Registrations and filings required for businesses - Department of Agriculture

The purpose of chapter 20.01 RCW is to protect producers, buyers, and sellers of agricultural products against illegal practices.

To support research projects beneficial to the apiary industry.

To ensure the orderly marketing of livestock and to protect people who transfer livestock to markets and sales.

To allow for distribution of bulk fertilizer in the state.

To provide fair and economical methods of cattle identification so that the movement of cattle from producers to the point of slaughter occurs without losing ownership of cattle.

To support research aimed at protecting and enhancing the Christmas tree growing industry.

To allow experiments involving pesticides that are not registered or that are not allowed by the pesticide label. Permit is issued to research institutions, pesticide registrants, or persons licensed to conduct certain types of small-plot demonstrations and research activities on land they own or control.

To allow companies to commercially apply pesticides including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, fumigants, etc.

To regulate manufacturers, guarantors, and distributors of commercial animal feed for safety and integrity.

To register fertilizer products for sale in Washington.

To re-register fertilizer products for sale in Washington.

To license employees of companies that commercially apply pesticides including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, fumigants, etc.

To license persons who provide advice and/or technical assistance to users of non-home and garden pesticides including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, fumigants, etc.

To provide accurate information, type and locations on the weights and measures devices so inspections may be scheduled and completed.

To protect producers, buyers, and sellers of agricultural products against illegal practices. Applies to commission merchants, dealers, limited dealers, cash buyers, and brokers.

To provide evidence that controlled atmosphere storage rooms have been audited by WSDA and qualified as meeting the requirements for controlled atmosphere storage.

Allows for non-potentially hazardous food to be made in a domestic kitchen and to be sold directly to the consumer.

To allow the slaughtering and processing of uninspected meat food animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and swine for the sole consumption of the owner.

To license those who distribute non-home and garden pesticides at a pesticide dealer business outlet.

To license persons who apply experimental or restricted use pesticides to small experimental plots while performing research and at no charge.

To allow the operation of egg production, handling, and sale to wholesalers, dealers, and retailers.

To license producers to allow online reporting of change of ownership or out of state movement for electronically individual identified cattle.

To allow equine semen or embryos to be imported into Washington after meeting import testing requirements.

To allow terrestrial site experiments involving unregistered pesticides, and for all experiments for uses not allowed by pesticide label.

To allow all aquatic site experiments involving unregistered pesticides, and for all experiments for uses not allowed by pesticide label. This permit allows testing on aquatic sites of one acre or less.

To allow the transportation of processed foods into domestic and international markets.

To allow cattle to move across state lines for grazing, and return to Washington with no change of ownership. Cattle moving interstate under a Feeding and Grazing Permit approved by both states are exempt from a certificate of veterinary inspection.

To allow the receiving, storage, processing, packaging, and distribution of licensed food products.

To allow storage at any premises, establishment, building, room area, facility, or place, in whole or in part, where food is stored, kept, or held for wholesale distribution to other wholesalers or to retail outlets, restaurants, and any such other facility selling or distributing to the ultimate consumer.

A shipping permit is a document attesting that fruits or vegetables are known to be in compliance with the standards of WSDA fruit and vegetable inspections.

No person may ship, transport, accept for shipment, or accept delivery of any commercial lot of apples, apricots, asparagus, Italian prunes, peaches, pears, or sweet cherries for which a certificate of compliance or a shipping permit has not been issued, except that apples and pears for processing entering in-state commerce are not required to have a certificate of compliance or shipping permit issued. The COC gives shipping clearance from the State of Washington for 7 Commodities covered under the COC Program.

To allow for hemp extract manufacturers’ products to be used in states that allow its use in food.

To license people to grow hemp in Washington State.

To make sure collectors of dead animals for disposal are properly equipped. Also makes sure collectors are licensed to transport dead animals or packing house refuse to a rendering plant.

To allow edible waste, derived from garbage, to be fed to swine.

To license people who apply restricted use herbicides on their own or employer's non-production agricultural land, and in mixed rangeland-timber areas to control weeds designated for mandatory control. Only valid in Eastern Washington.

To verify that input materials manufactured/distributed by the operation are allowed for use in organic production. The certificate is not required to sell organic input materials. Manufacturers making organic compliant products may seek voluntary registration in order to use WSDA material logo.

To allow dairy operations to process dairy products for each type of milk or milk product.

To allow dairy operations to produce, bottle, and sell their product in Washington.

To support the fair and orderly trade of horticultural plants in Washington. To help protect the nursery industry and consumer by ensuring horticultural plants offered for sale are free from infestation, are labeled correctly, and are not damaged or dying.

To ensure the orderly marketing of livestock, and to protect people who transfer livestock to markets and sales.

To verify crops, livestock, and products represented as organic comply with the requirements of the USDA organic regulations.

To import animals or animal reproductive products into the state.

To register pesticide products that will be sold in Washington.

To regulate pet and specialty pet food products for safety and integrity. 

Exemption to the state licensing requirement for clubs, conservation districts, and educational and nonprofit associations who are conducting no more than three sales per year for not more than four consecutive days. Obtaining a plant sale permit notifies WSDA of intended sales and provides an opportunity for inspection to minimize the spread of harmful plant pests and diseases.

To license people who apply restricted use pesticides to their own property, or their employer's property, to produce an agricultural commodity.

To license people who apply restricted use pesticides to their own property or their employer's property for a purpose other than the production of an agricultural commodity. Examples include private golf courses, wood treatment plants, and grain storage bins.

To license public agency employees that apply restricted use pesticides by any means or any pesticide through power equipment.

To license government agency employees who provide advice and/or technical assistance to users of non-home and garden pesticides including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, fumigants, etc.

To license people who apply restricted use herbicides and rodenticides on non-production agricultural land (pastures, rangeland, areas around farm buildings). Also used for mixed rangeland-timber areas and limited production agricultural land to control weeds designated for mandatory control. Only valid in eastern Washington.

To regulate dead animals disposal in relation to meat and bone meal for animal feed, additives, and cosmetics.

To allow imported animals to enter a designated area that is isolated from all other non-restricted areas within a feedlot.

To allow the use of an unregistered pesticide in an emergency when there are no other viable options for control.

To allow additional use of a federally registered pesticide on a food or feed crop, or on a non-food or non-feed crop or site to control an existing or imminent pest problem.

To allow seed seller to label/relabel seed under their specific company name. Also allows for annual label review to ensure compliance with state seed law.

To ensure that rejected measuring devices are repaired and sealed properly for consumer protection.

To allow the slaughter, preparation, and sale of 1,000 or fewer whole raw poultry per calendar year.

To ensure the orderly marketing of livestock and to protect people who transfer livestock to markets and sales.

To register spray adjuvant products to be sold in Washington.

To license people who inspect structures for wood-destroying organisms, their damage, or conditions conducive to their development.

To regulate the sanitation of storage for temporary deposit, transfer or loading of dead animals.

Public grain storage warehouses must be state or federally licensed and bonded. Dealers who buy from Washington producers or with place of business in Washington must be licensed.

To promote marketplace equity in commercial transactions, provide safeguards for the consuming public and ensure businesses receive proper compensation for their delivered commodities.