Seed Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2015)

　　Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.35

　　November 4, 2015

　　The Seed Law of the People's Republic of China, as revised and adopted by the 17th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of People's Republic of China on November 4, 2015, is hereby issued and shall take effect as of January 1, 2016.

　　Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China

　　Seed Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2015)

　　(Adopted at the 16th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on July 8, 2000; amended for the first time according to the Decision on Revising the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China at the 11th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on August 28, 2004; amended for the second time according to the Decision on Revising 12 Laws including the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics at the Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on June 29, 2013; and revised at the 17th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on November 4, 2015)

　　Contents
　　Chapter I General Provisions
　　Chapter II Protection of Germplasm Resources
　　Chapter III Selection, Cultivation, Verification and Registration of Varieties
　　Chapter IV Protection of New Varieties
　　Chapter V Seed Production and Business Operation
　　Chapter VI Supervision and Regulation on Seeds
　　Chapter VII Import and Export of Seeds and Foreign Cooperation
　　Chapter IX Legal Responsibility
　　Chapter X Supplementary Provisions

　　Chapter I General Provisions

　　Article 1 The Seed Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2015) (hereinafter referred to as the "Law") is enacted in order to protect and make rational use of germplasm resources, regulate the variety selection and cultivation, and the production of, trading in and management of seeds, protect the rights in new plant varieties, safeguard the lawful rights and interests of seed breeders, traders in seed and seed users, improve seed quality, drive the industrialization of the seed sector, develop modern seed industry, ensure national food security and facilitate the development of agriculture and forestry.

　　Article 2 The Law applies to the activities such as variety selection and cultivation, production of, trading in, use and management of seeds engaged in within the territory of the People's Republic of China..
　　For the purpose of the Law, the term "seed" refers to the materials used for planting or propagating "crops" and "forest trees", including grains, fruits, roots, stems, seedlings, buds, leaves and flowers.

　　Article 3 The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council shall be respectively in charge of the work involving crop seeds and forest tree seeds nationwide. The competent agriculture and forestry departments of the local people's government at or above the county level shall respectively take charge of the work of crop seeds and forest tree seeds within their respective administrative regions.
　　The people's government at all levels and relevant departments thereof shall take measures to strengthen the seed law enforcement and supervision, and sanction seed-related illegal behaviors that infringe upon farmers' rights and interests in accordance with the law.

　　Article 4 The State supports the protection of germplasm resources, and the selection, cultivation, production, rebirth and popularization of improved seeds. The State encourages the combination of seed selection and breeding and seed production and operation, and rewards any person/entity who/that has a good performance in the work of germplasm resource protection, improved seed selection, breeding and popularization.

　　Article 5 The people's government at or above the provincial level shall make development plans of seed industry in accordance with the Guidelines of Making Use of Science and Education to Improve Agriculture, and based on the demands for the development of the agriculture and forestry, and organize the implementation of the plans.

　　Article 6 The people's government at or above the provincial level shall establish a reserve system of seeds to meet the demand of production and surplus and deficiency regulating in the event of a calamity so as to ensure the production safety of agriculture and forestry. The reserved seeds shall be checked and replaced on a regular basis. The State Council shall provide detailed measures for the seed reserves.

　　Article 7 A safety assessment shall be carried out for the selection, breeding, trial, examination, approval and popularization of transgene plant varieties and strict safety control measures shall be adopted. The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council shall enhance the tracking and supervision and release the information on examination, approval and popularization of transgene plant varieties in a timely manner. The State Council shall provide the specific measures.

　　Chapter II Protection of Germplasm Resources

　　Article 8 The State protects germplasm resources according to the law. No individual or entity may take or destroy germplasm resources.
　　Wild germplasm resources are also subject to the special protection by the State, and shall be prohibited from gathering or cutting. In special cases, such as scientific research, where it is necessary to collect or fell, the collection or felling shall be subject to the approval of the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council, or of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government.

　　Article 9 The State censuses, collects, sorts out, appraises, records, conserves, exchanges and uses germplasm resources in a planned way, and regularly releases the catalogue of available germplasm resources. The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council shall provide specific measures.

　　Article 10 The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council shall establish the germplasm-resource databases, germplasm-resource protection zones or germplasm-resource protection areas. The competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish the germplasm-resource databases, germplasm-resource protection zones or germplasm-resource protection areas as needed. The germplasm resources of germplasm-resource databases, germplasm-resource protection zones or germplasm-resource protection areas belong to public resources and shall be opened and utilized according to the law.
　　The approval of the original establishing authority is required for the occupation of any germplasm-resource database, germplasm-resource protection zone or germplasm-resource protection area.

　　Article 11 The State has sovereignty over germplasm resources. Where any entity or individual provides germplasm resources for foreign countries or carries out cooperation with overseas organizations or individuals in studying and using germplasm resources, the entity or individual shall file an application with the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the people's government of the relevant province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government and submit the scheme sharing benefits with the State; the competent agriculture and forestry departments accepting the application will report it to the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council for approval after the review.
　　The introduction of overseas germplasm resources into China shall be handled according the relevant provisions of the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council.

　　Chapter III Selection, Verification and Registration of Varieties

　　Article 12 The State supports scientific research institutions, colleges and universities to focus on the basic and frontier research on applied technology for breeding, the study on breeding of conventional crop, main afforestation species and vegetative propagation materials, and other nonprofit researches.
　　The State encourages seed enterprises to take full use of results of nonprofit researches, cultivate fine varieties with proprietary intellectual property; to build the technology research and development platform with scientific research institutions, colleges and universities, and establish the technology innovation system of seed industry which integrates the industry-university-research cooperation, takes the market as the orientation and capital as the link, shares interests and bears risks together.
　　The State strengthens the building of the scientific and technological innovation capacity of seed industry, accelerates the commercialization of research findings of seed industry and safeguards legal rights and interests of scientific and technical personnel in seed industry.

