Washington, DC
May 21, 2008
AMS No. 115-08
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
today announced that a Watertown, S.D., seed company has paid
USDA $3,225 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed
Act.
The company, Discount Seeds, 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 one buckwheat and
one rye seed shipment to Michigan, one rye and one oat seed
shipment to Texas, and one oat seed shipment to Oklahoma,
alleged to be in violation of the Federal Seed Act. The shipment
to Oklahoma was subsequently reshipped to a location in Texas.
The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments,
were:
- false labeling as to
percentage of germination;
- false labeling as to
presence of noxious-weed seed; 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
Michigan and Texas 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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