The Australian Seed Certification Scheme is administered by ASA, at the request of the seed industry, to accommodate seed intended only for the domestic market. The rules of the Australian scheme are the same as for the equivalent OECD seed scheme, with the following exceptions to the requirement for post-control testing:
- the rules for post-control tests specified in the OECD Subterranean Clover & Similar Species Scheme shall apply for species eligible to be certified under that Scheme and will also apply to species of hard-seeded annual legumes certified under the OECD Grasses and Legumes Scheme using limited generation rules (berseem and rose clovers; biserrula and serradella); and
- for other annual species, all lots of Basic Seed must be post-control tested against a standard sample under the supervision of the certification agency.
The other significant difference is that different labels must be used.
The OECD rules are available on line at www.oecd.org/tad/seed