§19-16-6 Duties and authority of commissioner of agriculture. - West Virginia Statutes

§19-16-6. Duties and authority of commissioner of agriculture.
(a) The duty of enforcing this article and carrying out its provisions and requirements shall be vested in the commissioner of agriculture. It shall be his duty:

(1) To establish germination standards for agricultural, forest and vegetable seeds;

(2) To sample, inspect, make analysis of, and test agricultural, forest, vegetable and potato seeds transported, sold or offered or exposed for sale within this state for seeding purposes, at such time and place and to such extent as he may deem necessary to determine whether such seeds are in compliance with the provisions of this article, and to notify promptly the person who transported, sold, offered or exposed the seed for sale, of any violation;

(3) To prescribe and adopt rules and regulations governing the methods of sampling, inspecting, analysis, tests and examination of agricultural, forest and vegetable seed, and the tolerances to be followed in the administration of this article, which shall be in general accord with officially prescribed practice in interstate commerce, and such other rules and regulations as may be necessary to secure the efficient enforcement of this article.

(b) Further for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article the commissioner, individually or through his authorized agents, is authorized:

(1) To enter upon any public or private premises during regular business hours in order to have access to seeds subject to this article and the rules and regulations thereunder;

(2) To issue and enforce a written or printed "stop sale" order to the owner or custodian of any lot of seed which the commissioner finds is in violation of any provisions of this article, which order shall prohibit further sale or movement of such seed until the commissioner has released the same;

(3) To establish and maintain or make provisions for seed testing facilities, to employ qualified persons, and to incur such expenses as may be necessary to comply with these provisions;

(4) To make or provide for making purity and germination tests of seeds for farmers and dealers on request; to prescribe rules and regulations governing such testing; and to fix and collect charges for the tests made. Such fees shall be deposited with the state treasurer in a special revenue fund and may be expended on order of the commissioner;

(5) To cooperate with the United States department of agriculture in seed law enforcement;

(6) To establish a certifying agency for seed grown in this state.