§136k Stop sale, use, removal, and seizure

Summary

The Administrator can order a person to stop selling, using, or moving a pesticide or device if inspections or tests show it may break the rules, is being sold or meant to be sold illegally, or if its registration has been canceled or suspended. After getting that written order, the person must follow it and may not sell, use, or remove the product except as the order allows. If a pesticide or device is being transported, still in unopened original packages, sold in a State, or imported, a court can seize and condemn it for certain problems. For pesticides those problems include things like adulteration, misbranding, no registration under section 136a, missing required labeling or coloring, or claims that differ from the registered claims; for devices, misbranding; or if either causes unreasonable environmental harm when used as labeled. If condemned, the court will order destruction or sale and send sale proceeds (after court costs) to the U.S. Treasury. An owner may reclaim items by paying costs and giving a bond that they will not sell them illegally. The case is brought in the name of the United States, follows admiralty-style procedures but either side can demand a jury, and a claimant who loses pays court costs, storage, and other proper expenses.