EPA Announces Settlement with Horizon Tool, Inc. of Greensboro, North Carolina, for Alleged Violations of FIFRA

EPA Announces Settlement with Horizon Tool, Inc. of Greensboro, North Carolina, for Alleged Violations of FIFRA

September 30, 2024

GREENSBORO, N.C.(September 30, 2024) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Horizon Tool, Inc. (Horizon Tool) of Greensboro, North Carolina, to resolve alleged noncompliance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) relating to the sale and distribution of an unregistered product. Under the settlement, Horizon Tool will pay a $140,940 civil penalty.

In June 2023, the EPA conducted an inspection at Horizon Tool's facility and determined that between April 2020 and December 2022, the company had sold and distributed a product called "AllShield Spray Sanitizer," whose label bore claims that the product was antimicrobial and could be used to sanitize by removing bacteria from surfaces. In July 2023, the EPA determined that Horizon Tool was offering for sale the AllShield Spray Sanitizer product on its website which included claims that the product could be used to sanitize surfaces. Under FIFRA, products that are intended to kill, destroy, prevent, or repel bacteria or viruses are considered to be pesticides and must be registered with the EPA. The AllShield Spray Sanitizer product was not registered as a pesticide with the EPA at the time it was distributed and sold by Horizon Tool from 2020 to 2023.

"Pesticides distributed or sold in the United States are required to be registered with the EPA to ensure that the products perform as intended, and will not harm people, non-target species, or the environment when used as directed. Companies are responsible for the claims they make about their FIFRA-regulated products," said Keriema Newman, Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division in EPA's Southeast Region. "The EPA is committed to holding companies accountable for not adhering to federal environmental laws."

Read the EPA's Consent Agreement and Final Order with Horizon Tool.

For more information about the EPA's enforcement program, visit the Agency's website.

For more information about pesticides, visit the EPA's pesticides website.

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