South Africa - Get International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) Certificate

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To apply for getting International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) Certificate in person, the applicant has to visit the office of Official Seed Testing Laboratory (OSTL).
2. The address and contact details of the office of OSTL can be found in the “Who to contact” section in the following page: Link
3. Visit the office of the OSTL and get the Application form to apply for getting International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) Certificate as applicable, from the relevant department.
4. Make sure that you have all the documents listed in the “Required documents” section of this page.
5. Complete the form as required with relevant details under respective sections. After completing the application form, attach the required documents with the completed form.
6. Then, proceed to submit the package to the relevant authority at the office of the Official Seed Testing Laboratory in person for further processes. Make the necessary payment as directed.
7. You can also submit the application package through post to the postal address or through email to the email address of the Official Seed Testing Laboratory office.
8. After submission, the application form and attached documents will be forwarded to further processes by the relevant authorities.
9. After all the processes have got completed, the concerned authorities in the office will make necessary actions for the Certificate issuance process.

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Required Documents

• Completed application form (Orange International Certificate)
• Letter on organisation’s letterhead (Blue Certificate)
• Invoice for payment
• Proof or Receipt of payment
• Any supporting document

Office Locations & Contacts

Department of Agriculture : Directorate Inspection Services, Seed Testing Station
Directorate Plant Production
Plant Genetic Resources Centre,
KwaMhalanga Road, Roodeplaat,
Pretoria
0084
South Africa
Postal Address:Official Seed Testing Centre,
Directorate Plant Production,
Private Bag X250,
Pretoria,
0001
South Africa
Tel: + 27 (12) 319 7493
Fax: + 27 (12) 319 7425 / 7570
Website: Website link

Eligibility

• Any person living in South Africa, who wants to obtain an Orange International Certificate or Blue International Certificate, can apply.
• Any organisation in South Africa, that wants to obtain an International Seed Testing Association Certificate, can apply.

Fees

Issuance of international seed lot or sample certificates (Orange and Blue certificates): R230.00/certificate.

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

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Processing Time

The OSTL gives priority to the testing of seed samples for export purposes. The various crop types have different test conditions and the duration of a test can vary from a few days to a few weeks.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
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Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.gIn the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

Please refer “What you should do” section of the following page for detailed instructions: Link

Required Information

• Particulars of the applicant
• Particulars of the Organisation
• Details of the seed lot
• Details of the seed sample

Need for the Document

If you need an international seed analysis certificate to export seed, you can apply for an ISTA certificate at the Official Seed Testing Laboratory (OSTL). The OSTL is an accredited member laboratory of ISTA and authorised to issue international seed analysis certificates.

Information which might help

• The Orange Certificate is issued when the sample is drawn officially from a lot (batch) and tests are carried out under the responsibility of an accredited laboratory. The certificate is applicable to the seed lot from which it was taken.

• The Blue Certificate is issued when sampling is not done under the responsibility of an accredited laboratory and the accredited laboratory is only responsible for testing the sample. This certificate only applies to the sample received for testing.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

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Others

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