Chap. 468.—An ACT to define and regulate the manufacture, sale, transportation,
distribution and use of economic poisons and devices, including insecticides,
fungicides, rodenticides and herbicides, and to prescribe the powers and duties
of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration in connection therewith;
to provide penalties for violations; to appropriate funds; and to repeal
Chapter 477 of the Acts of Assembly of 1922, approved March 27, 1922, and
all amendments thereto, relating to the same subject. [H 222]

Approved April 2, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. Section 1. Title—This act shall be known as the Virginia
Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Law.

Section 2. Definitions.—For the purposes of this act—

a. The term ‘‘economic poison” means any substance or mixture
of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating
any insects, rodents, fungi, bacteria, weeds, or other forms of plant or
animal life or viruses (except viruses on or in living man or other
animals) which the Commissioner shall declare to be a pest.

b. The term “device” means any instrument or contrivance intended
for trapping, destroying, repelling, or mitigating insects or rodents or
destroying, repelling, or mitigating fungi, bacteria, or weeds, or such
other pests as may be designated by the Commissioner, but not including
simple, mechanical devices such as rat traps, or equipment used for
the application of economic poisons when sold separately therefrom.

c. The term “insecticide” means any substance or mixture of sub-
stances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating
any insects which may be present in any environment whatsoever.

d. The term “fungicide” means any substance or mixture of sub-
stances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any
fungi, or plant disease.

e. The term “rodenticide” means any substance or mixture of
substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating
rodents or any other vertebrate animal which the Commissioner shall
declare to be a pest.

{. The term “herbicide” means any substance or mixture of sub-
stances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any
weed.

g- The term “weed” means any plant which grows where not
wanted.

h. The term “insect” means any of the numerous small invertebrate
animals generally having the body more or less obviously segmented, for
the most part belonging to the class Insecta, comprising six-legged,
usually winged forms, as, for example, beetles, bugs, bees, flies, and to
other allied classes of arthropods whose members are wingless and
usually have more than six legs, as, for example, spiders, mites, ticks,
centipedes, and wood lice, also nematodes and other worms, or any
other invertebrates which are destructive, constitute a liability, and
may be classed as pests.

i. The term “fungi” means all non-chlorophyll-bearing thallophytes
(that is, all non-chlorophyll-bearing plants of a lower order than mosses
and liverworts) as, for example, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, yeasts,
bacteria, and viruses, except those on or in living man or other animals.

j. The term “ingredient statement” or “guaranteed analysis state-
ment” means either (1) a statement of the name and percentage of each
active ingredient, together with the total percentage of the inert ingre-
dients, in the economic poison; and, in addition, in case the economic
poison contains arsenic in any form, a statement of the percentages of
total and water soluble arsenic, each stated as elemental (metallic)
arsenic; or (2) a statement of the name of each active ingredient in the
descending order of percentages, together with the name of each and
total percentage of the inert ingredients, if any there be, in the economic
poison (except option one shall apply if the preparation is highly toxic
to man, determined as provided in section six of this act).
k. The term “active ingredient” means an ingredient which will
prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate insects, fungi, rodents, weeds, or
other pests.

1. The term “inert ingredient” means an ingredient which is not an
active ingredient.

m. The term “antidote” means the most practical immediate treat-
ment in case of poisoning and includes first aid treatment.

n. The term “person” means any individual, partnership, associa-
tion, corporation, or organized group of persons whether incorporated
or not.

o. The term “Board of Agriculture” or “Board” means the Virginia
Board of Agriculture and Immigration.

The term “Commissioner” means the Virginia Commissioner
of Agriculture and Immigration.

q. The term “registrant’”’ means the person registering any economic
poison pursuant to the provisions of this act.

r. The term “label” means the written, printed, or graphic matter
on, or attached to, the economic poison or device, or the immediate
container thereof, and the outside container or wrapper of the retail
package, if any there be, of the economic poison or device.

s. The term “labeling” means all labels and other written, printed,
or graphic matter—

1. upon the economic poison or device or any of its containers or
wrappers ;

2. accompanying the economic poison or device at any time;

