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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State University Seed Laboratory has become the first official state seed laboratory in the nation to receive accreditation by the International Seed Testing Association.

The association, which has 182 member laboratories, develops and publishes standard seed-testing procedures and is an international accreditor of official and non-official laboratories. The OSU Seed Laboratory is the fifth accredited lab in the United States and one of 106 in the world that are technically competent to carry out seed testing procedures in accordance with the association's rules. The labs also must show that they run a quality management system that fulfills accreditation standards.

"The OSU laboratory has provided seed testing services for state, national and international markets for 100 years," said Adriel Garay, manager of the laboratory. "We have been a member of the Association of Official Seed Analysts for more than 80 years and continue to provide testing services based on AOSA Testing Rules."

The new membership and formal accreditation by the seed testing association allows the OSU laboratory to provide expanded services such as seed-testing to issue "Orange and Blue International Certificates," an additional way to satisfy requirements of other countries.

For additional information, visit the website: seedlab.oscs.orst.edu or email seedlab@oscs.orst.edu. An article, "The Good Seed," about the OSU Seed Laboratory is in Oregon's Agricultural Progress magazine: http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/winter-2009/good-seed