WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- Monsanto Co. Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine for distributing a mislabeled pesticide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.
The fine is the largest civil penalty ever levied under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the EPA said.
The mislabeled toxins were sold and distributed for use on cotton seed and contained genetically engineered pesticides, the EPA said.
The products, Bollgard and Bollgard II were, therefore, restricted in 10 counties in Texas. However, the EPA found that the pesticides were sold 1,700 times without proper guidelines, which should have included instructions on where its use was prohibited.
The EPA also found it was used in the counties of Texas in which it was restricted, the agency said in a statement.
