Washington, DC
September 2, 2008
AMS No. 171-08
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
today announced that a Fulton, Ky., seed company has paid USDA
$2,025 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act.
The company, Ferry-Morse,
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
mixed grass seed and one shipment of onion seed to Indiana.
The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments,
were:
-false labeling in regard
to germination;
-failure to meet germination standards;
-false relabeling with respect to the germination test date;
and,
-failure to keep and/or supply a complete record of the
seed.
AMS administers the act with the
help of state seed officials. Seed regulatory officials in
Indiana 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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