Nadine Wilkins (202)720-8998Nadine.wilkins@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced today that Barenbrug USA, a seed company operating out of Tangent, Ore., has paid $5,200 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act. The company settled the case in agreement with AMS officials. The company neither admitted nor denied the charges brought against them.
This settlement resolves four cases that involved shipments of one bermudagrass seed mixture to Alabama that was subsequently reshipped to Texas, one lawn seed mixture to Pennsylvania, and two Kentucky bluegrass shipments to Missouri. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:
-false labeling as to pure seed;-failure to declare seed lot as a mixture when containing two or more kinds;-false labeling as to the presence of noxious-weed seed “undesirable grass seed”;-false labeling as to germination rate;-failure to conduct germination test prior to interstate shipment;-false labeling as to date of test; and-failure to conduct a germination test on a seed lot, after having been subjected to a seed coating process.
AMS administers the Federal Seed Act with the assistance of state seed officials. The investigation was completed through the joint efforts of AMS and seed regulatory officials in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.
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