Washington, DC, USA
January 7, 2011

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that Creative Garden Concepts, a seed company operating out of Grandview, Mo., has paid $2,275 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 five cases that involved five shipments of vegetable seed to Indiana. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:

-false labeling as to germination percentage;
-failure to test for germination within five months prior to interstate shipment;
-incorrect labeling of kind names; and
-failure to label by variety name.

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 Indiana. 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: January 7, 2011