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Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73

§1263 Prohibited acts

Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 30— - HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES › § 1263

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

It is illegal to sell, ship, or put into interstate commerce hazardous products that are banned or that have the wrong labels. It is also illegal to change, remove, or damage a label so the product becomes mislabeled, or to receive such a mislabeled or banned product and offer it for sale. You cannot give a false written guarantee about a hazardous product unless you relied on a signed guarantee from a U.S. seller that includes that seller’s name and address. You must allow inspections and let officials copy records when the law allows. Making a banned or mislabeled hazardous product in the District of Columbia or in territories without a legislature is also forbidden. You may not put a hazardous product into a reused food, drug, or cosmetic container, or into a container that looks like one. It is illegal to use or share trade-secret process information for your own benefit except with the Commission or in court. You must notify the Commission about exports and follow its orders. Lead solder that contains more than 0.2 percent lead must have a clear warning that it contains lead and that using it in any private or public potable (drinking) water system is prohibited.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §1263

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The following acts and the causing thereof are prohibited:
(a)The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance.
(b)The alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or removal of the whole or any part of the label of, or the doing of any other act with respect to, a hazardous substance, if such act is done while the substance is in interstate commerce, or while the substance is held for sale (whether or not the first sale) after shipment in interstate commerce, and results in the hazardous substance being a misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance.
(c)The receipt in interstate commerce of any misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance and the delivery or proffered delivery thereof for pay or otherwise.
(d)The giving of a guarantee or undertaking referred to in section 1264(b)(2) of this title which guarantee or undertaking is false, except by a person who relied upon a guarantee or undertaking to the same effect signed by, and containing the name and address of, the person residing in the United States from whom he received in good faith the hazardous substance.
(e)The failure to permit entry or inspection as authorized by section 1270(b) of this title or to permit access to and copying of any record as authorized by section 1271 of this title.
(f)The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce, or the receipt in interstate commerce and subsequent delivery or proffered delivery for pay or otherwise, of a hazardous substance in a reused food, drug, or cosmetic container or in a container which, though not a reused container, is identifiable as a food, drug, or cosmetic container by its labeling or by other identification. The reuse of a food, drug, or cosmetic container as a container for a hazardous substance shall be deemed to be an act which results in the hazardous substance being a misbranded hazardous substance. As used in this paragraph, the terms “food”, “drug”, and “cosmetic” shall have the same meanings as in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.].
(g)The manufacture of a misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance within the District of Columbia or within any territory not organized with a legislative body.
(h)The use by any person to his own advantage, or revealing other than to the Commission or officers or employees of the Commission, or to the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding under this chapter, of any information acquired under authority of section 1270 of this title concerning any method of process which as a trade secret is entitled to protection.
(i)The failure to notify the Commission with respect to exports, pursuant to section 1273(d) of this title.
(j)The failure to comply with an order issued under section 1274 of this title.
(k)The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any lead solder which has a lead content in excess of 0.2 percent which does not prominently display a warning label stating the lead content of the solder and warning that the use of such solder in the making of joints or fittings in any private or public potable water supply system is prohibited.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, referred to in subsec. (f), is act June 25, 1938, ch. 675, 52 Stat. 1040, which is classified generally to chapter 9 (§ 301 et seq.) of Title 21, Food and Drugs. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 301 of Title 21 and Tables.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 110–314, § 204(b)(4)(B), (C), substituted “Commission or officers or employees of the Commission” for “Secretary or officers or employees of the Department”. Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 110–314, § 204(b)(4)(H), substituted “Commission” for “Consumer Product Safety Commission”. 1986—Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 99–339 added subsec. (k). 1981—Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 97–35 added subsec. (j). 1978—Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 95–631 added subsec. (i). 1966—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 89–756, §§ 2(f)(1), 3(b), substituted “misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance” for “misbranded package of a hazardous substance”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89–756, §§ 2(f)(2), 3(b), substituted “being a misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance” for “being in a misbranded package”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–756, §§ 2(f)(1), 3(b), substituted “misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance” for “misbranded package of a hazardous substance”. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 89–756, § 2(f)(2), substituted “being a misbranded hazardous substance” for “being in a misbranded package”. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 89–756, §§ 2(f)(1), 3(b), substituted “misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance” for “misbranded package of a hazardous substance”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1986 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 99–339 effective 24 months after June 19, 1986, see section 109(d)(3) of Pub. L. 99–339, set out as a note under section 1261 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1981 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 97–35 effective Aug. 13, 1981, see section 1215 of Pub. L. 97–35, set out as a note under section 2052 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 1263

Title 15 — Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73