Can I sell someone else's registered disinfectant under my label?
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Yes, through supplemental distribution under 40 CFR 152.132, if the registrant agrees and files the notice. Your product must have the same composition as the registered one, be made and packaged by the same producer in a registered establishment, stay in the producer's unbroken container, and carry the same label information under your brand, with the registration number followed by a hyphen and your distributor company number [1][2]. You cannot refill, reformulate or add claims. The registrant stays responsible for keeping your label in line with its registration [1], and the regulation makes you its agent, so either of you can be held liable for a violation involving your product [5]. Below: the conditions, the label, and who controls what.
How the arrangement works
- Find a registrant willing to supply you. Ask registrants of the kind of product you want whether they supply distributor products. You are buying their registered product, packed under your name.
- Get a distributor company number. Your label carries the registrant's product number followed by your distributor company number [1]. Ask the registrant or EPA how to obtain one.
- The registrant files the notice. EPA Form 8570-5, Notice of Supplemental Distribution of a Registered Pesticide Product, "must be submitted by the basic registrant for each distributor product. The basic registration number and the distributor company number must be shown" [1]. EPA's enforcement files describe the filing as "a statement signed by both" the registrant and the distributor [2].
- Agree the label. It carries the registered label's information, your brand name, and your name and address qualified as the distributor [1].
- The registrant produces and packs it. In its registered establishment, in its containers, with your label [1][2].
- Register in your states. States may require their own registration before you sell; see pesticide and 25(b) registration by state.
What the regulation says
40 CFR 152.132, paraphrased here from the text read on the Legal Information Institute site (October 2026; the section dates from 1988 and was last amended in 1995), sets out the arrangement [5]:
- A registrant may sell its registered product under another person's name and address. The result is a distributor product, the distributor is treated as the registrant's agent, and both can be held liable for violations involving it.
- The registrant must submit a statement signed by both parties, naming each, with the distributor's company number, the extra brand names and the registration number.
- The product must be produced, packaged and labeled in a registered establishment operated by the same producer, or by a contract producer under 40 CFR 152.30.
- It may not be repackaged and must stay in the producer's unopened container.
- Its label must match the registered label, with only these changes allowed: a different product name that is not misleading, the distributor's name and address in place of the registrant's, the registration number followed by a dash and the distributor's company number, the establishment number of the final production site, and the removal of specific claims if nothing else needs changing.
- Voluntary cancellation of the registered product cancels every distributor product under it.
Confirm the current text in the eCFR before you sign an agreement.
The conditions, in EPA's words
Form 8570-5 lists seven conditions and tells both parties to read them before signing [1]. EPA's Region 5 consent agreement with State Industrial Products Corporation recites the regulation's conditions in similar terms [2].
| Condition (Form 8570-5) [1] | What it means for your brand |
|---|---|
| "The distributor product must have the same composition as the basic product." | No changes to fragrance, dye, strength or any ingredient |
| "The distributor product must be manufactured and packaged by the same person who manufactures and packages the registered basic product." | You cannot make it yourself. The regulation lets the registrant use a contract producer under 40 CFR 152.30, but that choice is the registrant's [5] |
| The distributor labeling must carry the same information as the registered product's; "Specific claims may be omitted from the distributor's label provided that no other changes are necessary." | You can drop claims. You cannot add any |
| "The product must remain in the manufacturer's unbroken container." | No refilling, decanting, repacking or making wipes from it |
| "The label must bear the EPA registration number of the basic product, followed by a hyphen and the distributor's company number." | A three-part registration number on your label |
| Labels "must bear the name and address of the distributor qualified by such terms as "packed for ...", "distributed by ... ", or "sold by ..." to show that the name is not that of the manufacturer." | "Distributed by [your company]" with your address |
| "All conditions of the basic registration apply equally to distributor products." | Same use sites, directions, precautions and storage |
The form adds: "It is the responsibility of the basic registrant to see that all distributor labeling is kept in compliance with requirements placed on the basic product" [1].
