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 l bnib 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 proreouted 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 dlrputed. .Thlr in rttretrd by the nmny rgrnaler at work vhlob 

seek to iron out the trede Barrier0 l aong 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 lishd l dalnirtratln, 

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 % 

?%>ZiT IfiG ZD IZ??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*‘lnderlnlte* oocqPouna8, rnd it ~a8 than rbsted, 

*smo unaertrlnty a p p erro to l x 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 l trt 

9 

thb &arI lagrnd1wlta, 

or both the rotlve and InrrC ingO lenta In thrre produotr as requlmd by tbe law. PbO departneat, therefore, 

oonelden it Aeslreble to ntate it8 position on tbir subjdot 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 oompounbr rhfoh my bo prwent, are inerO, 

&toe they do aob oi thenrelrer poosorr fungloidal 

propertire. If l eea8 olear, bherrfore, thet rlthln the 

Pllraalng of the iamotloida rot of 1910 tM sotal, oopper, 

la the aotln laqedirat end the o thel r ubrtrnow 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 l e 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 UOPPojl SVFLEATB 2 

COPi’BR A.3 WPALZ 12 

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 l e Sormrly 

8uppoaed and that the nase of the oopper bowing ooq~owl, together with the paroentai@ theroot aontelnub in the mkture .may 

ba #peali with enough oertalaty to be of 

oharerr eo;fliaserrabsrr ; (3) that slnos toot8 f 

reotloal UM to pur110 oopper la adzl,ttedly 

not present as mob In these produota an4 the iungloldal propertier exist in a compound OS oopper rather thaa in mrtalllo ooppar, 

the preset ktlorrlly rppro+ed lebel 18 Hatuallp mlsleadlng sad 

erroneous, both l 8 to the l otlve 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 

I 

1616 

dOfiait6 faefm rhloh say k l peOlf 

18 the only l table end 

o l b o ut thrn and that thlr 

rurofrhes the sort rellablo lniorutlan to tk puroharor (J) 

that to l $ k mto p C epeeiQ l derloite peroeatrge oi an * 1 nQOr ~nitOV o Elp Otr o M d til otuoll~ d ai8l.re& and l ubjaot tha E%aAUfaoturor 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 

l ba t0 ba la l beknttii a@eamit u,poa thc80 pointer 

the purpow ot the law 18 to 

(1) That 

revant fraud on the puroha8er and 

tk8t the sarigl of reliaue P abel iaioraution whlah mry be requlrod 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 l epsaiellg to Jwaaroherw, 

end (4) that the l o-oatled wlndeSlniti* o@pounda of ooppsr 

ore to 842~ cutoat ladtrftalte in 8truotnrr and that rap atlgnbtioa oi the peroentaer of 8ueb ooapaand oontalnsd in e mlxxture 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 eromtega l ~otmta of l esh and every lagodlent bar i 

~aeotloldd enb rttn8ioia81 progsrtle83 

ad 

.*I!. Does thr rtatazmt of the naw of tlm 401xpfka haTln& ruogloldal properties 8na the peroesrt88a 

of oopper it furnlaher, met the nqulr~~ent8 of tha 

Texas law ror the new8 l aa p*romtags amount8 of *aoh 

ad erory iAgF*dteAt hVhl& tUA(l1Otidel end ln8~Otldlbl 

prqertier? ::uoh l lebel rould be, for l ra.xpler- 
3on. xslt0r P. XoEsy, pee* b 

.c 

*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 lniorsatlon 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 l xaeptioa 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 -2ueuertlolu oetegorlos1ly 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 euthority . Roth Ststa and Ped8rl pnoler 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 oon814or8tiolsoi unitomit, an l triodly msttsr8 of 

polloy for dstamhstlon by tour depsrtmat. 

Ia olwing, we rould 1lk.r to add thl8 rdditlonel 

cosm%nt : that 30 do not wlah to bo under sto o d l a holding 

tbst s doo~sion or adPlinlstretlss ruling lnvolvfng the finding of a solsntlflo hot forsoloms another or later latsrpretstion baaed on latrr solsntlflo disoooery or sdronoemnt. 

?urthemxore, 7.0 should like to point out that no amauf8oturer 

would bo justified in non-oompllsnos with a stetuts rtgu1atl.q 

the labeling of his produot mraly bsoruao oosq?llsass rrl$ht 

dlsolose 8 trsda searet. Sea T?ultsd Stats8 v. Thirty Dosen 

F8oka~48 oi ??oeoh Food, ZQe I4d. 271. 

To ars r~etnrnl~ hsrowlth tho l xhlblts r8taohwd to 

your request sad xb hopa our ri~rs ~111 be of soso benefit 

to you. 

u Xage&e Alrir 

Assistant