Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-102
§1596 Penalties
Title 7 › CHAPTER 37 — SEEDS › SUBCHAPTER IV — GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 1596
Summary
People who break the rules on purpose, or who do so because they were very careless or did not reasonably try to learn the facts, are guilty of a misdemeanor. If convicted, they must pay up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $2,000 for each later offense. Anyone who violates the rules must also forfeit between $25 and $500 for each violation to the United States. The government can collect that money through a civil lawsuit.
Full Legal Text
Title 7, §1596
Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Any person who knowingly, or as a result either of gross negligence or of a failure to make a reasonable effort to inform himself of the pertinent facts, violates any provision of this chapter or the rules and regulations made and promulgated thereunder shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall pay a fine of not more than $1,000, for the first offense, and upon conviction for each subsequent offense not more than $2,000.
(b)Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or the rules and regulations made and promulgated thereunder shall forfeit to the United States a sum, not less than $25 or more than $500, for each such violation, which forfeiture shall be recoverable in a civil suit brought in the name of the United States.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1956—Act July 9, 1956, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted “knowingly or as a result either of gross negligence or of a failure to make a reasonable effort to inform himself of the pertinent facts,” and added subsec. (b).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1956 AmendmentAct July 9, 1956, ch. 520, § 4, 70 Stat. 508, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by this Act [amending section 1574, 1596, and 1602 of this title] shall be applicable only with respect to violations occurring after the enactment of this Act [July 9, 1956].”
Effective Date
See section 1610 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
7 U.S.C. § 1596
Title 7, Agriculture
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102