Tagit tzumi5/19/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() TZUMI failed to register the Wipe Out! products with EPA, even though its labeling made antimicrobial pesticidal claims suggesting that these products were intended to be used to disinfect surfaces and TZUMI had knowledge that the products would be used as a pesticide, as that term is defined in FIFRA. Registration is a critical step in ensuring the efficacy and safety of antimicrobial pesticides: Among other things, during registration, EPA reviews the application information and performs a rigorous, comprehensive scientific assessment of the product, including the product’s active and inert ingredients and the proposed uses of the product, to ensure that the product is effective and has no unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment when used for its intended purpose and according to labeled directions. FIFRA prohibits the distribution or sale of pesticides-including products claiming to have antimicrobial properties intended to be used to disinfect surfaces-that are not registered under FIFRA, absent exceptions to registration not applicable here. None of these supposedly antimicrobial products were registered with EPA under FIFRA. TZUMI expressly stated that it intended Wipe Out! Wipes to be sold to “lower income level customers.” The counterclaim filed in Manhattan federal court today alleges that in 2020, TZUMI began to sell three product lines-Wipe Out! Wipes, Wipe Out! Multi-Surface Wipes, and Wipe Out! Multi-Surface Decontaminant Spray-in an effort to respond to the public’s increased demand for disinfectant products during the COVID-19 public health crisis. This settlement demonstrates EPA’s commitment to hold companies accountable that violate critical environmental laws and includes a provision where Tzumi Innovations, LLC will develop an extensive campaign to inform the public and retailers about the appropriate uses for the products in question.” Garcia stated: “Consumers must be provided accurate information about pesticide products and merchandise such as those items involved in this case, which must be properly labeled and registered with EPA to protect public health. We will continue to pursue justice in environmental enforcement matters.”ĮPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Today’s settlement ensures that Tzumi pays the price for its misconduct. It compounded matters by targeting low-income customers, who face disproportionate environmental burdens. Attorney Damian Williams said: “At the height of the pandemic, Tzumi misled consumers and retailers and exposed the public to pesticide products that had not been found by EPA to be safe and effective. The proposed stipulation and order of settlement (“settlement”) agreed to by TZUMI includes payment of a $1.5 million civil penalty, the largest FIFRA civil penalty ever obtained in a judicial settlement and one of the largest FIFRA penalties obtained by EPA in any context. ![]() TZUMI specifically targeted lower-income customers for sale of one of its products, “Wipe Out! Wipes.” TZUMI sold these products without submitting them to EPA for registration, a mandatory process that allows EPA to assess the safety and effectiveness of the products. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), announced today that the United States has filed and simultaneously settled a counterclaim against TZUMI INNOVATIONS, LLC (“TZUMI”) for illegally distributing and selling millions of products claiming to have antimicrobial properties in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Garcia, Regional Administrator of the U.S. Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Lisa F.
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