1. (a) All seed (including precommercial lots of seed, commonly known as breeder seed, or parental lines of hybrids prior to production of foundation grade seed) used for any planting shall undergo testing prior to April 1 of the current crop year for the purpose of identifying seed lots that contain variants of LLRice.
2. (b) Testing labs. All seed samples shall be submitted to a lab that has validated the 35S bar test.

3. (c) Sampling.

   1. (1) Any seed sample collected for the purpose of complying with this part must be "officially drawn" samples under supervision of the State Plant Board inspectors or an employee of another state's AOSCA member.

   2. (2) The board (or cooperating state representative) shall be responsible for:

      1. (A) Submitting the samples for testing;
      2. (B) Receiving and disbursing test results; and
      3. (C) Maintaining the chain of custody of the samples throughout the sampling and testing process.

4. (d) Seed source.

   1. (1)

      1. (A) Any seed anticipated to be used for planting rice must be tested.
      2. (B) Seed produced inside Arkansas as well as any seed produced in other states but entering Arkansas through a purchase must be sampled and tested.
   2. (2) Purchased seed from other states that has undergone testing under the same protocol as outlined in this part and receiving a "not detected within the specified detection limits", and has documentation to present the results, shall be exempt from additional testing.
   3. (3) All lots of seed, be they bagged or in bulk, shall be subject to this part.

5. (e) Carryover seed.

   1. (1) Any seed tested in a previous year in a manner compliant with this part and held in a sealed bag is not required to undergo new GMO testing.
   2. (2) Any seed to be used for planting held over in any container, structure, or vessel that is open and/or would not prevent introduction of untested seed (such as, but not limited to, bins, tote bags, superbags, open barrels, grain trucks, grain wagons, or grain carts) must be resampled and undergo current year testing.
6. (f) Participation. Entities having seed, saved from their own production, that is to be used for planting seed are responsible for contacting the State Plant Board and requesting having a sample collected for submission for testing.
7. (g) Testing. The testing protocol (commonly referred to as the 35S bar test) shall be conducted by a lab that uses a validated protocol.

8. (h) Detection level.

   1. (1) Testing shall be conducted to effect detection at the one hundredth percent (.01%) level with a ninety-five percent (95%) confidence interval.
   2. (2) Any sample that has a detection in any portion of the submitted sample shall be ruled as being positive or having a detection within the detection limits.

9. (i) Records retention. Sample submission forms, results reports, and any other records developed in carrying out this testing shall be:

   1. (1) Retained by the applicant (those entities owning and having the seed lot submitted for testing); and
   2. (2) Made available for review upon request by an authorized representative of the board.

10. (j) Transfer of seed.

    1. (1) Copies of testing results for individual lots of seed shall be provided to anyone who purchases any portion of the tested lot.
    2. (2) Results for all lots, of which any portion was purchased, shall be provided to the purchaser.
11. (k) Authorized for sale. Any lot of seed tested, utilizing proper protocols, that received a "not detected within the specified detection limits" result shall be legal for sale.
12. (l) Failed seed. Any lot of seed that tests "detected within the specified detection limits" for LLRice shall immediately be removed from the seed market and must be moved through the grain marketing channels with proper identification as containing GMO characteristics or be destroyed.

13. (m) Exemption. "Specialty" rice producers and millers who handle only those rice varieties with characteristics, such as aromatic qualities, that do not enter the grain marketing channels may be exempt from this part under specific conditions, including but maybe not limited to:

    1. (1) Their seed source can be documented and verified; and
    2. (2) Records that confirm the specialty rice will not enter the long grain market channels.

Codification Notes: "AOSCA" means the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies. "GMO" means genetically modified organism.