The numbers on your label
Two federal numbers appear.
- The EPA registration number. On a distributor product it has three parts: the registrant's two-part number for the basic product, then a hyphen and your distributor company number [1][2]. This is how a buyer, an inspector or EPA's own disinfectant lists trace your bottle back to the registered product. How shoppers read that number is on choosing and reading a disinfectant label.
- The EPA establishment number. It identifies where the product was made. The regulation, as EPA recites it, says the distributor product "is produced, packaged and labeled in a registered establishment," and the establishment number "must be that of the final establishment at which the product was produced" [2].
Who controls what
| The registrant controls | You control |
|---|---|
| The formula and its ingredient sources | Your brand name and trade dress, within the label rules |
| Manufacturing, packaging and the establishment | Which of the registered claims to leave off |
| The registered label text and any amendment to it | Where and to whom you sell, and your state registrations |
| Keeping your label in compliance with the registration [1] | What you say in listings, ads and sales talk |
| Whether the registration continues: "Voluntary cancellation of a product applies to the registered product and all distributor products" [2] | Choosing a registrant you trust to keep the product compliant |
The last row is the risk to plan for. If the registrant cancels or loses the registration, your product goes with it [2]. Ask about the registrant's plans for the product, and build the possibility into your supply agreement; copacking contracts covers the contract terms buyers and suppliers negotiate.
Your claims still have to match the registration
The label is controlled, but your marketing is yours. A listing that says the product kills an organism not on the registered label, or works on a surface the label does not list, is a claim the registration does not cover. EPA counts claims made "by labeling or otherwise" [3]. Keep every listing, post and sales sheet inside the registered label.
When the registrant gets it wrong, you can be in the file
Composition is the registrant's job, and the State Industrial case shows why it matters to a distributor brand. EPA alleged that in April 2020 the company produced batches of disinfectant products using active ingredient sources not listed in the registration statements, and counted 299 unlawful distributions or sales; the company agreed to a $714,880 civil penalty [2]. The products were described in the order as supplemental distributions [2]. A distributor in that position has stock that was not made to the registration. Ask your registrant how it controls ingredient sources, and keep lot records for what you receive.
Making product for a registrant
The reverse arrangement, where your facility makes a registrant's product, is a contract manufacturing relationship. Form 8570-5 says a distributor product must be made by the same person who makes the basic product [1], while the regulation also allows production by the registrant's contract producer under 40 CFR 152.30, in a registered establishment [5]. Before you make a registrant's product, confirm with the registrant and EPA how your facility fits those conditions, including establishment registration. The private label side of the business is on private label cleaning products.
Why this is the usual route for small brands
A distributor product carries the registrant's tested claims without efficacy data or a registration application of your own. Registering even a copy of an existing product costs $2,022 or $2,885 in EPA fees with a 4-month decision, before data and state costs; see what does it cost to register a disinfectant?. And there is no shortcut through 25(b): the minimum risk exemption does not cover germ claims [4].
References
- U.S. EPA, Notice of Supplemental Distribution of a Registered Pesticide Product, EPA Form 8570-5, Rev. 2-21. https://epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-02/documents/8570-5.pdf
- U.S. EPA Region 5, Consent Agreement and Final Order, In the Matter of State Industrial Products Corporation, docket FIFRA-05-2023-0001, final order signed December 15, 2022. https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/CAFOs%20and%20ESAs/C0249BC604B289B48525891A0052AB7E/$File/FIFRA-05-2023-0001_CAFO_State%20Industrial%20Products%20Corporation%20(Mayfield%20Heights,%20Ohio).pdf
- 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
- U.S. EPA, Conditions for Minimum Risk Pesticides, last updated August 31, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/node/64449
- Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 152.132, Supplemental distribution (53 FR 15975, May 4, 1988, as amended at 60 FR 32096, June 19, 1995), via Cornell Legal Information Institute, read October 22, 2026; paraphrased. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/152.132
