DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT  
PESTICIDE AND PLANT PEST MANAGEMENT DIVISION  
REGULATION NO. 629: SEED POTATO CERTIFICATION  
REQUIREMENTS  
(By authority conferred on the department of agriculture by sections 4 and 7 of the  
seed potato act, 2018 PA 94, MCL 286.684 and 286.687)  
R 285.629.1 Definitions.  
Rule 1. (1) As used in these rules:  
(a) “Act” means the seed potato act, 2018 PA 94, MCL 286.681 to 286.689.  
(b)  
(c) “Late blight” means Phytophthora infestans.  
(d) Potato grower” or “grower” means a person owning, leasing, managing, or in  
charge of any land upon which potatoes are planted and grown.  
“Bacterial ring rot” means Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies sepedonicus.  
“
(e) “Registered grower” means a person who has notified the director of their intent  
to grow potatoes in this state in combined seed lots of 1 acre or more.  
(f) “Material Transfer Agreement” means an agreement between a grower and a  
research or educational institution that provides for the transfer of seed potatoes of  
an experimental cultivar; restricts the use and transfer of the seed potatoes or their  
progeny; and includes the name of the developing institution, the name of the  
recipient, the name of the cultivar, and the purpose or purposes of the cultivar’s  
use.  
(2) A term defined in the act has the same meaning when used in these rules.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.2 General provisions.  
Rule 2. (1) A grower shall register with the department through a form or process  
established by the director.  
(2) For the purposes of sections 3, 4, and 5 of the act, MCL 286.683, 286.684, and  
286.685, any person who plants 40 hundredweight of seed potatoes on at least 1  
acre of land is subject to the act and all regulations promulgated thereunder.  
(3) Exceptions provided to a grower pursuant to these rules carry over to the  
grower’s distributor.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.3 Research exceptions to the act.  
Rule 3. A research exception may be granted when 1 of the 2 following documents  
are provided:  
(a) A Material Transfer Agreement.  
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(b) A signed letter from the developer stating the name and proposed planting  
location of the seed.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.4 Applying for a general exception to the act; requirements.  
Rule 4. (1) An application for an exception to the act must include all of the following:  
(a) Name and address of applicant.  
(b) Affiliation or company information.  
(c) Cultivar.  
(d) Location, acreage, and hundredweight for planting.  
(e) Reason for exception request.  
(f) Names of 3 or more certified seed growers contacted to source seed.  
(g) Desired seed source.  
(h) Proof of seed potato certification process, including which stage in the process the  
seed lot failed.  
(i) Based upon the stage of failure, at least 1 of the following supporting documents:  
(i) A field inspection report for either the first or the second field inspection.  
(ii) Test results described by R 285.629.6(1).  
(iii) A health certificate for the post-harvest (winter) test.  
(iv) A shipping point inspection certificate.  
(2) To be eligible for an exception to certification requirements under the act, both  
of the following must be true:  
(a) The seed potatoes must have been certified seed the prior year and have failed  
certification in the current year, unless it is grown under a research exception.  
(b) The applicant has contacted no fewer than 3 growers to source certified seed.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.5 Criteria for evaluating certification exception request.  
Rule 5. The advisory committee shall consider all of the following when evaluating  
whether to recommend an exception to the seed certification requirement under the act:  
(a) The crop’s proximity to other seed potato production.  
(b) The levels and types of disease present.  
(c) The impact of its decision on neighboring potato farms.  
(d) The impact of its decision on the applicant.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.6 Sampling and testing requirements; disease standards for seed  
potatoes excepted from certification.  
Rule 6. (1) If visual inspection results for the lot are not available for bacterial ring  
rot, late blight, or both or post-harvest tests are not available for the lot, growers must  
submit a 400-tuber sample for each seed lot that would plant 1 acre or a 200-tuber  
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sample for each seed lot that would plant less than 1 acre, to a laboratory approved  
by the director.  
(2) Seed potatoes granted an exception by the director must be free from bacterial  
ring rot and late blight based upon visual or laboratory testing.  
(3) Growers must maintain the testing history and lab results specified in these rules  
as well as any documentation required by the act for a period of 2 years for each  
lot of seed potatoes planted.  
(4) Growers are responsible for all costs associated with sampling and testing.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.7 Random selection of growers and record review.  
Rule 7. (1) The department shall select 10% of the annually registered growers at  
random using computer based random number generating software.  
(2) The department shall conduct records inspections on the selected registered growers  
pursuant to the act and these rules.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
R 285.629.8 Fees schedule for department services.  
Rule 8. (1) The director shall charge an inspection fee based on the cost to the  
department of making the inspection and shall adjust the schedule of fees for the costs of  
inspection and investigation of alleged violations as required by the act and these rules.  
(2) The director shall review and adjust the schedule of fees at the end of each fiscal  
year.  
(3) The commission of agriculture and rural development shall approve all adjustments  
to the fees before they are adopted.  
(4) In any given fiscal year, the director may only increase inspection fees by not more  
than an amount determined by the state treasurer to reflect the cumulative annual  
percentage change in the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint consumer price index (CPI) over  
the 1-year period.  
(a) A fee adjustment under this rule must not exceed 5%, even if the state treasurer  
determines the cumulative annual change in the CPI is greater than 5%.  
(b) If the cumulative annual change of the CPI over a 1-year period is less than zero, a  
cumulative annual percentage change of zero must be used for the adjustment.  
(c) The adjustment must be rounded to the nearest dollar to set each year’s fee under  
this rule. However, the absolute value of the adjustment must be carried over and  
used to calculate the next annual adjustment.  
History: 2020 MR 7, Eff. Jan 1, 2021.  
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