Keith grain trader Tim Cadzow jailed for illegal lucerne exports

Mr Cadzow was convicted this week of 31 counts of falsifying export documentation and using an unregistered facility to rebag and label seed for export.

Australia's seed exports - along with those of more than 60 other countries - are controlled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with OECD labels required to be attached to all 25-kilogram bags.

Mr Cadzow was found to have forged these labels on 14 shipments to Saudi Arabia.

The case - a national first - relates to 600 tonnes of seed Mr Cadzow exported on behalf of growers between July 2012 and January 2016, valued at about $US4 million.

In his sentencing remarks, District Court Judge Michael Durrant noted that Mr Cadzow - the former managing director of Keith Seeds, which went into liquidation in 2010 - had pleaded guilty and taken steps towards rehabilitation.

However he said the offending was "very serious" and against the national interest.

"It was sophisticated offending on a significant scale which occurred over a 3.5-year period and only stopped when you were caught," he said.

Judge Durrant said a strong deterrent was needed, especially as Mr Cadzow was still working in the small seeds industry.

"You had an understanding of the market and the way it worked and you knew your clients trusted you to get it right because you were an expert," he said.

"You breached that trust and exposed your clients to legal, reputational and commercial damage."

He imposed sentence of four years and three months, with a non-parole period of 22 months.

Australian Seeds Federation general manager Osman Mewett said the penalty was a strong message about the consequences of attempting to bypass the rigour of OECD certification.

He said any attempts to circumvent the certification process put the entire export market - valued at nearly $100m a year- at risk.

Of the 10,000 tonnes of lucerne seed produced each year in Australia, about 7500t is exported and as much as half of this is destined for Saudi Arabia.

"It is imperative to protect the integrity and rigour of the OECD seed certification scheme as this provides certainty to both industry and customers regarding the quality of the seed being traded and that what's on the tag is in the bag," Mr Mewett said.

He said the Australian Seed Authority has considerably tightened its security around the use of OECD Certification labels since this activity was uncovered.

Lucerne Australia chairman Josh Rasheed said the integrity of the lucerne seed industry was paramount.

"We are encouraged that the court's decision upholds the reputation of our production system and provides reassurance for our growers and end users," he said.

"Lucerne Australia supports the rules and procedures in place to ensure the product we deliver to our customers is fully traceable and continues to be of high quality."