Federal Seed Act

Federal Seed Act

Long title	An Act to regulate interstate and foreign commerce in seeds; to require labeling and to prevent misrepresentation of seeds in interstate commerce; to require certain standards with respect to certain imported seeds; and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	FSA
Nicknames	Federal Seed Act of 1939
Enacted by	the 76th United States Congress
Effective	February 4, 1940
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 76–354
Statutes at Large	53 Stat. 1275
Codification
Titles amended	7 U.S.C.: Agriculture
U.S.C. sections created	7 U.S.C. ch. 37 § 1551 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 5625 by Harry B. Coffee (D-NE) on May 3, 1939 Committee consideration by House Agriculture, Senate Agriculture & Forestry Passed the House on June 7, 1939 (Passed) Passed the Senate on August 1, 1939 (Passed) with amendment House agreed to Senate amendment on August 3, 1939 (Agreed) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 9, 1939

The Federal Seed Act, P.L. 76-354 (August 9, 1939), requires accurate labeling and purity standards for seeds in commerce, and prohibits the importation and movement of adulterated or misbranded seeds. The law works in conjunction with the Plant Protection Act of 2000 to authorize the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to regulate the importation of field crop, pasture and forage, or vegetable seed that may contain noxious weed seeds. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is responsible for enforcing the labeling and purity standard provisions.