US: Syngenta, local distributor fined for mislabeling pesticides

A North Carolina manufacturer and registrant for the herbicide Barricade (prodiamine), and a Wisconsin company that served as an authorized distributor of a fertilizer product containing the herbicide, have agreed to pay civil monetary penalties to the United States to settle allegations that they sold a misbranded pesticide and altered labels on the pesticide product.

Syngenta crop protection, Inc., of Greensboro, N.C., will pay a civil penalty of $9,152, and Eau Claire Co-op Oil Company, Inc., of Eau Claire, Wis., will pay a civil penalty of $6,864, according to separate but related administrative consent agreements filed by EPA in Kansas City, Kan.

Syngenta is the official EPA registrant for Prodiamine Pro F 0.38% Herbicide. Eau Claire Co-op Oil is an authorized supplemental distributor of the herbicide in a herbicide-fertilizer product marketed as Award Turf Fertilizer with 0.38% Barricade.

During an inspection of a Missouri lawn care business in March 2010, a representative of the Missouri Department of Agriculture found bags of Award Turf Fertilizer with 0.38% Barricade that bore conflicting stick-on labels for the percentage of active ingredients. The stick-on labels also partially covered the directions for the product’s safe and proper use.

The bags containing the misbranded product and bearing the altered labels were produced by Eau Claire Co-op Oil Company. Eau Claire Co-op Oil Company’s distribution of those bags of herbicide-fertilizer product constituted a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Syngenta was also in violation because it was the registrant and Eau Claire was its supplemental distributor for the pesticide.

The sale or distribution of misbranded or mislabeled pesticides can pose serious risks to human health, plant and animal life, and the environment. Without proper labeling or safety instructions on packaging, users can unintentionally misapply pesticides and may not have adequate information to address needs for first aid in the event of emergency.

Through their approvals of the respective settlements, Syngenta and Eau Claire Co-Op Oil Company have both certified that their operations are now in compliance with FIFRA and its regulations.