A. It is unlawful to distribute misbranded regulated product. A regulated product shall be deemed to be misbranded if:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-3612

  • Board: means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • Deficiency: means the amount of nutrient found by analysis to be less than that guaranteed, which may result from a lack of nutrient ingredients, or from lack of uniformity. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
  • Distribute: means to import, consign, manufacture, produce, compound, mix, blend, or in any way alter, the chemical or physical characteristics of a regulated product, or to offer for sale, sell, barter, warehouse or otherwise supply regulated product in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
  • Fertilizer: means any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrients, which is used for its plant nutrient content, and which is designed for use, or claimed to have value, in promoting plant growth. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
  • Label: means the display of all written, printed, or graphic matter, upon the immediate container, or a statement accompanying a regulated product, including an invoice. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
  • Lot: means an identifiable quantity of produced material that can be sampled officially according to AOAC International procedures, up to and including a freight car load or 50 tons maximum, or that amount contained in a single vehicle, or that amount delivered under a single invoice. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600
  • Regulated product: means any product governed by this chapter, including any fertilizer, specialty fertilizer, soil amendment, digestate, and horticultural growing medium. See Virginia Code 3.2-3600

1. It has a label that is false or misleading in any particular;

2. It is distributed under the name of another product;

3. It is not labeled as specified in § 3.2-3611, and in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter; or

4. It purports to be, or is represented as, a fertilizer, or is represented as containing a plant nutrient or fertilizer, unless such plant nutrient or fertilizer conforms to the definition of identity, if any, as prescribed by regulation of the Board.

B. The guarantor of any regulated product found to be misbranded shall pay to the consumer an assessment equal to 10 percent of the retail value of the regulated product sold to the consumer and found to be in violation of subsection A not to exceed $5,000 per occurrence. The assessment for misbranding shall apply only to the retail sale of any regulated product made from a lot or a portion thereof after the Commissioner has inspected the lot or a portion thereof. The assessment for misbranding shall be in addition to any assessment for plant food deficiency.

1994, c. 740, § 3.1-106.10; 2008, c. 860; 2011, cc. 552, 564.