WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Young Living Essential Oils, a Lehi, Utah-based essential oils company, has pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking therapeutic oils from Peru and Nepal.
Young Living Essential Oils has been ordered by a Federal Court to pay $760,000 in fines as well as develop a plan to track compliance, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
From June 2010 to October 2014, several company employees and contractors harvested, transported, and distilled rosewood in Peru and imported some of the resulting oil into the United States through Ecuador. Neither the company nor its suppliers, employees, or agents had any valid authorization from the Peruvian government.
'The importation of illegally harvested wood and timber products harms law-abiding American companies and workers and threatens forest resources around the world,' said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
'While the natural resource violations by certain employees of Young Living were intentional and substantial, the Company's decision to conduct an internal investigation, voluntarily disclose the initial violations to government enforcement authorities, and cooperate throughout the ensuing investigation is to be commended,' said U.S. Attorney John Huber for the District of Utah.
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