3. to which reference is made on the label or in literature accom-
panying the economic poison or device, except when accurate, non-
misleading reference is made to current official publications of the State
Experiment Station, the State College of Agriculture, the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Immigration, the Virginia State Board
of Health, or similar Federal institutions or other official agencies of this
State or other states when such agencies are authorized by law to conduct
research in the field of economic poisons.

t. The term “adulterated” shall apply to any economic poison if its
strength or purity falls below the professed standard or quality as
expressed on labeling or under which it is sold, or if any substance has
been substituted wholly or in part for the article, or if any valuable
constituent of the article has been wholly, or in part, abstracted.

u. The term “misbranded” shall apply—

1. Toany economic poison or device—

(a) if its labeling bears any statement, design, or graphic represen-
tation relative thereto or to its ingredients which is false or misleading in
any particular ;

(b) if it is an imitation of or is offered for sale under the name
of another economic poison;

(c) if its labeling bears any reference to registration under this act ;
(d) if the labeling accompanying it does not contain directions for
use which are necessary and, if complied with, adequate for the protection
of the public;

(e) If the label does not contain a warning or caution statement
which may be necessary and, if complied with, adequate to prevent
injury to living man and other vertebrate animals, vegetation, and useful
invertebrate animals;

(f) if the label does not bear an ingredient statement or guaranteed
analysis statement on that part of the immediate container and on the
outside container or wrapper, if there be one, through which the ingre-
dient statement or guaranteed analysis statement on the immediate
container cannot be clearly read, of the retail package which is presented
or displayed under customary conditions of purchase ;

(g) if any word, statement, or other information required by or
under the authority of this act to appear on the labeling is not promi-
nently placed thereon with such conspicuousness (as compared with
other words, statements, designs, or graphic matter in the labeling) and
in such terms as to render it likely to be read and understood by the
ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase and use; or

(h) _ if in the case of insecticide, fungicide, or herbicide, when used
as directed or in accordance with commonly recognized safe practice,
it shall be injurious to living man or other vertebrate animals or vegeta-
tion, to which it is applied, or to the person applying such economic
poison, excepting pests and weeds.

Section 3. Prohibited acts.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to distribute, sell, or offer
for sale within this Commonwealth or deliver for transportation or
transport in intrastate commerce or between points within this Common-
wealth through any point outside this State any of the following:

(1) Any economic poison which is not registered pursuant to the
provisions of section five of this act, or any economic poison if any of the
claims made for it or any of the directions for its use differ in substance
from the representations made in connection with its registration, or if
the composition of an economic poison differs from its composition as
represented in connection with its registration; Provided, that, in the
discretion of the Commissioner, a change in the labeling or formula of
an economic poison may be made, within a registration period, without
requiring re-registration of the product: Provided further, that changes
at no time are permissible if they lower the efficacy of the product.

(2) Any economic poison unless it is in the registrant’s or the
manufacturer’s unbroken immediate container, and there is affixed to
such container, and to the outside container or wrapper of the retail
package, if there be one, through which the required information on
the immediate container cannot be clearly read, a label bearing

(a) The name and address of the manufacturer, registrant, or
person for whom manufactured ;

(b) the name, brand, or trade mark under which said article is
sold ; and
(c) the net weight or measure of the content subject, however, to
such reasonable variations as the Commissioner may permit.

(3) Any economic poison which contains any substance or sub-
stances in quantities highly toxic to man, determined as provided in
section six of this act, unless the label shall bear, in addition to any
other matter required by this act,

(a) the skull and crossbones ;

(b) the word “poison” prominently, in red, on a background of
distinctly contrasting color ; and

(c) a statement of an antidote for the economic poison.

(4) The economic poisons commonly known as lead arsenate, basic-
lead arsenate, calcium arsenate, magnesium arsenate, zinc arsenate, zinc
arsenite, sodium fluoride, sodium fluosilicate, and barium fluosilicate
unless they have been distinctly colored or discolored as provided by regu-
lations issued in accordance with this act, or any other white powder eco-
nomic poison which the Commissioner, after investigation of and after
public hearing on the necessity for such action for the protection of the
public health and the feasibility of such coloration or discoloration, shall,
by regulation, require to be distinctly colored or discolored ; unless it has
been so colored or discolored; Provided, that the Commissioner may
exempt any economic poison to the extent that it is intended for a
particular use or uses from the coloring or discoloring required or
authorized by this subsection if he determines that such coloring or
discoloring for such use or uses is not necessary for the protection of
the public health.

