No person shall do any of the following:

(A) Detach, alter, deface, conceal, or destroy any label required by sections 907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised Code or the rules adopted under them, or alter or substitute seed in a manner that may defeat the purposes of those sections;

(B) Disseminate, with the intention of inducing a sale, any false or misleading claim or advertisement concerning the vigor, vitality, growth, yield capability, or any other quality or performance characteristic of any agricultural, vegetable, or flower seed; disseminate any advertisement concerning the vigor, vitality, growth, yield capability, or any other quality or performance characteristic of any agricultural, vegetable, or flower seed for which the person does not maintain complete and accurate records of the tests used to determine the characteristic and of the results of the tests and submit the records to the director of agriculture pursuant to section 907.081 of the Revised Code; or make any claim in an advertisement that cannot be substantiated by an official seed laboratory as defined by rules adopted pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code by the director or a state experiment station or by regulations adopted by a federal experiment station;

(C) 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 to alter, detach, or dispose of any label attached to the lot;

(D) Use "trace" as a substitute for any statement required by sections 907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised Code;

(E) Sell any seed labeled "certified," "registered," or "foundation" unless it has been produced and labeled in compliance with the rules of a seed certifying agency. The prohibition established in this division does not apply to seed labeled "certified" for the purpose of describing seed that has been certified as organic in accordance with 7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.

(F) Sell vegetable or flower seed in containers of eight ounces or less, the percentage of germination of which is below the germination standard established by the director under division (B)(3) of section 907.10 of the Revised Code unless the label of the seed clearly indicates, in accordance with section 907.03 of the Revised Code, that the germination is below standard;

(G) Dispose of screenings from the premises where seed is processed in any manner contrary to rules adopted by the director ;

(H) Sell agricultural , vegetable, or flower seed unless it is labeled in accordance with sections 907.01 to 907.17 of the Revised Code;

(I) Sell seed for use as bird feed if it contains viable prohibited noxious-weed seed or viable restricted noxious-weed seed;

(J) Sell prohibited noxious-weed seed or restricted noxious-weed seed for the purpose of sowing, except sowing for research purposes;

(K) Sell seed that contains prohibited noxious-weed seed or restricted noxious-weed seed that is designated under 7 C.F.R. 201.16 as having no tolerance or that is out of compliance with its tolerance.

Effective Date: 2003 HB143 10-29-2003