　　Article 13 The patent for invention of breeding and the right of new plant variety generated due to the support of financial fund shall be obtained by the undertaker of the authorized project in accordance with the law, except for those involving the national security, national interests and major public interests.
　　The transfer, permission and other activities related to breeding achievements which are generated mainly due to the support of financial fund shall be conducted in public according to the law and such achievements shall not be traded in private.

　　Article 14 If the individual and/or entity's income reduces due to the case that the competent forestry department establishes testing forests, trial forests, excellent tree collection areas or gene bases for the purpose of selecting and cultivating improved forest tree seeds, the competent forestry department that approves the establishment shall provide economic compensation in accordance with relevant national provisions.

　　Article 15 The State implements the variety examination and approval system for main crops and forest trees. The varieties of main crops and forest trees shall pass the national or provincial examination and receive the approval before the popularization. The main forest tree varieties determined by the competent forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be subject to the provincial examination and approval.
　　Varieties for which the examination and approval is applied shall conform to the requirements of specificity, consistency and stability.
　　The measures for examination and approval of the main crop and forest tree varieties are stipulated by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council. The measures for examination and approval shall embody the principles of equity, publicity, science and efficiency and be conducive to the improvement and coordination of production volume, quality, resistance and etc. and to the popularization of varieties that meet the demands of markets and living consumption. Opinions of breeders, users of seeds, producers, operators and relevant industrial representatives shall be fully listened to while the measures for examination and approval are formulated or revised.

　　Article 16 The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council and under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall respectively set up the examination and approval committee for crop and forest tree varieties that is consisted of specialized persons. The varieties examination and approval committee will undertake the examination and approval of main crop and forest tree varieties, establish the examination and approval files with contents including application documents, test data for variety examination and approval, seed samples, opinions and conclusions on examination and approval to ensure the traceability thereof. Relevant information on varieties which have passed the examination and received the approval that is released according to the law shall include the examination and approval opinions and be under the supervision.
　　The variety examination and approval shall be subject to the avoidance system. Members of the varieties examination and approval committee, staff and personnel related to the test and trial shall be devoted to their duties and be fair and honest. The competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level and relevant authorities shall, according to the law, timely deal with the illegal behaviors of the above personnel that are reported by entities and individuals or discovered through the supervision and inspection.

　　Article 17 Where, for main crop and forest tree varieties researched and developed independently by seed enterprises which integrate the selection, breeding, production and business operations of seeds and conform to conditions stipulated by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council, their relevant test can be completed voluntarily according to the examination and approval measures and they reach the standard for examination and approval, the varieties examination and approval committee shall issue the certificate of examination and approval. Seed enterprises shall be responsible for the authenticity of the test data, ensure the traceability thereof, and accept the supervision of the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level and the public.

　　Article 18 Where an applicant of the crop and forest tree varieties that fail to pass the examination disagrees with the result, it may apply to the original examination and approval committee or the national examination and approval committee for reexamination.

　　Article 19 The crop varieties and improved forest tree varieties that have passed the national examination and received the approval shall be announced to the public by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council, and may be popularized in suitable ecological regions throughout the country. The crop varieties and improved forest tree varieties that have passed the provincial examination and received the approval shall be announced to the public by the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and may be popularized in suitable ecological regions within the local administrative regions; where other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government that are located in the same suitable ecological region introduce the crop varieties and improved forest tree varieties, the introducer shall report the introduced varieties and region concerned to the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's government of the province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government where introducer is located for the record.
　　To introduce a forest tree variety that is not distributed naturally in the region, the forest tree variety shall pass the test according to the national introduction standard.

　　Article 20 The competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall improve the regional coordination mechanism for selection, breeding, examination and approval of seeds, and accelerate the selection, breeding and popularization of improved varieties.

　　Article 21 Where the crop varieties and improved forest tree varieties which have passed the examination and received the approval should not be popularized or sold continually because they have serious and insurmountable defects or fall under other circumstances, the original examination and approval committee shall revoke the examination and approval after the verification, and the original announcement department shall release an announcement on stopping the popularization and sale.

　　Article 22 The State implements the variety registration system for partial non-main crops. Varieties listed in the registration catalogue of non-main crops shall be registered prior to the popularization.
　　The scope of crops subject to variety registration shall be controlled strictly and determined in line with the principles of conserving biological diversity and guaranteeing consumption safety and safety of seeds utilization. The registration catalogue shall be formulated and adjusted by the competent agriculture department under the State Council.
　　The applicants applying for variety registration shall submit application documents and seed samples to the competent agriculture departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, take the responsibility for authenticity thereof, ensure the traceability and accept the supervision and inspection. Application documents shall include types, names, sources, characteristics, and breeding processes of varieties as well as the test reports on specificity, consistency and stability.
　　The competent agriculture departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall conduct the written review on application documents submitted by applicants within 20 working days as of the date of accepting the applications for variety registration, and report the eligible documents to the competent agriculture department under the State Council for registration and announcement.
　　Where the application document or seed sample for a registered variety is false, the competent agriculture department under the State Council shall revoke the registration of such a variety and record the illegal information of the relevant applicant into the social credit archive to disclose it to the public; where such illegal behavior leads to losses of seed users and other seed producers and operators, the applicant concerned shall undertake the liability of compensation according to the law.
　　Where a registered variety has any serious and insurmountable defects or falls under any other circumstances, the competent agriculture department under the State Council shall revoke the registration of such a variety, and release a notice on stopping the popularization thereof.
　　The variety registration measures for non-main crops shall be provided by the competent agriculture department under the State Council.

