§ 1551 Short title
Subchapter I Definitions
Subchapter II Interstate Commerce
Subchapter III Foreign Commerce
Subchapter IV General Provisions
Subchapter V Sale of Uncertified Seed of Protected Variety

Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 7 > Chapter 37 - Seeds

  • advertisement: means all representations, other than those on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means, relating to seed within the scope of this chapter. See 7 USC 1561
  • Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • agency: includes any department, independent establishment, commission, administration, authority, board or bureau of the United States or any corporation in which the United States has a proprietary interest, unless the context shows that such term was intended to be used in a more limited sense. See 18 USC 6
  • aggravated felony: means &mdash. See 8 USC 1101
  • Agricultural seeds: shall mean grass, forage, and field crop seeds which the Secretary of Agriculture finds are used for seeding purposes in the United States and which he lists in the rules and regulations prescribed under section 1592 of this title. See 7 USC 1561
  • alien: means any person not a citizen or national of the United States. See 8 USC 1101
  • Allegation: something that someone says happened.
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
  • appropriate committees of Congress: means the congressional defense committees and, with respect to any project to be carried out by, or for the use of, an intelligence component of the Department of Defense, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. See 10 USC 2801
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
  • Attorney General: means the Attorney General of the United States. See 8 USC 1101
  • Attorney General: means the Attorney General of the United States or his designee. See 34 USC 10251
  • Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • bulk agricultural commodity: means any agricultural commodity that can be transported in bulk and can be temporarily stored in bulk quantities without undergoing processing or packaging. See 7 USC 3702
  • Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
  • chief executive: means the highest official of a State or local jurisdiction. See 34 USC 10251
  • Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
  • child: means an unmarried person under twenty-one years of age who is&mdash. See 8 USC 1101
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • construction: means the erection, acquisition, renovation, repairs, remodeling, or expansion of new or existing buildings or other physical facilities, and the acquisition or installation of initial equipment therefor. See 34 USC 10251
  • consular officer: means any consular, diplomatic, or other officer or employee of the United States designated under regulations prescribed under authority contained in this chapter, for the purpose of issuing immigrant or nonimmigrant visas or, when used in subchapter III, for the purpose of adjudicating nationality. See 8 USC 1101
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • conviction: means , with respect to an alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where&mdash. See 8 USC 1101
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • correctional facility: means any place for the confinement or rehabilitation of offenders or individuals charged with or convicted of criminal offenses. See 34 USC 10251
  • county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
  • court: means a tribunal recognized as a part of the judicial branch of a State or of its local government units. See 34 USC 10251
  • criminal justice: means activities pertaining to crime prevention, control, or reduction, or the enforcement of the criminal law, including, but not limited to, police efforts to prevent, control, or reduce crime or to apprehend criminals, including juveniles, activities of courts having criminal jurisdiction, and related agencies (including but not limited to prosecutorial and defender services, juvenile delinquency agencies and pretrial service or release agencies), activities of corrections, probation, or parole authorities and related agencies assisting in the rehabilitation, supervision, and care of criminal offenders, and programs relating to the prevention, control, or reduction of narcotic addiction and juvenile delinquency. See 34 USC 10251
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • department: means one of the executive departments enumerated in section 1 of Title 5, unless the context shows that such term was intended to describe the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of the government. See 18 USC 6
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • district court of the United States: means any court exercising the powers of a district court of the United States. See 7 USC 1561
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. Source: OCC
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • evaluation: means the administration and conduct of studies and analyses to determine the impact and value of a project or program in accomplishing the statutory objectives of this chapter. See 34 USC 10251
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • facility: means a building, structure, or other improvement to real property. See 10 USC 2801
  • facility: means a subsection (d) hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U. See 8 USC 1182
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • false advertisement: means any advertisement which is false or misleading in any particular. See 7 USC 1561
  • false labeling: means any labeling which is false or misleading in any particular. See 7 USC 1561
  • Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • foreign commerce: means commerce between the United States, its possessions, or any Territory of the United States, and any foreign country. See 7 USC 1561
  • foreign commerce: as used in this title , includes commerce with a foreign country. See 18 USC 10
