OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GROVER SELLERS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Ronorrble Nlter T. YoKay, ahlbi
Div. rrorhh. Tmp. k 2ttarm0lns8
TQ~we~Degpa~nt of A(krloulttLm
1
Dear 81rt
A 6mufa6toxW 8hippinR; fttttglOid0~ tit.3 T0XaS at& oO%pljt
11th both the *tot+ aad Fedor& prori~lono and though tM language
>f the etatetor ia elimrb ldrnt~081, 8 diifOrOn00 in 0plnlOn baa
wioon bhwfsn the two jurfsdiotloo~ es 80 the applloation 0r the
Ibove quoted st(rtutsr to the labding of produat8 ooatatnlng oer-
;ala "indefinite" ooapouada of OOPPOF~ You lbnib with your to-
'uort ae:taln lnforsstion end oozrospondonoe rhloh fully develops
,ha ooatrovor5y rad it is there diseloaad that thie varhtoe in
Tinion baa rorulted fn aopu m8nUfaOtPTOrOI ubo dasirm to ooqfy
!ith both 3tate and .Fetleral prov~rionr , belt&? pleoed in the e*kwead
position of having their produot bsrmd rroa Taxer unless
they oompl~ with the Tore8 interpretation and bslw prore-
outed Sor mlrbrandlng under tb0 ?‘rderal rtatute ii they do.
That dlffonnt and oontll.atlng lntrrprotationr ot
praotlarlly ideatloal rtatutovy provlrloas rtie0ti.n~ ooaueroe
bet-en the state8 18ads to dirrstsow radulta oannot be dlr-
puted. .Thlr in rttretrd by the nmny rgrnaler at work vhlob
seek to iron out th etrede Barrier0 laong Otah8,ot the 3nlon.
It must be oonoludcd that tbo Texas Leplalatum hrd in alnd
tbe lrpportanoe of unirormlty when it borrwed heavily from
the Riders1 Aot of 1910 in pssring the ‘hrsa Aot of 1943 -blah
regulata8 these matter@. furtbrrmom, lt ia l rell reoo&zed
rule of Strtutory oonrtruotlon tbt r0er-a one juri6dlotlon adopts
a rtatute from enother it la al80 pmruzed to have adopted the
exlrtlng judloial oonrtruotlon unlurr mob oonrtzuotion is a~lalnst
rottson or the wright oi authority. An a o ta b lish l ddalnirtratln,
oow3truotlon 18 or 1089 witight but it ie at least par8uaslrr me6
the le~l8lrtum intended to adopt the omstruustion @low *ltb the
otatute. Sutherlan4, Statutory Conatruotion, (3rd. Sa.1, Vol. e,
500. SE09, p. 581, !3ea. 6106, pe 818.
It rpparru tttet rlnw 1918 Pederel outhorltlea hew, In
the lnitenm or the #o-called 'lndeilnite" oopper OOapOUndO,per-
?Plttad the use ot suoh lsbelr as the iOllOWlKi#$t
CCiWS b G'JXPOt3lD
COPIPER
AS XiTALLfD %
?%>ZiTIfiG ZDIZ??P3 9
This praotloe orl&*ted xith mIzmeotlolde Ce~tilon
Ea. 6” of tba Onitcrd State6 Oapartraat ot Agrioulturs, laousd
Psbruory 11?, 1912 lnvblvln(I 0ordeaor E?lxtum, one of tbe*‘ln-
derlnlte* oocqPouna8, rnd it ~a8 than rbsted,
*smo unaertrlnty a p p er rto
o lx l8t via t& aiads
of saesnufaoturw8 and rblpperr oi lkwdeeux mixture
prate and dry Badeour iairtu??m OOQOOr5iQR the method
xblab abould be e~1o)m-l in ltrt thb &arI lagrnd1wlta,
or both the rotlve and InrrC ingO9 lenta In thrre pro-
duotr as requlmd by tbe law. PbO departneat, therefore,
oonelden it Aeslreble to ntate it8 position on tbir sub-
jdot for the lntorma$lon oi tbo trade.