　　Article 23 Crops varieties which should have been examined or approved shall not be released by advertisements, popularized or sold.
　　Forest tree varieties which should have passed the examination and received the approval shall not be popularized or sold as improved varieties. If it is necessary to use the seeds in production, they shall be subject to the verification of the tree variety examination and approval committee.
　　Crops varieties which should have been registered shall not be released by advertisements or popularized, and shall not be sold in the name of the registered varieties.

　　Article 24 Where overseas organizations or individuals which have no habitual residences or operation places in China apply for varieties examination and approval or registration in China, they shall entrust Chinese seed enterprises possessing the corporate capacities to handle the matter as agencies.

　　Chapter IV Protection of New Varieties

　　Article 25 The State implements the protecting system for new plant varieties. The plant varieties listed in the national list of protected plant varieties that are improved from the artificial selection and breeding or discovered wild plants, possess the novelty, specificity, consistency and stability, and are appropriately named shall be granted the right of new plant variety by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council, and the competent departments will protect the legitimate rights and interests of holders of rights of new plant varieties. The content and ownership, granting conditions, application and acceptance, examination and approval, period, termination, invalidity and other matters relating to the right of new plant variety shall be governed by the Law, relevant laws and administrative regulations.
　　The State encourages and supports the scientific and technical innovation of seed industry, cultivation of new plant varieties and achievement transformation. Where the variety that has been granted the right of new plant variety is popularized and applied, the breeder shall get corresponding economic benefits according to the law.

　　Article 26 One new plant variety shall be granted only one right of new plant variety. Where two or more applicants separately apply for the right of new plant variety for the same variety, the right shall be granted to the one who applies first; if the applications are submitted at the same time, then the right will be granted to the one who first completes the breeding of the variety concerned.
　　Any new plant variety which is contrary to laws or endangers public interests and ecological environment shall not be granted the right of new plant variety.

　　Article 27 The name of the new plant variety which has been granted the right of new plant variety shall be distinguished from that of the known varieties in the same or similar plant genera or species. The name shall be the common name of the new plant variety after the authorization.
　　The following designations shall not be used to name the authorized varieties:
　　1. they are expressed only in numbers;
　　2. they violate the social morals; and
　　3. they are easy to lead the misunderstanding in terms of characters and features of the new plant variety or the identity of the breeder.
　　The same plant variety can only use the same name in applying for the protection of new variety, variety examination and approval, variety registration, popularization and sales. The seeds that are produced, popularized and sold shall be in consistent with the sample provided in applying for the protection of new plant variety, variety examination and approval, and variety registration.

　　Article 28 Entities or individuals completing the breeding enjoy the exclusive rights of their authorized varieties. No entity or individual shall, without the consent of the holder of the right of new plant variety, produce, breed or sell the propagative materials of the said authorized variety and produce the propagative materials of another variety by repeatedly using the propagative materials of the authorized varieties for commercial purposes, unless otherwise stipulated by the Law, relevant laws and administrative regulations.

　　Article 29 If the authorized varieties are used under the following circumstances, the permission of the holders of the rights of new plant varieties is not required and no use fees shall be paid to the above holders, provided that such use does not infringe upon other rights enjoyed by the holders of the rights of new plant varieties in accordance with the Law, relevant laws and administrative regulations:
　　1. the breeding and other scientific research activities are carried out by the use of authorized varieties; and
　　2. propagative materials of authorized varieties are bred and used by farmers themselves.

　　Article 30 For the sake of the national interests or public interests, the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council may make the decision on granting a compulsory license for exploitation of the rights of new plant varieties, which shall be subsequently registered and published.
　　Entities or individuals obtaining the compulsory license for exploitation don't enjoy the exclusive exploitation right and have no right to allow others to exploit the above rights.

　　Chapter V Seed Production and Business Operation

　　Article 31 The seed production and operation license used for engaging in seed import and export business shall be reviewed by the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and be approved and issued by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council.
　　The seed production and operation licenses of seed enterprises which engage in the production and operation of main crop hybrid seeds and parental seeds as well as forest tree seeds of improved varieties, integrate the selection, breeding, production and operation, and meet conditions stipulated by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council shall be reviewed by the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments at or above county level at the places where the producers and operators are located and be approved and issued by the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government concerned.
　　The seed production and operation licenses for the seeds other than those stipulated by the preceding two paragraphs shall be approved and issued by the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments at or above the county level at the places where the producers and operators are located.
　　The only engagement in the production of non-main crop seeds and non-main forest tree seeds requires no seed production and operation license.

　　Article 32 To apply for and obtain the seed production and operation license, an entity or individual shall possess production and operation facilities, equipment and professionals that are suitable for seed production and operation, and meet other conditions stipulated by the laws and regulations and by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council.
　　To engage in seed production, an entity or individual shall also possess the isolation and cultivation conditions for seed propagation, and the seed production site without quarantine pests or the seed collecting forest determined by the competent forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level in the meantime.
　　To apply for and obtain the production and operation license for seeds which enjoy the rights of new plant varieties, the written approval must be gained from the holders of the rights of new plant varieties concerned.

