Section 2-7-62. Prohibited acts; exemptions

   (a) It is unlawful for any person to distribute any of the following in this state:

   (1) Any pesticide which has not been registered pursuant to this article;

   (2) Any pesticide, if any of the claims made for it or any of the directions for its use or any labeling differs from the representations made in connection with its registration or if the composition of the pesticide differs from its composition as represented in connection with its registration, provided that a change in the labeling or formulation of a pesticide may be made within a registration period without requiring reregistration of the product, if the registration is amended to reflect such change and if such change will not violate any provision of FIFRA or this article;

   (3) Any pesticide, 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 is one through which the required information on the immediate container cannot be clearly read, a label bearing the information required in this article and the regulations adopted under this article;

   (4) Any pesticide which has not been colored or discolored pursuant to Section 25(c)(5) of FIFRA or paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of Code Section 2-7-63;

   (5) Any pesticide which is adulterated or misbranded or any device which is misbranded; or

   (6) Any pesticide in containers which are unsafe due to damage.

(b) It shall be unlawful:

   (1) To distribute any pesticide labeled for restricted uses to any person who is required by law or regulations promulgated under such law to have a permit or to be certified to use or purchase such pesticide labeled for restricted uses, unless such person or his agent to whom distribution is made has a valid permit or is certified to use or purchase the kind and quantity of such pesticide labeled for restricted uses, provided that subject to conditions established by the Commissioner, such permit may be obtained immediately prior to distribution, from any person designated by the Commissioner;

   (2) For any person to detach, alter, deface, or destroy, wholly or in part, any label or labeling provided for in this article or regulations adopted under this article or to add any substance to, or take any substance from, a pesticide in a manner that may defeat the purpose of this article or the regulations adopted hereunder;

   (3) For any person to use or cause to be used any pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling or the regulations of the Commissioner, if those regulations further restrict the uses provided on the labeling;

   (4) For any person to use for his own advantage or to reveal, other than to the Commissioner, to properly designated state or federal officials, to employees of the state or federal executive agencies, to the courts of the state or the federal government in response to a subpoena, to physicians, or, in emergencies, to pharmacists and other qualified persons for use in the preparation of antidotes, any information relative to formulas of products acquired by authority of Code Section 2-7-55 or any information judged by the Commissioner as containing or relating to trade secrets or commercial or financial information obtained by authority of this article and marked as privileged or confidential by the registrant;

   (5) For any person to handle, transport, store, display, or distribute pesticides in such a manner as to endanger man and his environment or to endanger food, feed, or any other products that may be transported, stored, displayed, or distributed with such pesticides;

   (6) For any person to dispose of, discard, or store any pesticides or pesticide containers in such a manner as to cause injury to humans, vegetation, crops, livestock, wildlife, or beneficial insects or in such a manner as to pollute any water supply or waterway;

   (7) For any person to refuse or otherwise fail to comply with this article or the regulations adopted hereunder.

(c) The penalties provided for violations of paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a) of this Code section shall not apply to:

   (1) Any carrier, while lawfully engaged in transporting pesticides or devices within this state, if such carrier, upon request, permits the Commissioner to copy all records showing the transactions in and movements of the pesticides or devices;

   (2) Public officials of this state and the federal government, while engaged in the performance of their official duties in administering state or federal pesticide laws or regulations;

   (3) The manufacturer, shipper, or distributor of a pesticide for experimental use only 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 pesticides, provided that there is a valid experimental use permit for such pesticide; or

   (4) Any person who ships a substance or mixture of substances being put through tests, in which the purpose is only to determine its value for pesticide purposes or to determine its toxicity or other properties and from the use of which the user does not expect to receive any benefit in pest control.

(d) No pesticide or device shall be deemed in violation of this article when intended solely for export to a foreign country and when prepared or packed according to the specifications or directions of the purchaser. If not so exported, all the provisions of this article shall apply.

Ga. L. 1950, p. 390, §§ 3, 7; Ga. L. 1976, p. 282, § 6.