Legal News

99 Cents Only hit with massive fines for selling illegal products

By Richard Binder

Chief Administrative Law Judge Susan L. Biro has ordered 99 Cents Only Stores to pay $409,490 in penalties for the illegal sale of unregistered and misbranded pesticides in household items, specifically three Mexico-made cleaning and pest control products.

The chain was hit with 166 violations, 164 of which involved a household cleaner called "Bref Limpieza y Disinfeccion Total con Densicloro." The product was not registered with the EPA, label claims to the contrary.

The EPA reports that the other two violations concerned the sale of an unregistered roach-killer called "Farmer's Secret Berry & Produce Cleaner" and "PiC BORIC ACID Roach Killer III." That product was misbranded because EPA-approved labels were upside-down or inside out, making them difficult to read.

The fine is the largest contested penalty ever handed down by an EPA administrative law judge against a product retailer under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the agency said.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).