　　Article 33 The seed production and operation license shall clearly state the names, addresses and legal representatives of the producer and operator, varieties and production places of the seeds, the scope, validity period and valid area of the seed operation and other matters.
　　In case of any change in the above matters, an application for change registration shall be filed with the original authority approving and issuing the license within 30 days as of the date of change.
　　Unless otherwise prescribed in the Law, any entity or individual, which has no seed production and operation license or cannot comply with the stipulations of the seed production and operation license, is forbidden to produce or operate seeds. And it's forbidden to fake, alter, buy and sell, lease or rent the seed production and operation license.

　　Article 34 Technical regulations on seed production and seed inspection and quarantine regulations must be implemented for the production of seeds.

　　Article 35 The collection of seeds at the production base of forest tree seeds shall be organized by the operator of the base, and shall be carried out in accordance with relevant national standards.
　　It is illegal to pick immature seeds, damage the parent trees, and collect seeds from low quality forests or parent trees.

　　Article 36 The seed producers and operators shall establish and keep the production and operation file stating the seeds' sources, production places, quantity, quality, sales directions, sale dates, relevant personnel liable and other contents, make sure that all these information are traceable. The detailed matters specified in the seed production and operation file and the storage life of the file and seed samples shall be provided by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council.

　　Article 37 Residual routine seeds bred and used by farmers can be sold and exchanged in the local market without the seed production and operation license.

　　Article 38 The license-issuing authority shall determine the valid area of the seed production and operation license within its jurisdiction. Where the seed producer or operator establishes branches based on the valid area specified in the seed production and operation license, or specializes in the packed seeds that need not be sub-packaged again, or produces and sells seeds of other seed producers and operators who possess the seed production and operation licenses upon their written entrustment, it need not handle the seed production and operation license provided that it reports the case to the local competent agriculture and forestry departments for record.
　　The valid area of the seed production and operation license issued to a seed enterprise that integrates the selection, breeding, production and operation, and meets conditions stipulated by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council is the whole nation.

　　Article 39 No entity or individual may purchase the seeds of rare trees and the forest tree seeds subject to restricted purchases stipulated by the people's government at the corresponding level without the approval of the competent forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

　　Article 40 Seeds to be sold shall be processed, classified and packaged, with the exception of those that cannot be processed and packaged.
　　Seeds in large packages or imported seeds may be divided into smaller packages, provided that the entity handling the task must be marked clearly and shall be responsible for the quality of seeds.

　　Article 41 Seeds to be sold shall meet the national or industrial standards and bear labels and introductions. The contents of labels and instructions shall be consistent with seeds to be sold. Seed producers and operators shall be responsible for the authenticity of labels' contents and the quality of seeds.
　　Labels shall indicate types of seeds, names of varieties, numbers of variety examination and approval or registration, suitable planting areas and seasons of varieties, producers and operators, registration places, quality index, number of the quarantine certificate, number of the seed production and operation license and information code as well as other matters stipulated by the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council.
　　To sell the seeds of authorized varieties, the number of the variety right shall be indicated.
　　To sell import seeds, the number of the import approval document and Chinese labels shall be enclosed.
　　To sell the seeds of transgenic plant varieties, it must be marked with obvious written language and the safety control measures for the use shall be pointed out.
　　Seed producers and operators shall comply with relevant laws and regulations, be honest and trustworthy, and provide seed users with the explanation on the information of seed producers, main characters of seeds, main cultivation measures, adaptation and other using conditions, risk hints and relevant consulting services; and they shall not make false and misleading publicity.
　　No entity or individual may illegally interfere with the autonomy in production and operation of seed producers and operators.

　　Article 42 The contents of seed advertisements shall be consistent with the Law, and relevant advertising laws and regulations, and the description of main characteristics shall be in line with the announcement on examination and approval and registration.

　　Article 43 The seeds transported or posted shall be quarantined pursuant to relevant laws and administrative regulations.

　　Article 44 Users of seeds have the right to buy seeds at will, and no entity or individual may illegally interfere with their rights to do so.

　　Article 45 The State supports the forestation by using the improved forest tree varieties. Forestation projects that are mainly or fully invested by the State and forestation projects conducted by the state forestry department shall use the improved forest tree varieties in accordance with the plan formulated by the competent forestry department.

　　Article 46 If users of seeds suffer from losses due to seed quality or false contents of labels and instructions of seeds, users may claim the compensation from the seed operator who sold the seeds, as well as the seed producer or any other operator. The compensation shall include money used to buy the seeds, related losses in acquirable interests and other losses. If it's the seed producer or any other operator's liability, the seed operator who sold the seeds has the right to claim the compensation from the seed producer or any other operator after its payment of compensation to the users; if it's the liability of the seed operator who sold the seeds, the seed producer or any other operator may have the right to claim the compensation from the seed operator who sold the seeds after the payment of compensation to the users.

　　Chapter VI Supervision and Regulation on Seeds

　　Article 47 The competent agriculture and forestry departments shall strengthen the supervision and inspection over seed quality. The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council shall formulate the administrative measures for seed quality, industrial standards and inspection methods.
　　The competent agriculture and forestry departments may detect the seed varieties produced and operated by adopting the rapid detection method stipulated by the State, and the detection result may be used as the basis of administrative penalty. If the person under inspection disagrees with the detection result, he may apply for detection again, but the detection method shall be different from the last one. If errors of the detection result bring losses to the party involved, the competent agriculture and forestry departments shall undertake the liability of compensation according to the law.