(5) Any economic poison which is adulterated or misbranded, or
any device which is misbranded.

B. It shall be unlawful—

(1) for any person to detach, alter, deface, or destroy, in whole
or in part, any label or labeling provided for in this act or the rules and
regulations promulgated hereunder, or to add any substance to, or take
any substance from an economic poison in a manner that may defeat the
purposes of this act;

(2) for any manufacturer, distributor, dealer, carrier, or other
person to refuse, upon a request in writing specifying the nature or kind
of economic poison or device to which such request relates, to furnish
to or permit any person designated by the Commissioner to have access
to and to copy such records of business transactions as may be essential
in carrying out the purposes of this act;

(3) for any person to give a guaranty or undertaking provided for
in section eight which is false in any particular, except that a person
who receives and relies upon a guaranty authorized under section eight
may give a guaranty to the same effect, which guaranty shall contain in
addition to his own name and address the name and address of the
person residing in the United States from whom he received the guaranty
or undertaking ;
(4) for any person to use for his own advantage or to reveal, other
than to the Commissioner, or officials or employees of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, or officials or employees of the United States Department
of Agriculture, or other Federal agencies, or to the courts in response
to a subpoena, or to physicians, and in emergencies to pharmacists and
other qualified persons, for use in the preparation of antidotes, in accord-
ance with such directions as the Commissioner may prescribe, any
information relative to formulas of products acquired by authority of
section five of this act;

(5) for any person to oppose or interfere in any way with the
Commissioner or his duly authorized agents in carrying out the duties
imposed by this act ; and

(6) for any person charged with the enforcement of this act to be
directly or indirectly connected with or financially interested in the sale,
manufacture or distribution for sale of any economic poison.

Section 4. Injunction.—

In addition to the remedies herein provided the Commissioner of
Agriculture is hereby authorized to apply to an appropriate court for,
and such court shall have jurisdiction upon hearing and for cause shown
to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person
from violating any provision of section three, irrespective of whether
or not there exists an adequate remedy at law.

Section 5. Registration.—

(a) Every economic poison which is distributed, sold, or offered
for sale within this State or delivered for transportation or transported
in intrastate commerce or between points within this State through any
point outside this State shall be registered with the Commissioner. The
Commissioner may register and permit the sale of any such economic
poison which has been duly registered without protest under the provi-
sions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, but
products so registered shall be subject to the inspection fees provided
for herein, and to all other provisions of this act. All registration of
products shall expire on the thirty-first day of December, following date
of issuance, unless such registration shall be renewed annually, in which
event expiration date shall be extended for each year of renewal registra-
tion, or until otherwise terminated : Provided, that

(1) products which have the same formula, and are manufactured
by the same person, the labeling of which contains the same claims, and
the labels of which bear a designation identifying the product as the same
economic poison may be registered as a single economic poison ; additional
names and labels shall be added by supplement statements during the
current period of registration ;

(2) within the discretion of the Commissioner, or his authorized
representative, a change in the labeling or formulas of an economic
poison may be made within the current period of registration, without
requiring a reregistration of the product ;
(b) The registrant shall file with the Commissioner, a statement
including :

(1) the name and address of the registrant and the name and
address of the person whose name will appear on the label, if other than
the registrant ;

(2) the name of the economic poison ;

(3) a complete copy of the labeling accompanying the economic
poison and a statement of all claims made and to be made for it including
directions for use; and

(4) if requested by the Commissioner a full description of the tests
made and the results thereof upon which the claims are based. In the
case of renewal of registration, a statement shall be required only with
respect to information which is different from that furnished when the
economic poison was registered or last reregistered.

(c) The registrant, before selling or offering for sale any economic
poison in this State, shall register each brand or grade of such economic
poison with the Department of Agriculture and Immigration upon forms
furnished by the Department, and, for purposes of defraying expenses
connected with the enforcement of this act, shall pay to the Department
an annual inspection fee of ten ($10.00) dollars for each and every brand
or grade to be offered for sale in this State; Provided, however, that any
registrant may register annually any number of brands after the payment
of annual fees aggregating two hundred dollars, by paying an annual
fee of five dollars for each economic poison submitted for registration,
in excess of the first twenty, whereupon there shall be issued to the
registrant by the Department of Agriculture and Immigration a certif-
icate entitling the registrant to sell all duly registered brands in this State
until the expiration of the certificate. All certificates shall expire on
December thirty-one, of each year unless otherwise terminated, and are
subject to renewal upon receipt of annual inspection fees.

