1) “This is the progeny of foundation, registered, or certified seeds, handled to maintain sufficient varietal identity and purity, grown by selected farmers under prescribed conditions of culture and isolation, and subjected to field and seed inspections prior to approval by the certifying agency. Harvest from this class is used for commercial planting.”

2) “Seed of a known variety produced under strict, formally regulated seed standards to maintain varietal purity and high degrees of seed health. Seed lots must also be free of inert matter and weed seeds [in the case of grains]. All certified seed must pass field inspection, be conditioned by an approved seed conditioning plant, and then be sampled and pass laboratory testing before it can be sold as certified seed.”

References

1) International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Rice Knowledge Bank – seed certification. 2017. http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/postharvest-management/rice-quality-fact-sheet-category/item/seed-certification-fact-sheet

2) Sperling, Louise. 2008. When Disaster Strikes: A Guide to Assessing Seed System Security. CIAT Publication. Cali, Colombia: CIAT. http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/Articulos_CIAT/sssa_manual_ciat.pdf