Washington, DC, USA
May 16, 2011

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that J. Lee Company, a seed company operating out of Hennessey, Okla., has paid $1,225 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 cases which involved one shipment of rye seed and one of cowpea seed to Georgia and one shipment of rye seed to Alabama. The shipment to Alabama was reshipped into Georgia where it was officially sampled.

The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were:

• false labeling in regard to noxious-weed seeds,
• false labeling in regard to germination, and,
• failure to include on the label either the name and address of the shipper or a designated code identifying the shipper.

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: May 16, 2011