(d) The Commissioner, whenever he deems it necessary in the
administration of this act, may require the submission of the complete
formula of any economic poison. If it appears to the Commissioner that
the composition of the article is such as to warrant the proposed claims
for it and if the article and its labeling and other material required to
be submitted comply with the requirements of this act, he shall register
the article.

(e) If it does not appear to the Commissioner that the article is
such as to warrant the proposed claims for it or if the article and its
labeling and other material required to be submitted do not comply
with the provisions of this act, he shall notify the registrant of the manner
in which the article, labeling, or other material required to be submitted
fail to comply with this act so as to afford the registrant an opportunity
to make the necessary corrections.

(f) The Commissioner is authorized and empowered to refuse to
register, or to cancel the registration of, any brand of economic poison as
herein provided, upon satisfactory proof that the registrant has been
guilty of fraudulent and deceptive practices in the evasions or attempted
evasions of the provisions of this act or any rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder: Provided, that no registration shall be revoked
or refused until the registrant shall have been given a hearing by the
Commissioner.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, registration
is not required in the case of an economic poison shipped from one plant
within this State to another plant within this State operated by the same
person.

Section 6. Determination; Rules and Regulations; Uniformity.

(a) The Commissioner is authorized, after opportunity for a
hearing,

(1) to declare as a pest any form of plant or animal life or virus
which is injurious to plants, man, domestic animals, articles, or
substances ;

(2) to determine whether economic poisons are highly toxic to
man ; and

(3) to determine standards of coloring or discoloring for economic
poisons, and to subject economic poisons to the requirements of section
three-a (four) of this act.

(b) The Commissioner is further authorized

(1) _ to effect the collection and examination of samples of economic
poisons and devices to determine compliance with the requirements of
this act; and he shall have the authority at all reasonable hours to enter
into any car, warehouse, store, building, boat, vessel or place supposed
to contain economic poisons, or devices, for the purpose of inspection
or sampling, and to procure samples for analysis or examination from
any lot, package or parcel of economic poison, or any device.

(2) to publish from time to time, in such forms as he may deem
proper, complete information concerning the sale of economic poisons,
together with such data on their production and use as he may consider
advisable, and reports of the results of the analyses based on official
samples of economic poisons sold within the State.

(c) The Board of Agriculture and Immigration is authorized to
prescribe, after public hearing following due public notice, such rules,
regulations, and standards relating to the sale and distribution of
economic poisons as they may find necessary to carry into effect the
full intent and meaning of this act.

(d) In order to avoid confusion endangering the public health,
resulting from diverse requirements, particularly as to the labeling and
coloring of economic poisons, and to avoid increased costs to the people
of this State due to the necessity of complying with such diverse require-
ments in the manufacture and sale of such poisons, the Board of Agri-
culture and Immigration and the Commissioner are authorized and
empowered to cooperate with, and enter into agreements with, any other
agency of this State, the United States Department of Agriculture, and
any other State or agency thereof for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this act and securing uniformity of regulations.

Section 7. Violations.—

(a) If it shall appear from the examination or evidence that any
of the provisions of this act or the rules and regulations issued there-
under have been violated, the Commissioner may cause notice of such
violations to be given to the registrant, distributor, and possessor from
whom said sample or evidence was taken. Any party ’so notified shall
be given an opportunity to be heard under such rules and regulations as
may be prescribed by the Board of Agriculture and Immigration. If it
appears after such hearing that there has been a sufficient number of
violations of this act or the rules and regulations issued thereunder, the
Commissioner may certify the facts to the proper prosecuting attorney
and furnish that officer with a copy of the results of the examination of
such sample duly authenticated by the analyst or other officer making
the examination under the oath of such analyst or officer. It shall be the
duty of every attorney for the Commonwealth to whom the Commissioner
shall report any violation of this act to cause proceedings to be prosecuted
without delay for the fines and penalties in such cases. Any person con-
victed of violating any provision of this act or the rules and regulations
issued thereunder shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and shall
be punished in the discretion of the court.

