U.S. EPA settles with two Los Angeles, San Diego companies for $36,400 over the sale of unregistered Mexican pesticide

LOS ANGELES – Recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined a Los Angeles distributor and San Diego retailer $36,400 for allegedly distributing and selling “El Rendidor Cloralex,” in violation of federal pesticide laws.

Dos Amigos Distributors, Inc. of Los Angeles will pay $10,400 for importing the product illegally from Mexico and selling it to San Diego Based Shims Bargain, Inc., which in turn sold it to multiple stores. Shims Bargain Inc. was fined $26,000.

“If a business is going to import pesticides for sale, these products must follow federal pesticide labeling laws,” said Katherine Taylor, Associate Director for EPA’s Communities and Ecosystems Division, Pacific Southwest Region. “If the EPA discovers that an improperly imported pesticide is being sold, the EPA will prosecute the importers, wholesalers and the retail stores who sell the products.”

Both Shims Bargain, Inc., and Dos Amigos Distributors, Inc. sold and distributed “El Rendidor Cloralex,” an unregistered Mexican pesticide. In Spanish, the label for “El Rendidor Cloralex,” claims that it can be used for “desinfección,” which translates to “disinfection” in English.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation conducted inspections of both facilities in 2006 and turned the case over to the EPA for enforcement.

Disinfectants are considered pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which regulates the production, distribution, and use of pesticides within the United States. Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, a company must register it with the EPA. As part of the registration process, the company must ensure that the pesticide meets the claims made on its label.