§136k Stop Sale, Use, Removal, and Seizure

Summary

The EPA can order anyone who owns or controls a pesticide or device to stop selling, using, or moving it if tests or inspections suggest it breaks the rules or its registration has been canceled or suspended. After getting that order, the owner must not sell, use, or remove the item except as the order allows. Federal courts can also seize pesticides or devices that are being shipped, still in their original packages, offered for sale, or imported if they are contaminated or unsafe, not registered, missing required label information or coloring, have claims or directions that don’t match what was approved, have misleading labels (for devices), or still harm the environment when used as directed. If a court finds the product illegal, it can order the product destroyed or sold. Sale money, after court costs, goes to the U.S. Treasury. A court may return the product to its owner if the owner pays the legal costs and posts a bond promising not to sell it illegally. The case is brought in the name of the United States, either side can demand a jury, and anyone who claimed the product but loses must pay court costs, storage, and other proper expenses.