What happens if I make a germ claim without registration?
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You are selling an unregistered pesticide, and EPA can act against you. Its stated tools include "Notices of Warning; Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Orders (SSURO); and Civil Penalties" [1]. The maximum civil penalty under FIFRA section 14(a)(1) (7 U.S.C. 136l(a)(1)) is $24,885 per violation for penalties assessed on or after January 8, 2025 [2], and each sale can count. Recent EPA cases range from a $45,000 penalty against a natural products company to more than $250,000 against a wholesaler [3][4]. Imported products can be refused at the border [5]. This page lays out each tool, the cases from EPA's own files, and what to do if you find a claim on your label or listing today.
The tools, from lightest to heaviest
| EPA action | What it does | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of Warning | The lightest tool EPA names; the sources read do not describe its contents | Named among EPA's tools [1] |
| Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) | Orders you to stop selling, using or moving the named products, wherever they are | EPA's 2024 order to Power Wash Store [6] |
| Civil penalty | A fine per violation; in the cases below, settled in a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) | 40 CFR 19.4 [2]; EPA cases [3][4][7] |
| Import refusal | EPA asks Customs to refuse entry; goods are exported or destroyed | EPA Region 8 refusal, 2024 [5] |
| Seizure and criminal penalties | Named by EPA as possible consequences | EPA device advisory, 2023 [8] |
EPA's page on cleaning products puts it plainly: "There can be serious consequences for selling and distributing an unregistered pesticide" [1].
The penalty numbers
Federal civil penalty maximums are adjusted for inflation and published in 40 CFR 19.4. For FIFRA section 14(a)(1), Table 1 shows [2]:
| Penalties assessed | Maximum per violation |
|---|---|
| On or after January 8, 2025 | $24,885 |
| On or after December 27, 2023, and before January 8, 2025 | $24,255 |
| As enacted | $5,000 |
The adjusted figures apply to violations after November 2, 2015 [2]. The eCFR text was up to date as of October 20, 2026 when read [2]. EPA's July 2024 order to Power Wash Store warned that noncompliance "may result in civil penalties of up to $24,255 per violation," the figure in force at that date [6].
"Per violation" is what makes the numbers grow. In the State Industrial Products case, EPA counted 299 unlawful distributions or sales of two products over about eight weeks [7]. The State Industrial order says EPA considered the size of the business, its ability to continue in business, the gravity of the violations and its FIFRA Enforcement Response Policy in setting the penalty [7].
Cases from EPA's own files
| Company and year | What EPA cited | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| CJH, Inc. d/b/a Ginesis Natural Products, Alabama (Region 4, docket FIFRA-04-2024-3020(b), 2025) | "Inactivates viruses and bacteria," "Safe formulation is effective against Corona," "To sanitize: let stand for 30 seconds and then allow to air dry," and a lice spray; one count of selling unregistered pesticides under FIFRA 12(a)(1)(A) on multiple occasions from April 2019 to March 2023 | $45,000 civil penalty. EPA found neither product qualified as a minimum risk 25(b) product [3] |
| U.S. Jaclean Inc., California (Region 9, news release October 6, 2024) | "effective against bacteria," "sanitizer," "antibacterial," "non-toxic and safe" | "the company will pay a penalty of over $250,000" [4] |
| Power Wash Store LLC, Wisconsin (EPA headquarters, docket FIFRA-HQ-2024-5005, July 23, 2024) | Mold, mildew and algae removal claims on 19 products; "effective against pathogens"; "effective against the virus that causes Covid-19" | SSURO covering the company and its franchisees; no movement of product without EPA's written approval; proof of disposal [6] |
| State Industrial Products Corporation, Ohio (Region 5, docket FIFRA-05-2023-0001, final order December 15, 2022) | Registered disinfectant products made with active ingredient sources not in the registration statements | $714,880 civil penalty [7] |
| Industrial ozone generator import (Region 8, docket FIFRA-08-2024-0015, 2024) | Website: "Designed to eliminate difficult odors, kill phorid flies, and kill pathogens"; label without an EPA establishment number, directions or warnings | Entry refused; export or destruction under Customs supervision [5] |
Three lessons stand out. The Ginesis case involved an EPA review of the company's website and an inspection of its facility, and its germ claims were on the website as well as the label [3]. The Power Wash order reached products whose claims were about mold and mildew, which are pest claims even though they never mention germs [6]. And the State Industrial case shows that being registered is not the end of it: a registered product made differently from its registration is also a violation [7].
