ICIA Quality Assurance Program

ICIA's Quality Assurance(QA) Program provides a uniform, unbiased quality control system and marketing tool for crop seed marketed as brands, varieties or hybrids. While it is designed as a complete quality control service for products not using seed certification, the guidelines are similar to those of the certification system. It is readily customized to meet the needs of the customer. ICIA's QA program adds significant value to seed programs as it assists in maintaining product purity and identity in an era of increasingly costly genetic traits. This ICIA program is in compliance with the AOSCA Quality Assurance (QA) guidelines.

The QA Program provides the following:

• Coordinated, professional and unbiased field inspections, laboratory testing and post control grow out tests for quality control in seed production, conditioning and marketing.
• An unbiased record system for use in meeting state and federal seed law requirements, assessing royalties or research fees, establishing a defense for use in avoiding problems and helping to resolve problems between seed suppliers, growers and customers.
• A marketing image of sound quality control.
• Assurance to buyers that seed bearing the QA trademark has met purity standards related to a known description across seed lots and years of production.
• The QA program can also be of great assistance in helping describe new products and is frequently used in facilitating wholesale movement of seed.

The QA Program provides significant value for companies and producers who need to adhere to sound quality control programs or meet license agreement protocols in today's era of high value technology and specific genetic traits.