　　Article 48 The competent agriculture and forestry departments may entrust the seed quality inspection organizations to carry out the seed quality inspection.
　　The seed quality inspection organizations shall possess relevant detecting conditions and abilities, and pass the examination of the competent departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level.
　　The seed quality inspection organizations shall be equipped with qualified seed inspectors who shall have a diploma from a technical secondary school or above, with a major in a relevant subject, and possess the corresponding capacities and level of seed inspection techniques.

　　Article 49 It is illegal to produce and operate false or low-quality seeds. The competent agriculture and forestry departments and relevant departments shall strike the illegal behaviors of producing and operating false or low-quality seeds according to the law, protect the legitimate rights and interests of farmers and maintain the market order with fair competition.
　　False seeds include:
　　1. the use of non-seeds to imitate seeds, or use one kind of seed to imitate another kind of seed; and
　　2. varieties and types of seeds are not consistent with the contents of labels or no labels providing.
　　The following constitute low-quality seeds:
　　1. seeds whose quality is lower than the national standards;
　　2. seeds whose quality is lower than what is marked on the labels;
　　3. seeds with the quarantine pests specified by the State.

　　Article 50 The competent agriculture and forestry departments are the seed-related administrative laws enforcement authorities. The seed law enforcement officers shall show their administrative law enforcement certificates when performing the official business according to the law. While performing duties of seed supervision and inspection according to the law, the competent agriculture and forestry departments have the right to take measures as follows:
　　1. carry out the on-site inspection at the production and operation place;
　　2. carry out sampling test, trial or examination on seeds;
　　3. consult and copy relevant contracts, bills, account books, production and operation files and other relevant documents;
　　4. seal up and detain seeds that have been proved to be produced and operated illegally, as well as tools, equipment, transport machine, etc. which are used for the illegal production and operation; and
　　5. seal up places used for illegal seed production and operation activities.
　　While the competent agriculture and forestry departments exercise their powers according to the Law, the parties concerned shall provide assistance and cooperation, and shall not refuse or obstruct.
　　The comprehensive law enforcement authorities subordinate to the competent agriculture and forestry departments or seed management agencies entrusted by the competent departments may carry out the work related to seed law enforcement.

　　Article 51 Seed producers and operators may voluntarily establish the seed industry association to strengthen the industry self-discipline management, protect the legitimate rights and interests of members and provide information communication, technical training, credit building, marketing, consulting and other services for members and industry development.

　　Article 52 Seed producers and operators may voluntarily apply to the qualified certification authorities for the seed quality certification. Seed producers and operators that pass the certification may use the certification mark on the package of seeds.

　　Article 53 Where the crop seeds which fail to meet national or local standards have to be used for the production need due to the force majeure, the approval must be obtained from the people's government at or above the county level at the place where the seeds will be used; where the forest tree seeds which fail to meet national or local standards have to be used for the production need due to the force majeure, the approval shall be obtained from the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the seeds will be used.

　　Article 54 Entities and individuals who engage in variety selection and breeding, seed production and operation and administration shall prevent the propagation and spread of dangerous plant diseases, pests and weeds and other pests in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations on plant quarantine.
　　It is illegal for any entity and individual to conduct inoculation experiments of quarantine pests in seed production bases.

　　Article 55 The competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level shall release the information on varieties examination and approval, variety registration, protection of new variety, seed production and operation license, supervision and management and others on the uniform government information platform.
　　The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council establish the standard sample bank for plant varieties in order to provide the basis for seed supervision and management.

　　Article 56 The competent agriculture and forestry departments as well as staff thereof shall not participate or engage in the seed production and operation activities.

　　Chapter VII Import and Export of Seeds and Foreign Cooperation

　　Article 57 The quarantine system must be implemented for seed imports and exports to prevent dangerous plant diseases, pests, weeds and other pests from entering and exiting China. Detailed quarantine efforts shall be carried out in accordance with the quarantine laws and administrative regulations on plant imports and exports.

　　Article 58 For engagement in seed import and export business, the seed import and export license shall be obtained in accordance with relevant national provisions, in addition to the seed production and operation license.
　　The State Council shall stipulate the authority of examination and approval of the introduced overseas crop seeds or forest tree seeds, the examination and approval measures for import of crop seeds and forest tree seeds, and the administrative measures for introducing varieties of transgenic plants from other countries.

　　Article 59 The quality of imported seeds shall meet national or industry standards. If there are no national or industry standards for seed quality, the standards agreed in the contracts shall prevail.

　　Article 60 Seed imports to be used for producing seeds for other countries shall not be bonded by Paragraph 1 of Article 58 of the Law, provided that there is a seed-production contract, and the imported seeds can only be used for seed production and relevant products cannot be sold in China.
　　The test seeds of crops or forest trees imported from other countries shall be cultivated in isolation and the harvest cannot be sold as commercial seeds in China.

　　Article 61 It is illegal to import and export false or low-quality seeds, or seeds that are not allowed to be imported and/or exported by national provisions.

　　Article 62 The State shall build the national security review mechanism for seed industry. The administration of examination and approval for foreign institutions or individuals investing, merging and acquiring Chinese seed enterprises or carrying out technical cooperation with Chinese scientific research institutions and seed enterprises to engage in research and development of varieties and seed production and operation shall be subject to relevant laws and administrative regulations.