409
xon. tialter T. Y*Kay, page 3
*It is a well-a~tabllrbed fsot that the fungioldsl
propo;%lar of Bordeaux Prlrturo are dspmdrnt upcrn the
oopper present in thir mixture. The other aubekmoee,
8uah e8 lime en d water, are necemary but not rotire
ingredientr, end these rltb magnesia and varlour other
iaorenio oompounbrrhfoh my bo prwent, are inerO,
&toe they do aob oi thenrelrer poosorr fungloidal
propertire. If leea8 olear, bherrfore, thet rlthln the
Pllraalng of the iamotloida rot of 1910 tM sotal, oopper,
la the aotln laqedirat rubrtrnow
end the o th el present
axe to be regm3le4 a0 inert.*
following tbi8 ruling, a label 8bowlng the paroentage ot
oopper expresmd 88 raetalllo, together with a rtatekent OS other
lngredlents le inert, hau been gemrally socoptable to u. s.
euthorltuer, there of other l tatel, and apparently to Texas until I
Cieptenber 1944. Kcwa+or, our State Cheairt has re-ereained the I
oorraotnerr or this method OS labelllng thdae ooagoundr end hea
ooaoluded thet a label lo the following form stould be re++&e&m~~ --‘f
I
CGF-Pa B’U0”9PCLrn
BASE UOPPojlSVFLEATB 2
COPi’BRA.3 WPALZ12
It 18 our oheallst’a oontentlon that the above label
lr required by the etstutes, beaeuse, (1) *Inseotlalde l’woialon
No. 6* erroaeourly dsolarsr that aetaUla oopper ls tbe aotire
ingredient in thla type of tunglolde; (2) that the so-called
~indeflnite~ aopper 00rsp0uaa0 are not so ln4erlnite le Sormrly
8uppoaed and that the nase of the oopper bowing ooq~owl, to-
gether with the paroentai@ theroot aontelnub in the mkture .may
ba #peali with enough oertalaty to be of reotloal UM to pur-
oharerr eo;fliaserrabsrr ; (3) that slnos toot8f 110 oopper la adzl,ttedly
not present as mob In these produota an4 the iungloldal proper-
tier exist in a compound OS oopper rather thaa in mrtalllo ooppar,
the preset ktlorrlly rppro+ed lebel 18 Hatuallp mlsleadlng sad
erroneous, both l8 to the lotlve in4 inert lngredlentr end the
percentage@ thereof.
L
Ron. 3alter t. UoKay, ~680 4
8nb orrtrln manut3oturer8 asten8
the label mu in aae boaauao of, (1) aalforaity ana lonu well
reoo&rad u8agal (a) the rler that the pararntsga of aetelllo
oopplr rhleb :keae tuoaiolde8 will 1616 18 the only ltable end
dOfiait6 faefm rhloh say k l peOlf I o lb o ut
thrn and that thlr
rurofrhes the sort rellablo lniorutlan to tk puroharor (J)
that to l $ k mp to CepeeiQ l derloite peroeatrge oi an * 1n-
QOr ~nitV Oo Elp O trM odtid
lotuoll~ ai8l.re& and lubjaot tha E%aAU-
faoturor to zi8bflitlra for nimbrwuUn(l.