  • foreign government: as used in this title except in sections 112, 878, 970, 1116, and 1201, includes any government, faction, or body of insurgents within a country with which the United States is at peace, irrespective of recognition by the United States. See 18 USC 11
  • Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • fuel conversion price: means the price for an agricultural commodity determined by the Secretary of Agriculture that will permit gasoline-alcohol mixtures using alcohol produced from the commodity to be competitive in price with unleaded gasoline priced at the point it leaves the refinery, adjusted for differences in octane rating, taking into consideration the energy value of the commodity and other appropriate values designed to represent, on a national average basis, the value of byproducts also recoverable from the commodity. See 7 USC 4005
  • germination: means the percentage of seeds capable of producing normal seedlings under ordinarily favorable conditions (not including seeds which produce weak, malformed, or obviously abnormal sprouts), determined by methods prescribed under section 1593 of this title. See 7 USC 1561
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • immigrant: means every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes of nonimmigrant aliens&mdash. See 8 USC 1101
  • immigration judge: means an attorney whom the Attorney General appoints as an administrative judge within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, qualified to conduct specified classes of proceedings, including a hearing under section 1229a of this title. See 8 USC 1101
  • immigration laws: includes this chapter and all laws, conventions, and treaties of the United States relating to the immigration, exclusion, deportation, expulsion, or removal of aliens. See 8 USC 1101
  • immigration officer: means any employee or class of employees of the Service or of the United States designated by the Attorney General, individually or by regulation, to perform the functions of an immigration officer specified by this chapter or any section of this title. See 8 USC 1101
  • in bulk: refers to seed when loose either in vehicles of transportation or in storage, and not to seed in bags or other containers. See 7 USC 1561
  • Indian Tribe: has the meaning given the term "Indian tribe" in section 5304(e) of title 25. See 34 USC 10251
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
  • inert matter: means all matter not seeds, and includes among others broken seeds, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, and stones, determined by methods prescribed under section 1593 of this title. See 7 USC 1561
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • interstate commerce: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1561
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • kind: means one or more related species or subspecies which singly or collectively is known by one common name, for example, soybean, flax, carrot, radish, cabbage, cauliflower, and so forth. See 7 USC 1561
  • label: means the display or displays of written, printed, or graphic matter upon or attached to the container of seed. See 7 USC 1561
  • labeling: includes all labels, and other written, printed, and graphic representations, in any form whatsoever, accompanying and pertaining to any seed whether in bulk or in containers, and includes invoices. See 7 USC 1561
  • lawfully admitted for permanent residence: means the status of having been lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws, such status not having changed. See 8 USC 1101
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • military construction: as used in this chapter or any other provision of law includes any construction, development, conversion, or extension of any kind carried out with respect to a military installation, whether to satisfy temporary or permanent requirements, or any acquisition of land or construction of a defense access road (as described in section 210 of title 23). See 10 USC 2801
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • national: means a person owing permanent allegiance to a state. See 8 USC 1101
  • naturalization: means the conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever. See 8 USC 1101
  • nonimmigrant visa: means a visa properly issued to an alien as an eligible nonimmigrant by a competent officer as provided in this chapter. See 8 USC 1101
  • noxious-weed seeds: means the seeds or bulblets of plants recognized as noxious&mdash. See 7 USC 1561
  • oath: includes affirmation, and "sworn" includes affirmed. See 1 USC 1
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
  • organization: means a person other than an individual. See 18 USC 18
  • organization: means , but is not limited to, an organization, corporation, company, partnership, association, trust, foundation or fund. See 8 USC 1101
  • origin: means the State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or possession of the United States, or the foreign country, or designated portion thereof, where the seed was grown. See 7 USC 1561
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • permanent: means a relationship of continuing or lasting nature, as distinguished from temporary, but a relationship may be permanent even though it is one that may be dissolved eventually at the instance either of the United States or of the individual, in accordance with law. See 8 USC 1101
  • person: includes a partnership, corporation, company, society, or association. See 7 USC 1561
  • person: means an individual or an organization. See 8 USC 1101
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • population: means total resident population based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time. See 34 USC 10251
  • Postal Service: means the United States Postal Service established under title 39, and every officer and employee of that Service, whether or not such officer or employee has taken the oath of office. See 18 USC 12
  • Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • public agency: means any State, unit of local government, combination of such States or units, or any department, agency, or instrumentality of any of the foregoing. See 34 USC 10251
