Section 40.26. Soil or plant additives; guaranteed analysis.

 

(1)   General. The label of every soil or plant additive shall include a guaranteed analysis that complies with this section. No person may represent that a soil or plant additive contains any substance unless that substance is listed in the guaranteed analysis.

(2)   Format.

(a) A guaranteed analysis for a soil or plant additive shall have the following format:

Guaranteed Analysis

Active Ingredients

Common Name (Chemical Name)   _____%

Common Name (Chemical Name)   _____%

Common Name (Chemical Name)   _____%

I nert Ingredients

Common Name (Chemical Name)   _____%

Common Name (Chemical Name)   _____%

Common Name (Chemical Name)   _____%

(b) The combined guarantees for active and inert ingredients shall total 100% unless the guaranteed analysis includes one or more active microorganism ingredients identified according to sub. (3) (b) . A zero shall precede the decimal on any guarantee that is less than one percent.

(3)   Active ingredients.

(a) The guaranteed analysis shall identify, under the "active ingredients" subtitle, each ingredient that actively and directly contributes to the performance of the soil or plant additive. Except as provided in par. (b) , the guaranteed analysis shall guarantee the amount of each active ingredient as a percentage of the soil or plant additive.

(b) If an active ingredient is a microorganism, the guaranteed analysis shall do all of the following:

1. Identify the active microorganism genus. If any activity is unique to a species of the genus, the guaranteed analysis shall also identify that species.

2. Guarantee the number of viable microorganisms or colony forming units (CFU's), of each identified genus or species, per milliliter of liquid product or per gram of non-liquid product.

(4)   Inert ingredients. The guaranteed analysis shall identify, under the "inert ingredients" subtitle, the name and amount of each ingredient that does not contribute directly to the performance of the soil or plant additive.

(5)   Ingredient identification. Except as provided in sub. (3) (b) , the guaranteed analysis shall identify each ingredient by its common name, if any, followed in parentheses by its chemical name as stated in the Merck Index, 12 th edition (1996). If an ingredient is not sufficiently defined in the Merck Index, the department may approve an additional or alternative name for the ingredient.

(6)   Minimum guarantees. No soil or plant additive label may identify any ingredient for which the guaranteed analysis shows a zero guarantee.

(7)   Fertilizer-additive combinations. The guaranteed analysis for a fertilizer-additive combination shall be in the format shown in Appendix A. Plant nutrients shall be guaranteed according to s. ATCP 40.10 . Other ingredients shall be guaranteed according to this section.

(8)   Format exemptions. The department may exempt a soil or plant additive from any guaranteed analysis format requirement under this section if the person requesting the exemption demonstrates all of the following to the department's satisfaction:

(a) Another state, which has authorized sale of the soil or plant additive, has a conflicting statute or regulation.

(b) The format exemption will reconcile the conflict under par. (a) .

(c) The format exemption will not affect, to the detriment of purchasers in this state, any claim or disclosure related to product performance, use, purpose, efficacy, or active ingredients.

(d) The format exemption will not cause the product label to be false, deceptive, or misleading in any respect.

(e) The format required by the other state satisfies the objectives of this section.

(f) The format required by the other state does not violate applicable labeling requirements, if any, under chs. ATCP 20 , 29 and 41 .

History: CR 04-140 : cr. Register September 2005 No. 597 , eff. 10-1-05.

Note

The Merck Index, 12 th edition (1996) is on file with the department and the legislative reference bureau. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1