Terms Used In 14 CFR Part 1204 - Administrative Authority and Policy

• Act: means the Federal Seed Act approved August 9, 1939 (53 Stat. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• 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.
• agricultural seeds: means the following kinds of grass, forage, and field crop seeds, that are used for seeding purposes in the United States:
  Agrotricum— × Agrotriticum Cif. See 7 CFR 201.2
• 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.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• 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}
• brand: means a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them that identifies the seed of one seller or group of sellers and differentiates that seed from the seed of other sellers. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• coated seed: means any seed unit covered with a coating material. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• complete record: means information which relates to the origin, treatment (including but not limited to coating, film coating, encrusting, or pelleting), germination, and purity (including variety) of each lot of agricultural seed transported or delivered for transportation in interstate commerce, or which relates to the treatment (including but not limited to coating, film coating, encrusting, or pelleting), germination, and variety of each lot of vegetable seed transported or delivered for transportation in interstate commerce. See 7 CFR 201.2
• consumer: means any person who purchases or otherwise obtains seed for sowing but not for resale. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• country shipper: means any person located in a producing area who purchases seed locally for shipment to seed dealers or to other country shippers. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• declaration: means a written statement of a grower, shipper, processor, dealer, or importer giving for any lot of seed the kind, variety, type, origin, or the use for which the seed is intended. See 7 CFR 201.2
• declaration of origin: means a declaration of a grower or country shipper in the United States stating for each lot of agricultural seed (1) kind of seed, (2) lot number or other identification, (3) State where seed was grown and the county where grown if to be labeled showing the origin as a portion of a State, (4) quantity of seed, (5) date shipped or delivered, (6) to whom sold, shipped, or delivered, and (7) the signature and address of the grower or country shipper issuing the declaration. See 7 CFR 201.2
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• 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:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program. ^{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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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: when applied to a corporation * * * means a corporation * * * which is not domestic. See 26 CFR 36.3121(l)(1)-1
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• grower: means any person who produces directly or through a growing contract, or is a seed-crop sharer in seed which is sold, offered for sale, transported, or offered for transportation. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• 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.
• 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}
• 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.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• 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.
• lot of seed: means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number, every portion or bag of which is uniform, within permitted tolerances, for the factors which appear in the labeling. See 7 CFR 201.2
• mixture: means seeds consisting of more than one kind or variety, each present in excess of 5 percent by weight of the whole. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• 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.
• person: includes an individual partnership, corporation, company, society, association, receiver, trustee, or agent;

  (c) Secretary. See 7 CFR 201.2

• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• 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.
• purity: means the name or names of the kind, type, or variety and the percentage or percentages thereof; the percentage of other agricultural seed; the percentage of weed seeds, including noxious-weeds seeds; the percentage of inert matter; and the names of the noxious-weed seeds and the rate of occurrence of each. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recipient: includes any successor, assignee, or transferee, but does not include the ultimate beneficiary of the assistance. See 28 CFR 42.702
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• regulations: means the rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture and the joint rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Agriculture under the Act. See 7 CFR 201.2
• 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.
• Remainder: means the following additional tissues and organs and their masses, in grams, following parenthetically: adrenals (14), brain (1400), extrathoracic airways (15), small intestine (640), kidneys (310), muscle (28,000), pancreas (100), spleen (180), thymus (20), and uterus (80). See 10 CFR 835.2
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Remote Service Facility: includes any automated teller machine, cash dispensing machine, point-of-sale terminal, or other remote electronic facility where deposits are received. See 12 CFR 328.2
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Revolving credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or open-end credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, or any officer or employee of the Department to whom authority has heretofore been delegated, or to whom authority may hereafter be delegated, to act in his stead;

  (d) Hearing Clerk. See 7 CFR 201.2

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• stock: includes shares in an association, joint-stock company, or insurance company. See 26 CFR 36.3121(l)(8)-1
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• 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.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• 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.
• vegetable seeds: means the seeds of the following kinds 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:
  Artichoke—Cynara cardunculus L. See 7 CFR 201.2
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
• wet bottom boiler: shall include : wet bottom wall-fired boilers, including wet bottom turbo-fired boilers; and wet bottom boilers otherwise meeting the definition of vertically fired boilers, including wet bottom arch-fired boilers, wet bottom roof-fired boilers, and wet bottom top-fired boilers. See 40 CFR 76.2
• White-collar crime: A nonviolent criminal act involving deceit, concealment, subterfuge, or other fraudulent activity.
• you: as used in this part 4290 means a RBIC unless otherwise noted. See 7 CFR 4290.40