WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that American Grass Seed Producer’s Inc., a seed company operating out of Tangent, Ore., has paid $2,250 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 three cases that involved one shipment of a tall fescue/annual ryegrass mixture to Missouri and two shipments of oat seed to Texas. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:
- false labeling as to pure seed percentage;-false labeling as to the presence of noxious-weed seed;-failure to test for germination, prior to interstate shipment;-failure to declare seed lot as being a mixture; and-incorrect labeling of kind and variety names.
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 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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