Why "natural" and 25(b) are no defense
EPA addressed the minimum risk argument directly in two of these cases. In the Ginesis consent agreement, EPA found the antimicrobial product did not qualify because its claims to control bacteria and viruses that threaten human health are barred by 40 CFR 152.25(f)(3)(ii) [3]. The Power Wash order also notes that products claiming to control microorganisms that threaten human health are not exempt [6]. 25(b) does not cover germ claims; the conditions are on minimum risk (25(b)) products.
What an order requires
The Power Wash SSURO is a good picture of what receiving one means. It required the company to [6]:
- Immediately stop distributing, selling, using or removing the listed products held by the company or its franchisees, in any size, quantity or form.
- Get EPA's prior written approval before moving any of the products, with a written inventory and the origin and destination addresses.
- Give EPA written proof of disposal, with quantities, if the products are disposed of.
The order took effect on receipt and stays in effect until EPA revokes, terminates, suspends or closes it in writing [6].
If you find a germ claim on your product today
This is not legal advice, and a lawyer who handles FIFRA matters is the right person once EPA has contacted you. If no one has contacted you yet, the practical steps follow from the cases above.
- Find every place the claim appears. Label, inserts, website, marketplace listings, social posts, wholesale sheets and signs. EPA counts claims "by labeling or otherwise" [9].
- Decide the route. Remove the claim and stay a cleaner, or move to a registered product. Wording EPA treats as non-pesticidal is on what to say instead.
- Relabel or hold stock. Product already printed with the claim still carries it.
- Ask EPA if unsure. EPA's cleaning product page gives pesticidequestions@epa.gov for antimicrobial and conventional products [1].
- Keep records of what you changed and when.
If EPA has already contacted you, follow the order's instructions exactly while you get advice. The Power Wash order, for example, named the EPA contact to whom requests had to be sent [6].
Checking claims before they become a case
The fastest way to stay out of this table is to check each sentence before it is printed or posted. Use the claim check, and read where can a pesticidal claim come from besides my label? for the places claims hide.
References
- U.S. EPA, Determining If a Cleaning Product Is a Pesticide Under FIFRA, last updated July 6, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/determining-if-cleaning-product-pesticide-under-fifra
- Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 19.4, Statutory civil monetary penalties, as adjusted for inflation, and tables, eCFR, up to date as of October 20, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-19/section-19.4
- U.S. EPA Region 4, Consent Agreement and Final Order, In the Matter of CJH, Inc. d/b/a Ginesis Natural Products, docket FIFRA-04-2024-3020(b), 2025. https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/91F00D41F671567285258C89006DB1ED/$File/CJH%20Inc%20dba%20Ginesis%20Natural%20Products%20CAFO%205-13-25%20FIFRA-04-2024-3020(b).pdf
- U.S. EPA Region 9, EPA Settles with U.S. Jaclean Inc. over Sale of Unregistered Disinfectants, Purported Health Products, news release, October 6, 2024. https://epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-settles-us-jaclean-inc-over-sale-unregistered-disinfectants-purported-health
- U.S. EPA Region 8, request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refuse admission of an industrial ozone generator, docket FIFRA-08-2024-0015, 2024. https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/rhc/epaadmin.nsf/Filings/96CA14104C61BA1885258ACA007EF5D4/$File/FIFRA-08-2024-0015%20NORA%20ZoneTecOzone%202024.pdf
- U.S. EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order to Power Wash Store LLC, docket FIFRA-HQ-2024-5005, cover letter dated July 23, 2024. https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/rhc/epaadmin.nsf/Filings/7F1390E90BC30BAA85258BB000478C4A/$File/SSURO.PowerWashStore_BC%20Signed%2007.23.2024.pdf
- U.S. EPA Region 5, Consent Agreement and Final Order, In the Matter of State Industrial Products Corporation, docket FIFRA-05-2023-0001, final order signed December 15, 2022. https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/CAFOs%20and%20ESAs/C0249BC604B289B48525891A0052AB7E/$File/FIFRA-05-2023-0001_CAFO_State%20Industrial%20Products%20Corporation%20(Mayfield%20Heights,%20Ohio).pdf
- U.S. EPA, What You Need to Know About Producing, Distributing or Selling Pesticide Devices, compliance advisory, EPA 305F22003, February 2023. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/pesticidedevicecomplianceadvisory.pdf
- Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 152.15, Pesticide products required to be registered, via Cornell Legal Information Institute, read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/152.15