(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed as requiring the
Commissioner to report for the institution of proceedings under this act,
minor violations of this act, whenever the Commissioner believes that
the public interest will be adequately served in the circumstances by a
suitable written notice or warning.

Section 8. Exemptions.

(a) ‘The penalties provided for violations of section three-a of this
act shall not apply to—

(1) any carrier while lawfully engaged in transporting an economic
poison within this State, if such carrier shall, upon request, permit the
Commissioner or his designated agent to copy all records showing the
transactions in and movements of the articles ;

(2) public officials of this State and the Federal government
engaged in the performance of their official duties ;

(3) the manufacturer or shipper of an economic poison for experi-
mental use only—

(a) by or under the supervision of an agency of this State or of
the Federal government authorized by law to conduct research in the
field of economic poisons ; or

(b) by others if the economic poison is not sold and if the con-
tainer thereof is plainly and conspicuously marked “For experimental
use only—Not to be sold”, together with the manufacturer’s name and
address: Provided, however, that if a written permit has been obtained
from the Commissioner, economic poisons may be sold for experimental
purposes subject to such restrictions and conditions as may be set forth
in the permit ;
(4) any person who establishes a guaranty signed by, and contain-
ing the name and address of, the registrant or person residing in the
United States from whom he purchased and received in good faith the
article in the same unbroken package, to the effect that the article was
lawfully registered at the time of sale and delivery to him, and that it
complies with the other requirements of this act, designating this act.
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 act.

(5) This act shall not apply to any preparation, drug, or chemical
intended to be used or sold solely for medicinal use or for toilet purposes.

Section 9. “Stop Sale” Orders.—

It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to issue and enforce a
written or printed “stop sale, use, or removal” order to the owner or
custodian of any lot of economic poison and to hold at a designated
place when the Commissioner finds said economic poison is being offered
or exposed for sale in violation of any of the provisions of this act until
the law has been complied with and said economic poison is released in
writing by the Commissioner or said violation has been otherwise legally
disposed of by written authority; provided that the owner or custodian
of such economic poison shall have the right to appeal from such order
to a court of competent jurisdiction in the county or city where the said
economic poison or poisons are found, praying for a judgment as to the
justification of said order, and for the discharge of such economic poison
from the order prohibiting the sale in accordance with the findings of
the court; and provided further that the provisions of this paragraph
shall not be construed as limiting the right of the enforcement officer
to proceed as authorized by other provisions of this act. The Commis-
sioner shall release the economic poison so withdrawn when the require-
ments of the provisions of this act have been complied with and upon
payment of all costs and expenses incurred in connection with the
withdrawal.

Section 10. Seizure, Condemnation, and Sale-—

Any lot of economic poison not in compliance with the provisions
of this act shall be subject to seizure on complaint of the Commissioner
to a court of competent jurisdiction in the area in which said economic
poison is located. In the event the court finds the said economic poison
to be in violation of this act and orders the condemnation of said
economic poison, it shall be disposed of in any manner consistent with
the quality of the economic poison and the laws of the State: Provided.
that in no instance shall the disposition of said economic poison be
ordered by the court without first giving the claimant an opportunity
to apply to the court for the release of said economic poison or for
permission to process or relabel said product to bring it into compliance
with this act.

Section 11. Delegation of Duties.—

All authority vested in the Commissioner by virtue of the provisions
of this act may with like force and effect be executed by such employees
of the Department of Agriculture and Immigration as the Commissioner
may from time to time designate for said purpose.

Section 12. Separability —

If any provision of this act is declared unconstitutional or the applica-
bility thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the constitu-
tionality of the remainder of this act and the applicability thereof to
other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Section 13. Funds collected; disposition—All funds collected by
the Department under this act shall be paid into the State treasury to
the credit of the Department of Agriculture and Immigration and are
hereby appropriated to the Department of Agriculture and Immigration
to be used in carrying out the provisions of this act.

2. Chapter four hundred seventy-seven of the Acts of Assembly of
nineteen hundred twenty-two, approved March twenty-seven, nineteen
hundred twenty-two, and all amendments thereto, is repealed.