The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday that Monsanto Co. Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine for distributing a mislabeled pesticide.

The EPA also said that the fine is the largest civil penalty ever levied under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

The EPA further added that the mislabeled toxins were sold and distributed for use on cotton seed and contained genetically engineered pesticides.

The products, Bollgard and Bollgard II were, therefore, restricted in 10 counties in Texas. However, the EPA found that the pesticides were sold 1,700 times without proper guidelines, which should have included instructions on where its use was prohibited.

The agency said in a statement that the EPA also found it was used in the counties of Texas in which it was restricted. (With Inputs from Agencies)