§ 136j. — Unlawful acts.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC136j]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 6--INSECTICIDES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PESTICIDE CONTROL
SUBCHAPTER II--ENVIRONMENTAL PESTICIDE CONTROL
Sec. 136j. Unlawful acts
(a) In general
(1) Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, it shall
be unlawful for any person in any State to distribute or sell to any
person--
(A) any pesticide that is not registered under section 136a of
this title or whose registration has been canceled or suspended,
except to the extent that distribution or sale otherwise has been
authorized by the Administrator under this subchapter;
(B) any registered pesticide if any claims made for it as a part
of its distribution or sale substantially differ from any claims
made for it as a part of the statement required in connection with
its registration under section 136a of this title;
(C) any registered pesticide the composition of which differs at
the time of its distribution or sale from its composition as
described in the statement required in connection with its
registration under section 136a of this title;
(D) any pesticide which has not been colored or discolored
pursuant to the provisions of section 136w(c)(5) of this title;
(E) any pesticide which is adulterated or misbranded; or
(F) any device which is misbranded.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person--
(A) to detach, alter, deface, or destroy, in whole or in part,
any labeling required under this subchapter;
(B) to refuse to--
(i) prepare, maintain, or submit any records required by or
under section 136c, 136e, 136f, 136i, or 136q of this title;
(ii) submit any reports required by or under section 136c,
136d, 136e, 136f, 136i, or 136q of this title; or
(iii) allow any entry, inspection, copying of records, or
sampling authorized by this subchapter;
(C) to give a guaranty or undertaking provided for in subsection
(b) of this section which is false in any particular, except that a
person who receives and relies upon a guaranty authorized under
subsection (b) of this section may give a guaranty to the same
effect, which guaranty shall contain, in addition to the person's
own name and address, the name and address of the person residing in
the United States from whom the person received the guaranty or
undertaking;
(D) to use for the person's own advantage or to reveal, other
than to the Administrator, or officials or employees of the
Environmental Protection Agency or other Federal executive agencies,
or to the courts, or to physicians, pharmacists, and other qualified
persons, needing such information for the performance of their
duties, in accordance with such directions as the Administrator may
prescribe, any information acquired by authority of this subchapter
which is confidential under this subchapter;
(E) who is a registrant, wholesaler, dealer, retailer, or other
distributor to advertise a product registered under this subchapter
for restricted use without giving the classification of the product
assigned to it under section 136a of this title;
(F) to distribute or sell, or to make available for use, or to
use, any registered pesticide classified for restricted use for some
or all purposes other than in accordance with section 136a(d) of
this title and any regulations thereunder, except that it shall not
be unlawful to sell, under regulations issued by the Administrator,
a restricted use pesticide to a person who is not a certified
applicator for application by a certified applicator;
(G) to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent
with its labeling;
(H) to use any pesticide which is under an experimental use
permit contrary to the provisions of such permit;
(I) to violate any order issued under section 136k of this
title;
(J) to violate any suspension order issued under section
136a(c)(2)(B), 136a-1, or 136d of this title;
(K) to violate any cancellation order issued under this
subchapter or to fail to submit a notice in accordance with section
136d(g) of this title;
(L) who is a producer to violate any of the provisions of
section 136e of this title;
(M) to knowingly falsify all or part of any application for
registration, application for experimental use permit, any
information submitted to the Administrator pursuant to section 136e
of this title, any records required to be maintained pursuant to
this subchapter, any report filed under this subchapter, or any
information marked as confidential and submitted to the
Administrator under any provision of this subchapter;
(N) who is a registrant, wholesaler, dealer, retailer, or other
distributor to fail to file reports required by this subchapter;
(O) to add any substance to, or take any substance from, any
pesticide in a manner that may defeat the purpose of this
subchapter;
(P) to use any pesticide in tests on human beings unless such
human beings (i) are fully informed of the nature and purposes of
the test and of any physical and mental health consequences which
are reasonably foreseeable therefrom, and (ii) freely volunteer to
participate in the test;
(Q) to falsify all or part of any information relating to the
testing of any pesticide (or any ingredient, metabolite, or
degradation product thereof), including the nature of any protocol,
procedure, substance, organism, or equipment used, observation made,
or conclusion or opinion formed, submitted to the Administrator, or
that the person knows will be furnished to the Administrator or will
become a part of any records required to be maintained by this
subchapter;
(R) to submit to the Administrator data known to be false in
support of a registration; or
(S) to violate any regulation issued under section 136a(a) or
136q of this title.