　　Chapter VIII Supporting Measures

　　Article 63 The State shall increase the support for the development of seed industry and give support for variety selection and breeding, production, demonstration and popularization, protection of germplasm resources, seed reservation and counties where seeds are produced in the large scale.
　　The State encourages and promotes the application of efficient and safe techniques of seed production and collection, and advanced and applicable machines for seed production and collection, and includes the advanced and applicable machines for seed production and collection into the scope of subsidies for agricultural implements purchase.
　　The State shall actively guide the investment of the social funds in the seed industry.

　　Article 64 The State shall strengthen the construction of infrastructure for the public welfare in the seed industry.
　　The cultivated land in the breeding base of preponderant seeds shall be classified into the protection zone of basic farmland, and be protected permanently. The breeding base of preponderant seeds shall be determined by the competent agriculture department under the State Council through consultation with the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the base is located.

　　Article 65 Seed enterprises working on selection, breeding and production of crop and forest tree varieties shall be supported according to relevant national provisions.

　　Article 66 The State encourages and guides financial institutions to provide credit support for seed production and operation, collection and storage.

　　Article 67 The State supports insurance organizations to conduct the insurance services for seed production. The people's governments at or above the provincial level may take measures like insurance premium subsidies to support and develop the production insurance in seed industry.

　　Article 68 The State encourages scientific research institutions, colleges and universities to carry out the communication of scientific and technical personnel in the field of breeding with seed enterprises and to support scientific and technical personnel of their own to work on the breeding achievement transformation in seed enterprises, and encourages scientific and technical personnel in the field of breeding to innovate and start a business.

　　Article 69 The competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council and the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government where the seeds are cultivated shall strengthen the management and coordination of the seed cultivation, and the traffic and transportation departments shall guarantee seed transportation.

　　Chapter IX Legal Responsibility

　　Article 70 Where the competent agriculture or forestry department fails to make the administrative licensing decision according to the law, refuses to investigate and punish illegal behaviors discovered by itself or reported by others, or does not perform duties under the Law, relevant departments of the people's government at the same level or of the superior people's government shall order them to make corrections, and impose sanctions on accountable persons in charge and other persons directly liable in accordance with the law.
　　The staff of the competent agriculture and forestry departments shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law if they violate Article 56 of the Law and engage in the seed production and operation activities.

　　Article 71 The members and staff of the varieties examination and approval committee shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law if they, in violation of Article 16 of the Law, fail to perform their duties according to the law, practice fraud and play favoritism and commit irregularities; and they shall not work on variety examination and approval within five years as of the date on which the decision on sanctions is made.

　　Article 72 Where the variety test, trial and seed quality inspection organizations fake test, trial and inspection data or issue false certificates, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order them to make corrections, impose a fine not less than CNY50,000 but not more than CNY100,000 on the organizations and a fine not less than CNY10,000 but not more than CNY50,000 on directly responsible persons in charge and other persons directly liable and confiscate the illegal gains if any; where losses of users of seeds and other seed producers and operators are caused by these organizations, they shall undertake the joint liability with the seed producers and operators; and the relevant competent department of the people's government at or above the provincial level shall cancel the qualification for seed quality inspection when the circumstances are serious.

　　Article 73 Where any entity or individual violates Article 28 of the Law and commits any behaviors infringing upon the right of new plant variety, the parties concerned may settle such violation through negotiation; if they refuse to negotiate or the negotiation fails, the holder of the right of new plant variety or the interested parties may request the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level to handle with the matter, or sue to the people's court directly.
　　The competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level may conduct the conciliation on compensation for damages caused by the infringement of the right of new plant variety on the principle of voluntariness of the parties concerned. The parties concerned shall perform the agreement made during the conciliation; if the parties concerned refuse to perform the agreement or the conciliation fails to reach an agreement, the holder of the right of new plant variety or the interested parties may sue to the people's court according to the law.
　　The compensation amount for the infringement of the right of new plant variety shall be determined according to the actual losses of the right holder caused by the infringement; if the actual losses are hard to be determined, the compensation amount may be determined according to the benefits gained by the infringer via the infringement. If it's hard to determine the losses of the right holder or benefits gained by the infringer, the compensation amount may be reasonably determined according to the relevant multiple of the royalty of the right of new plant variety. The compensation amount shall include the reasonable expenditure paid by the right holder for stopping the infringement act. In case of serious infringement of the right of new plant variety, the compensation amount may be determined as per not less than one time but not more than three times of the amount determined according to the above methods.
　　Where it is difficult to determine the losses of the right holder, benefits gained by the infringer and the royalty of the right of new plant variety, the people's court may determine the compensation amount not more than CNY3 million based on the type of the right of new plant variety, nature and circumstance of the infringement act, and other factors.
　　In order to protect the public interests, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the infringer to stop the infringement act and confiscate the illegal gains and seeds while handling the case in relation to infringement of the right of new plant variety; if the value of seed goods is less than CNY50,000, the infringer shall be imposed a fine not less than CNY10,000 but not more than CNY250,000; if the value of seed goods is more than CNY50,000, the infringer shall be imposed a fine not less than five times but not more than ten times of the value.
　　Where any entity or individual counterfeits the authorized varieties, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the entity or individual to stop the counterfeit behavior, and confiscate the illegal gains and seeds; if the value of seed goods is less than CNY50,000, the entity or individual shall be imposed a fine not less than CNY10,000 but not more than CNY250,000; if the value of seed goods is more than CNY50,000, the entity or individual shall be imposed a fine not less than five times but not more than ten times of the value.

　　Article 74 Where the parties concerned have disputes on the right of application for the new plant variety and the ownership of the right of new plant variety, they may file a lawsuit with the people's court.

