Seed Laws Move in Florida, Utah and Idaho

Florida Senate Bill 740 passed both legislative bodies and is on its way to the Governor’s desk for signature. The bill includes a comprehensive rewrite of the state’s seed law, which has been in process for several years. In general, the bill was designed to update the state’s law to follow the Recommended Uniform State Seed Law (RUSSL)–the template designed by the Association of American Seed Control Officials. Among the most notable changes is the impact to the state’s seed arbitration law, which now prohibits the filing of a civil suit while arbitration is in process. Another significant change strengthens the state’s seed preemption law, which disallows a local municipality from creating ordinances more stringent than the state seed law. A similar bill in Utah has officially become law. Utah Senate Bill 168 updates the state’s seed law and aligns it with RUSSL.

In Idaho, Senate Bill 1207 passed both legislative bodies, and has been delivered to the Governor’s desk for final approval. The legislation originally would have increased the amount of paperwork and audits required for the state’s seed indemnification law. However, an amendment was approved to eliminate those requirements and give the director of the agriculture department the ability to deny the issuance of a license to an applicant until after a public hearing and other specified criteria are satisfied.