Section VII. Quality
Art. 18
18.1 At the time of shipment, the seed shall be sound, sufficiently dry, without bad odor,
unadulterated and marketable.
18.2 Any treatment of the seeds shall be expressly agreed upon.
18.3 Each lot, as well as the contents of each of the packages, shall be homogeneous.
Art. 19
19.1 If a description of the quality is missing in the contract and if the standards are listed in an
annex of these rules corresponding to the designated species, these standards shall apply1
.
19.2 Except if otherwise specifically agreed by the parties, vigor characteristics are excluded from
ISF arbitration. If vigor characteristics are included in the contract at the request and with the
agreement of both parties, then arbitrators will have to take them into account in case of arbitration2
.
1 The description of the quality may include the percentages of purity, of germination, of seed vigour, of hard and fresh ungerminated seeds, of moisture content; the presence of seeds of other cultivated plants, of weed seeds, of inert matter; in the
case of certified seeds, the category of certification; the crop year and other indications which can determine the quality of the
seeds.
19.3 If the contract contains a provision relating to the content of weed seeds or the content of seeds
of other cultivated plants or both, the Official classification of weed seeds or seeds of other cultivated
plants shall be precisely stated in the contract as well as all particular description agreed upon.
19.4 If the classification of weed seeds or seeds of other cultivated plants is not precisely stated, the
Official classification in the Seller's country at the date of conclusion of the contract shall prevail.
Art. 20
20.1 The term "maximum" means that the moisture content and the impurities (weed seeds, seeds
of other cultivated plants, inert matter, etc.) shall not be higher than that specified. The term
"minimum" means that the purity, the germination, etc. shall not be lower than that specified.
No
tolerance shall be applied to the figures of the contract.
20.2 A seed testing report presented by the Seller that shows inferiority in quality specified in the
contract as a “maximum” or “minimum” shall give the Buyer the right to refuse the seed.
20.3 When the terms "maximum" and "minimum" are not mentioned the tolerances provided in the
tables A, B, C and D shall apply, except for the provisions in the Specific Rules in Part B on the
assessment of damages.
Section VIII. Packaging
Art. 21
21.1 The seeds shall be put in single packages of good quality, sound and suitable for export. For
contracts of sale by weight they shall correspond to conventional multiples of weight units in kilograms
or in pounds. Packaging in double bags shall be expressly agreed upon. The contract shall specify
the unit of weight or a predetermined number of seeds, as well as the type and material of the
packages, such as bag, box, container, of jute, polypropylene, paper, plastic, cardboard, metal, etc.
Unless specified in the contract, the Seller decides on the packaging.
21.2 The contract shall indicate whether the gross or net weight shall apply.
21.3 The contract shall indicate if the costs of the packages are included in or excluded from the
price shown in the contract. If excluded, the costs of the packages shall be shown in the contract.
Without any indication in the contract, they shall be considered as included.
21.4 The packages shall: (i) be closed in such a way that it shall be impossible to open them without
destroying the fastening or without leaving traces showing clear evidence that the contents could
have been altered or changed;
(ii) be marked or labeled so that they can be identified based on the
documents; and (iii) comply with the phytosanitary regulations of the transit and importing countries.
In case of shipment of GM seeds and of treated seeds the packages shall also comply with relevant
additional national and international packaging requirements.
2 Seed Vigour is not a single measurable property like germination. It may be tested directly or indirectly, and vigour testing is
always very delicate and slight fluctuations in test conditions may significantly affect the reliability of results. Seed vigour may
also increase or decrease extremely rapidly.
Section IX. Shipping
Art. 22
22.1 Incoterms® published by the International Chamber of Commerce are used; the definitions that
are in force at the date of conclusion of the contract shall apply.
22.2 If not otherwise agreed in the contract, the costs incurred by implementation of bio-security and
phytosanitary rules during trans-shipment shall be at the cost of the Buyer.
22.3 Any additional provisions concerning container shipment must be specified in the contract.