　　Article 75 Where entities or individuals produce and operate false seeds, which violates Article 49 hereof, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order them to stop the production and operation, confiscate the illegal gains and seeds and revoke the seed production and operation license; if the value of seed goods illegally produced and operated is less than CNY10,000, the violators shall be fined not less than CNY10,000 but not more than CNY100,000; if the said value is more than CNY10,000, the violators shall be imposed a fine not less than ten times but not more than 20 times of the value.
　　The legal representative or any directly responsible person in charge of a seed enterprise or any other entity that is sentenced to the fixed-term imprisonment or above due to the crime of producing and operating false seeds shall not serve as the legal representative or senior officer of any seed enterprise within five years as of the date on which the execution of the punishment is completed.

　　Article 76 Where any entity or individual produces and operates low-quality seeds, which violates Article 49 hereof, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the violator to stop the production and operation, and confiscate the illegal gains and seeds; if the value of seed goods illegally produced and operated is less than CNY10,000, the violator shall be fined not less than CNY5,000 but not more than CNY50,000; if the value of seed goods is more than CNY10,000, the violator shall be imposed a fine not less than five times but not more than ten times of the value; and in serious case, the seed production and operation license shall be revoked.
　　Where the legal representative or any directly responsible person in charge of a seed enterprise or any other entity is sentenced to the fixed-term imprisonment or above due to the crime of producing and operating low-quality seeds, he shall not hold the post of legal representative or senior officer of any seed enterprise within five years as of the date on which the execution of the punishment is completed.

　　Article 77 In case of any of the following acts violating Article 32 and Article 33 of the Law, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the violator to make corrections, and confiscate the illegal gains and seeds; if the value of seed goods under illegal production and operation is less than CNY10,000, the violator shall be fined not less than CNY3,000 but not more than CNY30,000; if the above value is more than CNY10,000, the violator shall be imposed a fine not less than three times but not more than five times of the value; and the seed production and operation license may be revoked:
　　1. conduct the seed production and operation without obtaining the seed production and operation license;
　　2. obtain the seed production and operation license through improper means such as cheat and bribe;
　　3. fail to conduct the seed production and operation according to the stipulations of the seed production and operation license; or
　　4. fake, alter, buy and sell, rent and lease the seed production and operation license.
　　Where the seed production and operation license of an entity is revoked, the legal representative or any directly responsible person in charge of the entity shall not assume the office of legal representative or senior officer of any seed enterprise within five years as of the date on which the decision on punishment is made.

　　Article 78 In the event of any of the following acts violating Article 21, Article 22 and Article 23 of the Law, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the violator to stop the illegal acts, confiscate the illegal gains and seeds and impose a fine not less than CNY20,000 but not more than CNY200,000:
　　1. generalize or sell crop varieties that should have been examined and approved;
　　2. generalize or sell forest tree varieties which should have been examined and approved as the improved varieties;
　　3. generalize or sell crop varieties or improved forest tree varieties whose popularization or sales should have been stopped;
　　4. generalize the crop varieties which should have been registered, or sell the crop varieties in the name of registered varieties; or
　　5. generalize the crop varieties which have been deregistered, or sell the crop varieties in the name of registered varieties.
　　Where, in violation of Article 23 and Article 42 of the Law, any advertisement on crop varieties which should have been examined and approved or registered is released, or the contents of main characters of relevant varieties described in the advertisement are not consistent with that in the announcement on examination and approval and registration, relevant legal liabilities shall be investigated and affixed according to the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.

　　Article 79 In case of any of the following acts violating Article 58, Article 60 and Article 61 of the Law, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the violator to make corrections, and confiscate the illegal gains and seeds; if the value of seed goods under illegal production and operation is less than CNY10,000, the violator shall be imposed a fine not less than CNY3,000 but not more than CNY30,000; if the above value is more than CNY10,000, the violator shall be imposed a fine not less than three times but not more than five times of the value; in serious case, the seed production and operation license may be revoked:
　　1. import and export seeds without permission;
　　2. sell seeds produced for foreign counties in China;
　　3. sell the products produced in the introduction test of crop or forest tree seeds introduced from foreign countries as the commercial seeds in China; or
　　4. import and export false or low-quality seeds, or seeds that are not allowed to be imported and/or exported by national provisions.

　　Article 80 In the event of any of the following acts violating Article 36, Article 38, Article 40 and Article 41 hereof, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the violator to make corrections and impose the fine not less than CNY2,000 but not more than CNY20,000:
　　1. seeds to be sold have no packages needed;
　　2. seeds to be sold have no instructions or contents of labels fail to conform to the provisions;
　　3. alter labels;
　　4. fail to establish and conserve the seed production and operation file as stipulated; or
　　5. seed producers and operators who establish branches in other places, specialize in packaged seeds which need not be divided and packed again, or produce and sell seeds as entrusted, fail to report the matter to relevant authorities for record as stipulated.

　　Article 81 Where any entity or individual violates Article 8 hereof and takes or damages germplasm resources, or collects or cuts natural germplasm resources under the national key protection without permission, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order the violator to stop the illegal behaviors, confiscate germplasm resources and illegal gains, and impose the fine not less than CNY5,000 but not more than CNY50,000; in case of losses caused thereby, the violator shall undertake the liability of compensation according to the law.

　　Article 82 Where entities or individuals provide germplasm resources to foreign countries or introduce germplasm resources from foreign countries, or carry out cooperation with foreign institutions or individuals in terms of studying and using germplasm resources, which violates Article 11 of the Law, the competent agriculture and forestry departments under the State Council or of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall confiscate germplasm resources and illegal gains and impose a fine not less than CNY20,000 but not more than CNY200,000.
　　Where germplasm resources are taken or transported out of China without the approval documents issued by the competent agriculture and forestry departments, the customs shall detain the germplasm resources and transfer them to the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government for treatment.

