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Legal Proceedings | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Legal Proceedings | 15. Legal Proceedings — During the reporting period, there have been no material developments in legal proceedings that were reported in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, except as described below. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency Investigation. On November 10, 2016, AMVAC was served with a grand jury subpoena from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, seeking documents regarding the importation, transportation, and management of a specific pesticide. The Company retained defense counsel to assist in responding to the subpoena and otherwise in defending the Company’s interests. AMVAC is cooperating in the investigation. After interviewing multiple witnesses (including three employees before a grand jury in February 2022) and making multiple document requests, the Department of Justice (“DoJ”) identified the Company and a manager-level employee as targets of the government’s investigation. DoJ’s investigation focused on potential violations of two environmental statutes, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), as well as obstruction of an agency proceeding and false statement statutes. In March 2022, the individual target entered into a plea agreement relating to provision of false information in a government proceeding. In July 2022, the DoJ sent correspondence to the Company’s counsel to the effect that it was focusing on potential RCRA violations relating to the reimportation of Australian containers in 2015. Our defense counsel spoke with DoJ on the subject in early October 2022 and then again in May 2023, at which times DoJ expressed an interest in resolving the matter. The Company anticipates further discussion on resolution of the matter. The governmental agencies involved in this investigation have a range of civil and criminal penalties they may seek to impose against corporations and individuals for violations of FIFRA, RCRA and other federal statutes including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, fines, penalties and modifications to business practices and compliance programs, including the appointment of a monitor. If violations are established, the amount of any fines or monetary penalties which could be assessed and the scope of possible non-monetary relief would depend on, among other factors, findings regarding the amount, timing, nature and scope of the violations, and the level of cooperation provided to the governmental authorities during the investigation. As a result, the Company cannot yet anticipate the timing or predict the ultimate resolution of this investigation, financial or otherwise, which could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, operations, financial condition and cash flows. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded a loss contingency for this matter. Pitre etc. v. Agrocentre Ladauniere et al. On February 11, 2022, a strawberry grower named Les Enterprises Pitre, Inc. filed a complaint in the Superior Court, District of Labelle, Province of Quebec, Canada, entitled Pitre, etc. v. Agrocentre Ladauniere, Inc. etal, including Amvac Chemical Corporation, seeking damages in the amount of approximately $5 million arising from stunted growth of, and reduced yield from, its strawberry crop allegedly from the application of AMVAC’s soil fumigant, Vapam, in spring of 2021. Examinations of plaintiff were held in mid-August 2022, during which plaintiff in effect confirmed that he had planted his seedlings before expiration of the full-time interval following product application (as per the product label), that he had failed to follow the practice of planting a few test seedlings before planting an entire farm, and that he had placed his blind trust in his application adviser on all manner of timing and rate. An examination of the Company’s most knowledgeable witness is scheduled to take place in November 2023. Information to date is not sufficient to form a judgment as to either the probability or amount of loss; thus, the Company has not recorded a loss contingency for this matter. Notice of Intention to Suspend DCPA. On April 28, 2022, the USEPA published a notice of intent to suspend (“NOITS”) DCPA, the active ingredient of an herbicide marketed by the Company under the name Dacthal. The agency cited as the basis for the suspension that the Company did not take appropriate steps to provide data studies requested in support of the registration review. In fact, over the course of several years, the Company cooperated in performing the vast majority of the nearly 90 studies requested by USEPA and had been working in good faith to meet the agency’s schedule. After an appeals court (the Environmental Appeals Board) clarified the proper standard for use at the hearing (namely, whether registrant took appropriate steps to respond to the data call-in), a hearing was held in January 2023 before the ALJ, by which time USEPA had narrowed the scope of its claim to nine outstanding studies, all of which have been completed by the Company and 8 of 9 of which have been submitted to the agency and none of which are necessary for USEPA to commence its risk assessment. In April 2022, the ALJ reached a decision, finding that the agency acted within its authority in issuing the NOITS. The company is in the midst of discussions with USEPA on the terms of a settlement, and, to date, the parties have agreed to extend the company’s deadline for filing an appeal. During the course of these proceedings, AMVAC has been free to make, sell and distribute both the technical grade material and end-use product and may continue to do so unless and until there is an adverse ruling at both the trial and appellate level (if any). The Company believes that a loss is neither probable nor estimable and, consequently, has not recorded a loss contingency for this matter.

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