2019 New York Laws
AGM - Agriculture and Markets
Article 9 - Inspection and Sale of Seeds
138 - Prohibitions.

§ 138. Prohibitions.  A.  It shall be unlawful for any person to sell,
offer for sale, expose for sale, or to transport for  planting  purposes
any seed within this state:
  1.  Unless  the  test  to  determine  the percentage of germination as
required by section one hundred thirty-seven of this article, shall have
been made for the calendar year in which the seed is sold,  offered,  or
exposed for sale.
  2.  Not  labeled  in accordance with the provisions of this article or
having false or misleading labeling.
  3. Pertaining to which there has been false or misleading advertising.
  4. Containing more than one per cent  by  weight  of  all  weed  seeds
except as hereafter specified by the commissioner.
  5.  So  weak  or  so  low  in  germination  as to be unfit for seeding
purposes.
  6. Represented to be "certified seed", "registered seed",  "foundation
seed", "phyto-inspected seed", or designated by any other term conveying
similar  meaning,  unless  such  seed  has  been  produced or collected,
processed  and  labeled  in  accordance  with  the  procedures  and   in
compliance  with  the  rules and regulations of an officially recognized
certification agency or agencies and bears an official tag or  label  of
such an agency.
  7.  Represented  to  be  hybrid  seed unless such seed conforms to the
definition of hybrid presented in section one hundred thirty-six of this
article; provided that this prohibition shall not apply to variety names
in common trade usage at the time this law becomes effective.
  8. If lawn seeds, containing more than twenty per  cent  inert  matter
which is neither a micro-organism, a nutrient, a pest control substance,
a  material  to modify the size, shape and weight of the seed, nor other
beneficial inert matter applied as a coating to such seeds for  purposes
of  improving  seed  placement,  or  the  yield  or  vigor  of resulting
seedlings.
  B. It is unlawful for any person within this state:
  (1) To detach, alter, deface, or destroy any  label  provided  for  in
this  article or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, or to
alter or substitute seed, in a manner that may  defeat  the  purpose  of
this article.
  (2) To disseminate any false or misleading advertising concerning seed
in any manner or by any means.
  (3)  To  hinder  or  obstruct in any way, any authorized person in the
performance of his duties under this article.
  (4) To fail to comply with a "stop-sale" order.
  (5) To use the word "type" in any labeling in connection with the name
of any seed.
  (6) To move or otherwise handle or dispose of any  lot  of  seed  held
under  a  "stop-sale"  order  or  tags attached thereto, except with the
written permission  of  the  enforcing  officer,  and  for  the  purpose
specified therein.
  (7)  To  sell,  offer or expose for sale any color mixture of a single
kind of flower seed representing four or more colors or shades, in which
any one color or shade occurs in sixty per cent or more  of  the  plants
which  the  mixture is capable of producing, unless colors or shades and
approximate percentage of each are indicated on the label.
  (8) To sell, offer, or expose for sale a mixture of flower seed  kinds
in  which  any one kind is present in excess, of twenty-five per cent by
seed count unless the kinds present and the  approximate  percentage  of
each are indicated on the label.
  (9)  To use relabeling stickers without having both the calendar month
and year the germination test was completed, the sell by  date  and  the

lot  number that matches the existing, original lot number. A relabeling
may not occur more than one time.
  (10)  To  sell,  offer, or expose for sale agricultural seed more than
nine months from the date of the  germination  test,  exclusive  of  the
month of the test.