(A) A person who holds a valid seed labeler permit issued under section 907.13 of the Revised Code shall report to the director of agriculture concerning the amount of seed that the person sells in this state. The report shall be made semiannually on a form that the director prescribes and provides. One semiannual report shall be filed with the director prior to the first day of February of each year with respect to all sales that the person made during the period from the first day of July to the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year. The second semiannual report shall be filed prior to the first day of August of each year with respect to all sales that the person made during the period from the first day of January to the thirtieth day of June of that year.

(B) A person who holds a valid seed labeler permit shall include with each semiannual report a seed fee based on the amount of the seed that the person sold during that reporting period as follows:

(1) For soybeans and small grains, including barley, oats, rye, wheat, triticale, and spelt, four cents per one hundred pounds;

(2) For corn and grain sorghum, five cents per one hundred pounds;

(3)

(a) For any of the following seed sold at wholesale or retail or on consignment or commission, two per cent of the wholesale value of the containers of seed or, if the seed is not sold wholesale, two per cent of the retail value of the containers of seed:

(i) Vegetable and flower seed sold in containers, other than hermetically sealed containers, of eight ounces or less;

(ii) Flower seed sold in hermetically sealed containers that contain fewer than three hundred seeds;

(iii) Vegetable seed sold in hermetically sealed containers that contain fewer than one thousand seeds.

(b) The fees established pursuant to divisions (B)(3)(a)(ii) and (iii) of this section apply to both of the following:

(i) Seed sold in hermetically sealed containers that contain the amount of seeds specified in division (B)(3)(a)(ii) or (iii) of this section, as applicable;

(ii) Seed sold in hermetically sealed containers that do not clearly state the number of seeds that they contain.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(3)(b)(ii) of this section, if the weight of seed in a container, or the quantity of seed in a container, exceeds the applicable weight or quantity specified in division (B)(3)(a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section, the fee established in division (B)(4) of this section applies.

(4) For alfalfa, clover, grass, native grass, mixtures containing any of these, and all agricultural, vegetable, and flower seeds not specified in divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section, ten cents per one hundred pounds.

If the total amount of the seed fee that is due is less than five dollars, the person shall pay the minimum seed fee, which is five dollars.

(C) For each failure to report in full the amount of seed sold or to submit the required seed fees in full by the due date, a person who holds a valid seed labeler permit shall pay a penalty of ten per cent of the amount due or fifty dollars, whichever is greater. Failure to pay either the fee or the penalty within thirty days after the due date is cause for suspension or revocation by the director of the seed labeler permit or refusal, without a hearing, to issue a subsequent seed labeler permit for which the person applies.

(D) This section does not apply to governmental entities that donate seed for conservation purposes.

(E) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the commercial feed and seed fund created in section 923.46 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.

Effective Date: 2003 HB143 10-29-2003; 06-15-2006