15 U.S.C. § 1265 : US Code - Section 1265: Seizures

Search 15 U.S.C. § 1265 : US Code - Section 1265: Seizures

(a) Grounds and jurisdiction
Any misbranded hazardous substance or banned hazardous substance
when introduced into or while in interstate commerce or while held
for sale (whether or not the first sale) after shipment in
interstate commerce, or which may not, under the provisions of
section 1263(f) of this title, be introduced into interstate
commerce, or which has been manufactured in violation of section
1263(g) of this title, shall be liable to be proceeded against
while in interstate commerce or at any time thereafter, on libel of
information and condemned in any district court in the United
States within the jurisdiction of which the hazardous substance is
found: Provided, That this section shall not apply to a hazardous
substance intended for export to any foreign country if it (1) is
in a package branded in accordance with the specifications of the
foreign purchaser, (2) is labeled in accordance with the laws of
the foreign country, and (3) is labeled on the outside of the
shipping package to show that it is intended for export, and (4) is
so exported.
(b) Procedure; multiplicity of pending proceedings
Such hazardous substance shall be liable to seizure by process
pursuant to the libel, and the procedure in cases under this
section shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the procedure in
admiralty; except that on demand of either party any issue of fact
joined in any such case shall be tried by jury. When libel for
condemnation proceedings under this section, involving the same
claimant and the same issues of misbranding, are pending in two or
more jurisdictions, such pending proceedings, upon application of
the United States or the claimant seasonably made to the court of
one such jurisdiction, shall be consolidated for trial by order of
such court, and tried in (1) any district selected by the applicant
where one of such proceedings is pending; or (2) a district agreed
upon by stipulation between the parties. If no order for
consolidation is so made within a reasonable time, the United
States or the claimant may apply to the court of one such
jurisdiction, and such court (after giving the other party, the
claimant, or the United States attorney for such district,
reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard) shall by order,
unless good cause to the contrary is shown, specify a district of
reasonable proximity to the claimant's principal place of business,
in which all such pending proceedings shall be consolidated for
trial and tried. Such order of consolidation shall not apply so as
to require the removal of any case the date for trial of which has
been fixed. The court granting such order shall give prompt
notification thereof to the other courts having jurisdiction of the
cases covered thereby.
(c) Disposition of goods after decree of condemnation
Any hazardous substance condemned under this section shall, after
entry of the decree, be disposed of by destruction or sale as the
court may, in accordance with the provisions of this section,
direct and the proceeds thereof, if sold, less the legal costs and
charges, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States; but
such hazardous substance shall not be sold under such decree
contrary to the provisions of this chapter or the laws of the
jurisdiction in which sold: Provided, That, after entry of the
decree and upon the payment of the costs of such proceedings and
the execution of a good and sufficient bond conditioned that such
hazardous substance shall not be sold or disposed of contrary to
the provisions of this chapter or the laws of any State or
territory in which sold, the court may by order direct that such
hazardous substance be delivered to the owner thereof to be
destroyed or brought into compliance with the provisions of this
chapter under the supervision of an officer or employee duly
designated by the Commission, and the expense of such supervision
shall be paid by the person obtaining release of the hazardous
substance under bond.
(d) Costs and fees
When a decree of condemnation is entered against the hazardous
substance, court costs and fees, and storage and other proper
expenses, shall be awarded against the person, if any, intervening
as claimant of the hazardous substance.
(e) Removal of case for trial
In the case of removal for trial of any case as provided by
subsection (b) of this section -
(1) the clerk of the court from which removal is made shall
promptly transmit to the court in which the case is to be tried
all records in the case necessary in order that such court may
exercise jurisdiction;
(2) the court to which such case is removed shall have the
powers and be subject to the duties, for purposes of such case,
which the court from which removal was made would have had, or to
which such court would have been subject, if such case had not
been removed.