Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 106 > Article 31 - North Carolina Seed Law

• advertisement: means all representations, other than those required on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means, relating to seed within the scope of this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• agricultural seeds: shall include the seed of grass, forage, cereal, fiber crops and any other kinds of seeds commonly recognized within this State as agricultural or field seeds, lawn seeds and mixtures of such seeds, and may include noxious-weed seeds when the Commissioner determines that such seed is being used as agricultural seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• 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.
• blend: means a mechanical combination of varieties identified by a blend designation in which each component variety is equal to or above the minimum standard germination for its class; which is always present in the same percentage in each lot identified by the same "blend" designation; and for which research data supports an advantage of the "blend" over the singular use of either component variety. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• Board: means the North Carolina Board of Agriculture as established under N. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• brand: means an identifying numeral, letter, word, or any combination of these, used with the word "brand" to designate source of seeds. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• buyer: means a person who buys agricultural or vegetable seed for the purpose of planting and growing the seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• code designation: means a series of numbers or letters approved by the United States Department of Agriculture and used in lieu of the full name and address of the person who labels seeds, as required in this Article in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture of North Carolina or his designated agent or agents. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• conditioning: means cleaning, scarifying, or blending to obtain uniform quality and other operations that would change the purity or germination of the seed and therefore require retesting 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 kind and variety, without cleaning, or preparation of a mixture without cleaning, any of which would not require retesting to determine the quality of the seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as established in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• distribute: means to provide seed for seeding purposes to more than five persons, but shall not include seed provided for educational purposes. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• 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.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• 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 North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• grower: shall mean any person who produces seed, directly as a landlord, tenant, sharecropper or lessee, which are offered or exposed for sale. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• hard seeds: means seeds which, because of hardness or impermeability, do not absorb moisture and germinate but remain hard during the normal period of germination. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• hybrid: means the first generation seed of a cross produced by controlling cross-fertilization within prescribed limits and combining (i) two or more inbred lines or clones, or (ii) one or more inbred lines or clones with an open-pollinated variety, or (iii) two or more varieties or species, clonal or otherwise, except open-pollinated varieties of normally cross-fertilized species. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• in bulk: refers to loose seed in bins, or open containers, and not to seed in bags or packets. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• inert matter: means all matter not seeds, including broken seeds, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, stones and other substances found not to be seed when examined according to procedures prescribed by rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• 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, corn, wheat, striate lespedeza, alfalfa, tall fescue. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• labeling: includes all labels and other written, printed or graphic representations in any manner whatsoever accompanying and pertaining to any seed whether in bulk or in containers and includes representations on invoices. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• lot: means a definite quantity of seed, identified by a lot number or other identification, which shall be uniform throughout for the factors which appear on the label. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• mixture: means seeds consisting of more than one kind or kind and variety, each present in excess of five per centum (5%) of the whole. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• North Carolina seed analysis tag: means the tag designed and prescribed by the Commissioner as the official North Carolina seed analysis tag. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• origin: means the state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, possession of the United States or the foreign country where the seed was grown. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• 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: shall include any individual, partnership, corporation, company, society or association. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• purity: means the name or names of the kind, type or variety and the percentage or percentages thereof, the percentage of other crop seed; the percentage of weed seeds, including noxious-weed seeds; the percentage of inert matter; and the name and rate of occurrence of each noxious-weed seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• seed offered for sale: means any seed or grain, whether in bags, packets, bins or other containers, exposed in salesrooms, storerooms, warehouses or other places where seed is sold or delivered for seeding purposes, and shall be subject to the provisions of the seed law, unless clearly labeled "not for sale as seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• seizure: means a legal process carried out by court order against a definite amount of seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• stop-sale: means an administrative order provided by law restraining the sale, use, disposition and movement of a definite amount of seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• 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, or to improve the planting value of the seed. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• variety: means a subdivision of a kind characterized by growth, plant, fruit, seed or other constant characteristics by which it can be differentiated in successive generations from other sorts of the same kind; for example, Knox Wheat, Kobe Striate Lespedeza, Ranger Alfalfa, Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• vegetable seeds: shall include the seeds of those crops which are grown in gardens or on truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seed in this State. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• vendor: shall mean any person, not classified as a grower, who buys, sells or offers for sale any seed for seeding purposes and shall include any person who has seed grown under contract for resale for seeding purposes. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2
• weed seeds: means the seeds, bulblets or tubers of all plants generally recognized as weeds within this State or which may be classified as weed seed by regulations promulgated under this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 106-277.2