Washington, DC
July 12, 2007
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that a
Tangent, Oregon, seed company has paid USDA $8,100 to settle
alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act.
The company, Barenbrug USA, settled the case in agreement with
officials from USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). The
company neither admitted nor denied the charges.
The case resolved by the settlement involved eight shipments
consisting of lawn seed mixtures, Kentucky bluegrass, and
Berseem clover alleged to be in violation of the Federal Seed
Act; there was one shipment each to Alabama, and Indiana, and
two shipments each to Kentucky, Michigan, and Missouri.
The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments,
were:
- false labeling as to
germination rate;
- false labeling as to date
of test;
- false labeling as to pure
seed, other crop seed, and inert matter;
- false labeling as to kind
name;
- false labeling as to the
presence of noxious-weed seed, and
- false labeling as to
origin.
AMS administers the act with the
help of state seed officials. Seed regulatory officials in
Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Missouri cooperated
with AMS. |
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