The following are among ASTA’s legislative priorities at the state level:
- Noxious Weesd
- Seed Treatment
- Biostimulants
- Plant Breeding Innovation
- Hemp
- Regulatory Funding
- Consistency of State Laws and Regulations
Noxious Weeds
An ASTA Working Group was established to address the rapid expansion of noxious weed listings at the state level. Working Group objectives are to create metrics for economic impact of new weed seed requirements. Develop a comparison of state noxious weed seed laws and encourage seed industry participation in state noxious weed rule-making.
Seed Treatment
ASTA is leading proactive engagement at the state level to protect the treated article exemption in coordination with CLA.
Biostimulants
ASTA is a part of a national coalition on biostimulants being coordinated by the Biostimulant Coalition (BSC) and Bioproducts Industry Association (BPIA). ASTA’s priority is to improve the efficiency of state regulations for biostimulant seed treatments to enable the interstate movement of treated seed.
Plant Breeding Innovation
As part of the coordinated communications, policy and stakeholder engagement program being managed by ASTA and BIO, we are engaging grassroots and stakeholders to move key state level influencers to support the use of gene editing in plants.
Hemp
ASTA will convey the following policy position in response to any state legislation.
- Seed supply sourcing should only include free market accessibility from commercial production.
- The Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies standards for production of industrial hemp seed should be used for all production to ensure quality and differentiation between hemp and marijuana because of the difficulty in differentiating between the two crop seeds.
- Interstate transportation rules should be clarified to eliminate the disparate and confusing standards on commerce for hemp seed and plant shipments.
Regulatory Funding
Adequate funding for state seed regulatory programs, and supporting labs, continues to erode. The seed industry as a whole is committed to delivering quality seed to agricultural growers and it strives to maintain complete integrity throughout the supply chain. The seed industry advocates adequate funding to ensure a comprehensive, proficient and technologically current state regulatory system, including the use of appropriate state seed licensing fees. Consistency of state laws and regulations.
Consistency of State Laws and Regulations
Primary to ASTA’s state legislative agenda is to ensure that state regulations relating to the seed industry remain consistent between the states. This allows for smoother interstate trade, equalized competition, and elimination of unnecessary, duplicative and burdensome regulations.