(b) Exemptions
The penalties provided for a violation of paragraph (1) of
subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to--
(1) any person who establishes a guaranty signed by, and
containing the name and address of, the registrant or person
residing in the United States from whom the person purchased or
received in good faith the pesticide in the same unbroken package,
to the effect that the pesticide was lawfully registered at the time
of sale and delivery to the person, and that it complies with the
other requirements of this subchapter, and in such case the
guarantor shall be subject to the penalties which would otherwise
attach to the person holding the guaranty under the provisions of
this subchapter;
(2) any carrier while lawfully shipping, transporting, or
delivering for shipment any pesticide or device, if such carrier
upon request of any officer or employee duly designated by the
Administrator shall permit such officer or employee to copy all of
its records concerning such pesticide or device;
(3) any public official while engaged in the performance of the
official duties of the public official;
(4) any person using or possessing any pesticide as provided by
an experimental use permit in effect with respect to such pesticide
and such use or possession; or
(5) any person who ships a substance or mixture of substances
being put through tests in which the purpose is only to determine
its value for pesticide purposes or to determine its toxicity or
other properties and from which the user does not expect to receive
any benefit in pest control from its use.
(June 25, 1947, ch. 125, Sec. 12, as added Pub. L. 92-516, Sec. 2, Oct.
21, 1972, 86 Stat. 989; amended Pub. L. 95-396, Sec. 16, Sept. 30, 1978,
92 Stat. 832; Pub. L. 100-532, title VI, Secs. 601(b)(2), 603, title
VIII, Sec. 801(g), (q)(2)(B), Oct. 25, 1988, 102 Stat. 2677, 2678, 2682,
2683; Pub. L. 102-237, title X, Sec. 1006(a)(7), (b)(3)(L)-(O), Dec. 13,
1991, 105 Stat. 1895, 1896.)
Prior Provisions
A prior section 12 of act June 25, 1947, was classified to section
135j of this title prior to amendment of act June 25, 1947, by Pub. L.
92-516.
Amendments
1991--Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(b)(3)(L),
substituted ``the person's'' for ``his'' and ``the person'' for ``he''
before ``received''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(D). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(b)(3)(M), substituted
``the person's'' for ``his''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(F). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(a)(7)(A), substituted
``thereunder, except that it'' for ``thereunder. It''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(O). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(a)(7)(B), struck out
``or'' after semicolon at end.
Subsec. (a)(2)(P). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(a)(7)(C), substituted
a semicolon for period at end.
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(b)(3)(N), substituted
``the person'' for ``he'' after ``from whom'' and for ``him'' after
``delivery to''.
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 102-237, Sec. 1006(b)(3)(O), substituted
``the official duties of the public official'' for ``his official
duties''.
1988--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 601(b)(2)(A), in
introductory provisions, substituted ``distribute or sell to any
person'' for ``distribute, sell, offer for sale, hold for sale, ship,
deliver for shipment, or receive and (having so received) deliver or
offer to deliver, to any person''.
Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 603(1), added subpar. (A)
and struck out former subpar. (A) which read as follows: ``any pesticide
which is not registered under section 136a of this title, except as
provided by section 136d(a)(1) of this title;''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 603(2)(A), added subpar.
(B) and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: ``to refuse
to keep any records required pursuant to section 136f of this title, or
to refuse to allow inspection of any records or establishment pursuant
to section 136f or 136g of this title, or to refuse to allow an officer
or employee of the Environmental Protection Agency to take a sample of
any pesticide pursuant to section 136g of this title;''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(F). Pub. L. 100-532, Secs. 601(b)(2)(B), 801(g),
substituted ``to distribute or sell, or to make'' for ``to make'' and
``thereunder, It'' for ``thereunder: Provided, That it''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(J). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 801(q)(2)(B), made a
technical amendment to the reference to section 136a-1 of this title to
reflect the renumbering of the corresponding section of the original
act.
Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 603(2)(B), added subpar. (J) and struck out
former subpar. (J) which read as follows: ``to violate any suspension
order issued under section 136d of this title;''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(K). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 603(2)(B), added subpar.
(K) and struck out former subpar. (K) which read as follows: ``to
violate any cancellation of registration of a pesticide under section
136d of this title, except as provided by section 136d(a)(1) of this
title;''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(M). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 603(2)(C), substituted
``this subchapter'' for ``section 136f of this title''.
Subsec. (a)(2)(Q), (R), (S). Pub. L. 100-532, Sec. 603(2)(D), added
subpars. (Q), (R), and (S).
1978--Subsec. (a)(2)(F). Pub. L. 95-396 inserted proviso exempting
from prohibition the sale, under regulations issued by the
Administrator, of a restricted use pesticide to a person who is not a
certified applicator for application by a certified applicator.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100-532 effective on expiration of 60 days
after Oct. 25, 1988, see section 901 of Pub. L. 100-532, set out as a
note under section 136 of this title.
Effective Date
For effective date of section, see section 4 of Pub. L. 92-516, set
out as a note under section 136 of this title.
