Washington, DC, USA
November 30, 2010

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that Agriliance AFC LLC, a company operating out of Decatur, Alabama, has paid $1,925 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 Forage Mix, one shipment of oat seed, and one shipment of browntop millet seed to Georgia. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:

• -false labeling as to variety name;
• -false labeling as to pure seed and other crop seed percentages;
• -false labeling as to the germination percentage;
• -false labeling as to kind and rate of occurrence of noxious-weed seed;
• -incorrect labeling as to kind name; and
• -failure to keep or supply complete records of seed shipped in interstate commerce.

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 Georgia. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.
 

Website: http://www.ams.usda.gov

Published: November 30, 2010