　　Article 83 Where entities or individuals snatch immature seeds, damage the parent trees or collect seeds from low-quality parent trees or forests, which violate Article 35 of the Law, the competent forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order them to stop such collection behaviors, confiscate the seeds collected, and impose the fine not less than two times but not more than five times of the value of the seeds collected.

　　Article 84 Where any entity or individual, in violation of Article 39 hereof, purchases the seeds of rare trees or forest tree seeds subject to restricted purchases, the competent forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall confiscate the seeds purchased, and impose the fine not less than two times but not more than five times of the value of the seeds purchased.

　　Article 85 Where a seed enterprise commits any fraud behaviors which violate Article 17 of the Law, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the provincial level shall impose the fine not less than CNY1 million but not more than CNY5 million; the seed enterprise shall not apply for the variety examination and approval according to Article 17 hereof; where seed users and other seed producers and operators suffer from any losses caused by such fraud behaviors, the seed enterprise shall undertake the liability of compensation according to the law.

　　Article 86 Where entities or individuals fail to use the improved forest tree varieties according to the plans formulated by the competent forestry departments, which violates Article 45 of the Law, the competent forestry departments of the people's governments at the same level shall order them to make corrections within a specified time limit, and impose the fine not less than CNY3,000 but not more than CNY30,000 if they fail to do so.

　　Article 87 Where entities or individuals, in violation of Article 54 of the Law, conduct the inoculation experiment on quarantine pests in the seed production base, the competent agriculture or forestry department of the people's government at or above the county level shall order them to stop the experiment, and impose the fine not less than CNY5,000 but not more than CNY50,000.

　　Article 88 Where any entity or individual refuses to accept or obstruct the supervision and inspection conducted by the competent agriculture or forestry department according to the law, which violates Article 50 of the Law, the violator shall be imposed the fine not more than CNY2,000 but not less than CNY50,000, and may be ordered to stop production and business operation for internal rectification; if the above violation goes against the public security administration, the public security organization may impose corresponding punishments on the violator according to the law.

　　Article 89 Any person who violates Article 13 of the Law and trades in the breeding products without permission, resulting in economic losses of the entity which he works for, shall undertake the liability of compensation according to the law.

　　Article 90 Entities or individuals that, in violation of Article 44 of the Law, force seed users to buy or use the seeds against their will, shall undertake the liability of compensation for losses of users caused thereby.

　　Article 91 If any violation of the Law constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be investigated and affixed according to the law.

　　Chapter X Supplementary Provisions

　　Article 92 The meanings of the following terms in the Law are as follows:
　　1. "Germplasm resources" refer to the basic materials selected to cultivate new varieties, including planting seeds of various flora, propagative materials of wild plant seeds and gene materials of various flora artificially created by using the above propagative materials;
　　2. "Variety" refers to a plant colony whose shape and biological characteristics are uniform, and whose genetic characteristics are relatively stable that has been selected, cultivated, found and improved by human;
　　3. "Main crops" refer to rice, wheat, maize, cotton and soybean;
　　4. The main forest trees shall be determined and published by the competent forestry department under the State Council; other less than eight kinds of main forest trees excluding those determined by the competent forestry department under the State Council may be determined by the competent forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
　　5. "Improved forest tree variety" refers to those main forest tree seeds that are examined and approved, and whose output, adaptability and resistance are significantly better than the propagative materials and planting materials of current main planting materials within a certain region;
　　6. "Novelty" refers to the case that, prior to the date of applying for the right of new plant variety for a variety, the seeds of the variety have been sold and popularized by the applicant or others entrusted by the applicant for not more than one year in China, while the woody or vine plants not more than six years and the rest plants not more than four years outside of China.
　　Plant genera or varieties listed in the national list of protected plant varieties after the Law takes effect shall possess the novelty if the application for the rights of new plant varieties for them is filed within one year as of the date of promulgation of the list or the seeds of these plant varieties have been sold or popularized in China for not more than four years.
　　Except for the sales and popularization behaviors resulting in the loss of the novelty, the varieties under the following circumstances shall be deemed as losing the novelty:
　　(1) the varieties have been determined by the competent agriculture and forestry departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government on the basis of the sowing area and have been spread as a fact; and
　　(2) crops varieties have been examined and approved or registered for more than two years but the rights of new plant varieties have not been applied;
　　7. "Specificity" refers to the case that one plant variety has one or more characters obviously different from that of the known varieties;
　　8. "Consistency" refers to the case that, except for the predictable natural variations of characters of one plant variety, relevant features or characters are consistent among individual plants within the colony;
　　9. "Stability" refers to the case that main characters of one plant variety remain unchanged after the repeated reproduction or at the end of the specific reproductive cycle;
　　10. "Known varieties" refer to the plant varieties whose applications have been accepted or which have passed the variety examination and approval, variety registration, and protection of new variety, or which have been sold or popularized.
　　11."Label" refers to the specific patterns and written descriptions printed, pasted, fixed on or attached to the surface of seeds or packages of seeds.

　　Article 93 The Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the management of germplasm resources, selection and cultivation, production and operation, administration and other activities related to grass seeds, tobacco seeds, seeds of traditional Chinese medicinal materials and edible mushroom seeds.

　　Article 94 The Law shall take effect as of January 1, 2016.