Washington, DC
February 11, 2008
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that a
Louisville, Kentucky seed company has paid USDA $3,150 to settle
alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act.
The company, Caudill Seed
Company, Inc., 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 four shipments
consisting of rye and timothy seed alleged to be in violation of
the Federal Seed Act; there was one shipment to Georgia and
three shipments to Ohio.
The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments,
were:
- false labeling as to pure
seed, other crop seed, inert matter, and weed seed;
- false labeling as to the
presence of noxious-weed seed;\
- false labeling as to
germination;
- failure to include AMS
number on seed shipped in interstate commerce and labeled on
behalf of a second party, and
- failure to keep or supply
labeling records.
AMS administers the act with the
help of state seed officials. Seed regulatory officials in
Georgia and Ohio cooperated with AMS in making the
investigations. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law
designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed. |
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