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U.S. EPA settles case for $6,130 with Ventura County pet products company for allegedly selling unregistered pesticides

Release Date: 09/20/2006
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, 415-947-4297

(09/20/06 - ) SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reached a settlement for $6,130 with Intermarket Industries, Inc. – also known as Doc Ackerman Pet Products – of Oxnard, Calif. for the sale and distribution of unregistered pesticides in violation of federal pesticide law.

The EPA cited Intermarket Industries for allegedly selling and distributing the following five pesticide products without registration:

· Doc Ackerman’s Botanical Flea & Tick Oil;
· Doc Ackerman’s Botanical Flea & Tick Shampoo;
· Doc Ackerman’s Botanical Flea & Tick Powder;
· Doc Ackerman’s Botanical Flea & Tick Spray; and
· Doc Ackerman’s Botanical Horse Spray Flyz Away.

Between July 2003 and October 2004, Intermarket Industries sold these unregistered pesticides to a wholesale distributor of pet products for subsequent retail distribution. In connection with the settlement, Intermarket Industries agreed to stop its sale and distribution of these five unregistered pesticides.

“Companies need to remember that all products that claim to act as pesticides must be registered with the EPA,” said Enrique Manzanilla, the EPA’s Community and Ecosystems Division director for the Pacific Southwest Region. “Without the required registrations, we have no information on the potential effects of these products, which could result in harm to public health and the environment.”

Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies must register the pesticide with the EPA. The sale or distribution of a pesticide that has not been registered with the EPA is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, which requires registration of pesticide products and pesticide-production facilities, as well as proper pesticide labeling.

The enforcement action is based upon an inspection conducted by the Michigan Department of Agriculture at EPA Region V’s request in January 2005. Once it was determined that the source of the unregistered products was a California corporation, EPA Region V referred the case to EPA Region IX for enforcement.

For more information on pesticide regulation and enforcement, please visit www.epa.gov/pesticides/