m tbti tha abow rtetnun8 or vlawpoint8 relaar
WoatiOA8 Or Oheat r8Ot ralher thaII qUeatiOA8 Or iau t3Ad
PO era neither qaallfled nor ,la it our fuaotlon to paer upfm
NO& qo*etlonB. nowrer th8 8bveoate8 of both typeo or lebelr
lba t0 ba la l beknttii a@eamit u,poa thc80 pointer (1) That
the purpow ot the law 18 to revant fraud on the puroha8er and
tk8t the sarigl of reliaue Pabel iaioraution whlah mry be re-
qulrod thareun&er will beet 8erw this purpoa4; (0) that in
say 4?ont the praentigo asWat of smallla aopper the produot
nil1 yield 8boalb bm set lath am tba moat mllablo lndiole of
the Quality of the produotr (3) W&at it la deairrble to epealfp
the owpound In tiloh oopger $8 present, nbero poaaibh, though
an *lnder1a1te* oo~pund iB iA*Ohed baasuse SuQh iAfOPW3tiOA
plould be uaaful to tha purahawr cad lepsaiellg to Jwaaroherw,
end (4) that the lo-oatled wlndeSlniti* o@pounda of ooppsr
ore to 842~ cutoat ladtrftalte in 8truotnrr and that rap atlgn-
btioa oi the peroentaer of 8ueb ooapaand oontalnsd in e mlx-
xture 18 likely to 43oatal.n aoae error4
In the light of th* er@meata pro 000 060 on thla
mtta yoo bar* propounde8 the follonin~ cu4atlona to u4:
-1. Do08 the rtatesasat of the psroaato@ oi
aoppar es net&l!lo, or a #lallrr atatewnt wet the
rsguimmarrtr of thm lb38 lam ?or t ho maws md er-
omtega l~otmta of lesh and every lagodlent bar i ad
~aeotloldd enb rttn8ioia81 progsrtle83
.*I!. Does thr rtatazmt of the naw of tlm 401x-
pfka haTln& ruogloldal properties 8na the peroesrt88a
of oopper it furnlaher, met the nqulr~~ent8 of tha
Texas law ror the new8 laa p*romtags amount8 of *aoh
ad erory iAgF*dteAt hVhl& tUA(l1Otidelend ln8~Otldlbl
prqertier? ::uoh l lebel rould be, for lra.xpler-
.c
3on. xslt0r P. XoEsy, pee* b
*Coppcrr eqmsaa36 66 3mtelllo 27s
Wote the 6lfferoaao in the gsroante@ of inert
ingedlantr 68 fflrea in Fo. 2 3nC 36. 3.
-?e Bltrrsts that the cueatlonr put to u8 brpon0
prl~rll~ on P 6otarmlaotlqa of ohodoal faot apon rhloh we
do not unilurtskm trl pass. Eonever, on tbe bssla of tho ln-
iorsatlon upon rtloh tho pertlss are in sgrewwnt it sums
0144r to us that $11 thrso of tbo labels sugpstad in your
cuorPio~8 rould br fnscoumte to aom deproo beoeuso of ttm
phyeiosl uaoortalnty of the oo~oun&~ dsrlt rich. Although
th0 @wrala# ststuto makar m lxaeptioa In favor 02 thouo
‘lndsflnite” *:aoapounds, aa do kaom that a statute oannot
aWe oortsln that rrbfoh 1s by nature uncrrtrin. “Trs law
rsculrr8 nothlq lPgasrlblr.C Eromi, :.?nr. 248. Taklag this
into eoooant,ro do not rt:ompt to anmwr your -2ueuertloluoete-
gorlos1ly but wo sru of the oplalon thet any one of tha thno
lsbolr wbsitted aould met thr roqulnnrsnts ot the Tour lsm
I
412
F!on. 31t4r 1. %o!oKay,
pogo 6
if suob SD interpretation bo adopted by the Texas Department
of dgrloulturs tor thr mason that saoh type of label 80~~~8
to bore subSt4ntisl migport by soar rospeotrble obodl~issl euthor-
ity . Roth Ststa and P e d 8rlpnoler
sl 804% to k in sgrroa4ot
that fho lsbsl sot forth in aurotlou Ho. 2 would be mom ds&
slrable thsn ttmt now la us4 but of oourao, the ,arlght to
bo giran oon814or8tiolsoiunitomit, an ltriodly msttsr8 of
polloy for dstamhstlon by tour depsrtmat.
Ia olwing, we rould 1lk.rto add thl8 rdditlonel
cosm%nt: that 30 do not wlah to bo under sto o dla holding
tbst s doo~sion or adPlinlstretlss ruling lnvolvfng the find-
ing of a solsntlflo hot forsoloms another or later latsr-
pretstion baaed on latrr solsntlflo disoooery or sdronoemnt.
?urthemxore,7.0should like to point out that no amauf8oturer
would bo justified in non-oompllsnoswith a stetuts rtgu1atl.q
the labeling of his produot mraly bsoruao oosq?llsassrrl$ht
dlsolose 8 trsda searet. Sea T?ultsdStats8 v. Thirty Dosen
F8oka~48 oi ??oeohFood, ZQe I4d. 271.
To ars r~etnrnl~ hsrowlth tho lxhlblts r8taohwd to
your request sad xb hopa our ri~rs ~111 be of soso benefit
to you.
u Xage&e Alrir
Assistant