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U.S. EPA cites company for sale and distribution of unregistered pesticide

Release Date: 10/1/2003
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, (415) 947-4297

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has issued a $4,400 penalty to a Vernon, Calif. company for selling an unregistered pesticide.

International Distributors will pay the fine to settle a single violation of the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA. The company allegedly sold a pesticide known as Clorox Lavanda Bleach that was not registered with the EPA to Pamex Foods in Beltsville, Md.

"Companies must register their pesticides with the EPA," said Enrique Manzanilla, director of the Cross Media Division of EPA's Pacific Southwest regional office."Without EPA registration, we have no information on the effects of this product, which could result in harm to public health and the environment."

In part, FIFRA states that "no person in any State may distribute or sell to any person any pesticide that is not registered under this Act."

The EPA will not register a pesticide until it has been tested to show that it will not pose an unreasonable risk when used according to its directions.

The EPA also makes sure that pesticide labels provide consumers with the information they need to use the pesticide safely, and pesticides that have been registered with US EPA will have an EPA registration number on the label.

For more information, visit: https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/fifra.htm