percent or less by weight of weed seed;

(h) If any labeling, advertising, or other representation subject to the Nebraska Seed Law represents the seed to be certified or registered seed unless (i) it has been determined by a certifying agency that such seed was produced, conditioned, and packaged and conforms to standards of purity as to kind or kind and variety in compliance with rules and regulations of such agency pertaining to such seed and (ii) the seed bears an official label issued for such seed by a certifying agency stating that the seed is certified or registered; and

(i) For reproductive purposes which is not certified by an official certifying agency when it is a variety for which an application has been made or accepted or a certificate of plant variety protection is issued under the federal Plant Variety Protection Act specifying sale only as a class of certified seed, except that seed from a certified lot may be labeled as to variety name when used in a mixture by or with the approval of the owner of the variety.

(2) It shall be unlawful for any person within this state:

(a) To detach, alter, deface, or destroy any label provided for in the Nebraska Seed Law or established in the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated under such law or to alter or substitute seed in a manner that may defeat the purpose of such law;

(b) To disseminate any false or misleading advertisements concerning agricultural, vegetable, or flower seeds in any manner or by any means;

(c) To hinder or obstruct in any way any authorized person in the performance of his or her duties under the Nebraska Seed Law;

(d) To fail to comply with a stop-sale order or to move or otherwise handle or dispose of any lot of seed held under a stop-sale order or tags attached thereto, except with written permission of the enforcing officer and for the purpose specified thereby;

(e) To sell screenings if they contain any seed of primary, prohibited, or restricted noxious weeds unless they have been conditioned to destroy the viability of such seed;

(f) To use the word trace as a substitute for any statement which is required;

(g) To use the word type in any labeling in connection with the name of any agricultural seed variety;

(h) To plant seed which the person knows contains a prohibited noxious weed seed in excess of the recognized tolerances utilized in subdivision (1)(e) of this section or contains primary noxious weed seed; or

(i) To alter or falsify any seed label, seed test, laboratory report, record, or other document in a manner which creates a false or misleading impression as to kind, variety, history, quality, or origin of the seed.

(3) All seed sold shall be labeled on the basis of tests performed by a seed laboratory using Rules for Testing Seeds adopted by the Association of Official Seed Analysts as of January 1, 2012.

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