7 USC § 1596 - Penalties

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t7/s1596"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "7 USC § 1596 - Penalties"
title_number: 7
title_name: "AGRICULTURE"
section_number: "1596"
section_name: "Penalties"
chapter_number: 37
chapter_name: "SEEDS"
subchapter_number: "IV"
subchapter_name: "GENERAL PROVISIONS"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Aug. 9, 1939, ch. 615, title IV, § 406, 53 Stat. 1286; July 9, 1956, ch. 520, § 1, 70 Stat. 508.)"
---


# § 1596. Penalties

**(a)** Any person who knowingly, or as a result either of gross negligence or of a failure to make a reasonable effort to inform himself of the pertinent facts, violates any provision of this chapter or the rules and regulations made and promulgated thereunder shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall pay a fine of not more than $1,000, for the first offense, and upon conviction for each subsequent offense not more than $2,000.

**(b)** Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or the rules and regulations made and promulgated thereunder shall forfeit to the United States a sum, not less than $25 or more than $500, for each such violation, which forfeiture shall be recoverable in a civil suit brought in the name of the United States.

---

**Source Credit**: (Aug. 9, 1939, ch. 615, title IV, § 406, 53 Stat. 1286; July 9, 1956, ch. 520, § 1, 70 Stat. 508.)

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1956—Act , designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted “knowingly or as a result either of gross negligence or of a failure to make a reasonable effort to inform himself of the pertinent facts,” and added subsec. (b).

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1956 Amendment

> “The amendments made by this Act [amending sections 1574, 1596, and 1602 of this title] shall be applicable only with respect to violations occurring after the enactment of this Act [
> 
> ].”

, , provided that:

### Effective Date

See .