Washington, DC
May 12, 2008
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that an Enid,
Oklahoma, seed company has paid USDA $2,275 to settle alleged
violations of the Federal Seed Act.
The company, Texas Oklahoma Production Company, 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 two shipments of
rye seed made into Georgia and South Carolina and one shipment
of oat seeds made into Texas. The shipment to South Carolina was
reshipped to and officially sampled in Georgia; the shipment to
Georgia was reshipped to and officially sampled in Virginia; and
the shipment to Texas was subsequently shipped to another firm
in the state and officially sampled.
The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments,
were:
- false labeling as to
germination percentage;
- shipping seed containing
prohibited noxious-weed seeds; and
- failure to label the
presence of noxious-weed seeds and to keep required records.
AMS administers the act with the
help of state seed officials. Seed regulatory officials in
Georgia, Texas, and Virginia 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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