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
  • refugee: means (A) any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or (B) in such special circumstances as the President after appropriate consultation (as defined in section 1157(e) of this title) may specify, any person who is within the country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, within the country in which such person is habitually residing, and who is persecuted or who has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. See 8 USC 1101
  • region: means two or more States acting together to develop a coordinated regional subterminal facilities plan. See 7 USC 3702
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • residence: means the place of general abode. See 8 USC 1101
  • residential substance abuse treatment program: means a course of individual and group activities, lasting between 6 and 12 months, in residential treatment facilities set apart from the general prison population&mdash. See 34 USC 10251
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • screenings: shall include chaff, sterile florets, immature seed, weed seed, inert matter, and any other materials removed in any way from any seeds in any kind of cleaning or processing and which contain less than 25 per centum of live agricultural or vegetable seeds. See 7 USC 1561
  • Secretary: means Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 3702
  • Secretary concerned: includes the Secretary of Defense with respect to matters concerning the Defense Agencies. See 10 USC 2801
  • seed certifying agency: means (A) an agency authorized under the laws of a State, Territory, or possession, to officially certify seed and which has standards and procedures approved by the Secretary (after due notice, hearings, and full consideration of the views of farmer users of certified seed and other interested parties) to assure the genetic purity and identity of the seed certified, or (B) an agency of a foreign country determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to adhere to procedures and standards for seed certification comparable to those adhered to generally by seed certifying agencies under (A). See 7 USC 1561
  • Service: means the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice. See 8 USC 1101
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • special immigrant: means &mdash. See 8 USC 1101
  • State: includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 8 USC 1101
  • State: means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands: Provided, That for the purposes of section 10156(a) of this title, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall be considered as one state 1 and that for these purposes 67 per centum of the amounts allocated shall be allocated to American Samoa, and 33 per centum to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 34 USC 10251
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • subscription: includes a mark when the person making the same intended it as such. See 1 USC 1
  • substantial: means , for purposes of paragraph (15)(E) with reference to trade or capital, such an amount of trade or capital as is established by the Secretary of State, after consultation with appropriate agencies of Government. See 8 USC 1101
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • treated: means given an application of a substance or subjected to a process designed to reduce, control, or repel disease organisms, insects or other pests which attack seeds or seedlings growing therefrom. See 7 USC 1561
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • type: means either (A) a group of varieties so nearly similar that the individual varieties cannot be clearly differentiated except under special conditions, or (B) when used with a variety name means seed of the variety named which may be mixed with seed of other varieties of the same kind and of similar character, the manner of and the circumstances connected with the use of the designation to be governed by rules and regulations prescribed under section 1592 of this title. See 7 USC 1561
  • unit of local government: means &mdash. See 34 USC 10251
  • United States: means the several States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 1561
  • United States: as used in this title in a territorial sense, includes all places and waters, continental or insular, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, except the Canal Zone. See 18 USC 5
  • United States: except as otherwise specifically herein provided, when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 8 USC 1101
  • unprocessed agricultural products: means food, fiber, and other agricultural products that have not been packaged or otherwise prepared for retail sale, including animal products and unfinished cotton, wool, leather, or any other unfinished natural material. See 7 USC 3702
  • variety: means a subdivision of a kind which is characterized by growth, plant, fruit, seed, or other characters by which it can be differentiated from other sorts of the same kind, for example, Marquis wheat, Flat Dutch cabbage, Manchu soybeans, Oxheart carrot, and so forth. See 7 USC 1561
  • VAWA self-petitioner: means an alien, or a child of the alien, who qualifies for relief under&mdash. See 8 USC 1101
  • Vegetable seeds: shall include the seeds of those crops that are or may be grown in gardens or on truck farms and are or may be generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seeds. See 7 USC 1561
  • vehicle: includes every description of carriage or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on land. See 1 USC 4
  • vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. See 1 USC 3
  • weed seeds: means the seeds or bulblets of plants recognized as weeds either by the law or rules and regulations of&mdash. See 7 USC 1561
  • whoever: include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals. See 1 USC 1
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
  • Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
  • writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1