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Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., and Syngenta Seeds, Inc. agree to pay more than $280,000 for violating federal pesticide rules

Release Date: 09/08/2008
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – September 8, 2008) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the settlement of three separate administrative complaints totaling $284,050 in civil penalties with Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., and Syngenta Seeds, Inc., for violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA Region 4 consolidated the violations throughout the United States to emphasize the need for quality control in all aspects of pesticide production and distribution.

The settlements include:

- Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. agreed to pay a penalty of $196,300 for alleged violations involving two products. The settlement agreement resolved alleged violation of distributing Mesotrione Wet Paste with ingredients that differed in composition from the formula submitted to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mesotrione Wet Paste is produced in Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc’s Bucks, AL facility. The settlement agreement also resolved alleged advertising violations of the pesticide Lumax Selective Herbicide because television commercials aired in the Midwest did not include the classification that it was a restricted-use pesticide.

- Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. self-disclosed additional violations under EPA’s Audit Policy regarding written advertisements for restricted use pesticides and paid a penalty of $70,200.

- Syngenta Seeds, Inc. agreed to pay $17,550 for alleged violations including use of a pesticide contrary to a provision of an Experimental Use Permit (EUP) issued by EPA. EPA alleged that the company had not obtained a State permit or license from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico prior to the shipment and/or use of a corn that was the subject of the EUP. This settlement also resolved violations by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., in Kekaha, Hawaii, for worker protection violations. These violations include failing to store all personal protective equipment separately from clothing and apart from pesticide-contaminated areas and failing to post the spraying of the pesticide Liberty at its Central Notification Site.