(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided by the Tennessee Drug Control Act of 1989, compiled in title 39, chapter 17, part 4, and title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4, or any other statestatute that authorizes or requires a person other than the commissioner to exercise jurisdiction and authority over matters related to the regulation of seed, the commissioner has exclusive jurisdiction and authority over all matters related to the regulation of seed. The duty of enforcing this part and its rules and regulations and carrying out its provisions and requirements shall be vested in the commissioner. It is the duty of the commissioner, who may act through authorized agents to:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 43-10-114
Agricultural seeds: includes the seeds of grass, forage, cereal, and fiber crops and other kinds of seeds commonly recognized within this state as agricultural seeds, lawn seeds, and mixture of such seeds, and may include noxious-weed seeds when the commissioner determines that such seed is being used as agricultural seed. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
Agriculture: means : (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
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.
Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designated agent or agents. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
Conditioning: means cleaning, scarifying, treating, or blending to obtain uniform quality, and other operations that would change the purity or germination of the seed and therefore require testing to determine the quality of the seed, but does not include operations such as packaging, labeling, blending together of uniform lots of the same kind or variety without cleaning, or the preparation of a mixture without cleaning, any of which would not require retesting to determine the quality of the seed. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
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.
Germination: means the percentages by count of seeds under consideration, determined to be capable of producing normal seedlings in a given period of time and under normal conditions. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
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.
Lot: means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number or other identification, which shall be uniform within recognized tolerances for the factors that appear in the labeling. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
Person: includes any individual, partnership, corporation, company, society, association, or legal entity. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
Purity: means the name or names of the kind, type or variety and the percentage of other crop seed. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Vegetable seeds: includes the seeds of those crops that are grown in gardens or truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seed in this state. See Tennessee Code 43-10-103
written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Sample, inspect, analyze, and test agricultural and vegetable seed held in storage, transported, distributed, sold, offered or exposed for sale within this state for seeding purposes at such time and place and to such extent as the commissioner may deem necessary to determine whether such seeds are in compliance with this part, and notify promptly the person who transported, distributed, possessed, sold, offered or exposed the seed for sale of any violation;(2) After conferring with interested industry representatives, prescribe, amend and adopt rules and regulations governing the method of sampling, inspection, analyzing, testing and examining agricultural and vegetable seed, and the tolerances to be followed in the administration of this part, which shall be in general accord with officially prescribed practices in interstate commerce;(3) Adopt a list of prohibited and restricted noxious weeds, conforming with the definitions stated in this part, and add or subtract from the list, from time to time, after a public hearing following due public notice;(4) Promulgate rules and regulations to provide such additional definitions of terms as the commissioner believes are needed; prescribe minimum standards of germination and purity and maximum number per pound allowed for each restricted noxious weed; and(5) Prescribe such other rules as may be necessary to secure the efficient enforcement of this part and to maintain a comprehensive scheme for regulating seed that shall be uniform and applicable throughout the state.(b) Further, for the purpose of carrying out this part, the commissioner, individually or through authorized agents, is authorized to:
(1) Enter upon any public or private premises during business hours in order to have access to seeds and the records connected with seeds subject to this part and rules and regulations under this part, and any truck or other conveyor by land, water, or air at any time when such conveyor is accessible, for the same purpose;(2) Issue and enforce a written or printed “stop sale” order to the owner or custodian of any lot of agricultural or vegetable seeds that the commissioner or the commissioner’s authorized agent finds is in violation of any of the provisions of this part or rules and regulations promulgated under this part, which order shall prohibit further sale, conditioning and movement of such seed until the enforcing officer has evidence that there has been compliance with the law, and has issued a release from the “stop sale” order of such seed; provided, that in respect to seed that has been denied sale, conditioning and movement as provided in this subdivision (b)(2), the owner or custodian of such seed shall have the right to appeal from the order to a court of competent jurisdiction in the locality in which the seeds are found, praying for a judgment as to the justification of the order and for the discharge of the seeds from the order prohibiting the sale, conditioning and movement in accordance with the findings of the court; and provided further, that this subdivision (b)(2) shall not be construed as limiting the right of the enforcement officer to proceed as authorized by other sections of this part;(3) Establish and maintain or make provisions for seed testing facilities, employ qualified persons, and incur such expenses as may be necessary to comply with these provisions;(4) Publish the results of analyses, tests, examinations, studies, and investigations made as authorized by this part, together with any other information the commissioner may deem advisable; and(5) Cooperate with the United States department of agriculture in seed law enforcement.(c) Except as otherwise specifically provided by the Tennessee Drug Control Act of 1989, or any other state statute that authorizes or requires a person other than the commissioner to prohibit the planting, cultivation, harvesting, handling, or movement of agricultural seeds, the commissioner shall have the sole authority to prohibit the planting, cultivation, harvesting, handling, or movement of agricultural seeds.
