PART F. QUALITY CHECKS AND ANALYSES
Section XXV. Quality control
Art. 63
63.1 The Seller shall declare the quality of the seeds at the time of the shipment. With the exception
of the provisions of Article 77.2, the tolerances provided for in Tables A, B and C do not apply to the
figures of a contract or a seed testing report. These tolerances apply only in case of retesting of the
same or another sample by the same or another laboratory.
63.2 If the contract does not otherwise specify, this declaration can be made by one of the following
ways: (a) by the furnishing of an Official seed testing report; (b) by the furnishing of a seed testing
report other than an official one, issued by a governmental or a private laboratory; or (c) by a simple
declaration.
63.3 If the seed testing report agreed upon is not available at the time of shipment, the Seller shall
furnish to the Buyer all the pertinent and available testing results that shall conform to the provisions
of the contract.
Art. 64
Any duly accredited sampler and/or any Official seed testing laboratory shall be acceptable and the
seed testing results obtained shall be evidence for all commercial and litigation processes.
Section XXVI. Contract with an Official Seed Testing Report
Art. 65
When the present Rules mention an Official Seed Testing Report, it shall be an ISTA Orange
International Seed Lot Certificate or an AOSA seed lot testing report or a seed lot testing report
issued by a seed testing laboratory authorized by an OECD National Designated Authority.
Art. 66
When the contract provides for the furnishing of an Official Seed Testing Report, it can only be
contested by the Buyer in the case where: (a) a manifest error has been made in which case it shall
be incumbent upon the Buyer to establish proof; or (b) the presented Official Seed Testing Report
does not correspond with the provisions of section XXVII
I; or (c) except when the contract provides for
the testing report as final, the Buyer can furnish an Official Seed Testing Report made on an officially
drawn sample and analyzed in accordance with ISTA or AOSA Rules, results of which do not match
the specifications of the contract and are outside the relevant tolerance levels. The official drawing of
a sample for these certificates shall have taken place within 30 days after the arrival of the seeds at
the first point of destination and provided that the Buyer is able to access the seed.
Art. 67
67.1 If, in conformity with Article 66 the Buyer has the right to contest the official seed testing report
called for in the contract and this leads to a dispute between the Seller and the Buyer which cannot be
settled amicably, the Seller shall send the sample which is evidence to a seed testing laboratory
agreed upon by the two parties for analysis.
67.2 If the Buyer and the Seller cannot reach an agreement regarding the seed-testing laboratory,
the Secretary General of the ISF shall designate that laboratory.
That decision shall be final.
Art. 68
If the result of the analysis provided for in article 75 is outside the tolerances as defined in the
Annexes of the present Rules, this result shall be final. If this is not the case, the analysis of the Seller
shall be deemed valid.
Art. 69
If, on the basis of the verification, the Buyer has the right to claim an allowance or damages, the costs
of the verification shall be at the Seller's charge. In any other cases, the costs shall be at the Buyer's
charge.
