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U.S. Code as of:
01/03/05
Section 499a. Short title and definitions
(a) Short title
This chapter may be cited as the "Perishable Agricultural
Commodities Act, 1930".
(b) Definitions
For purposes of this chapter:
(1) The term "person" includes individuals, partnerships,
corporations, and associations.
(2) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(3) The term "interstate or foreign commerce" means commerce
between any State or Territory, or the District of Columbia and
any place outside thereof; or between points within the same
State or Territory, or the District of Columbia but through any
place outside thereof, or within the District of Columbia.
(4) The term "perishable agricultural commodity" -
(A) Means any of the following, whether or not frozen or
packed in ice: Fresh fruits and fresh vegetables of every kind
and character; and
(B) Includes cherries in brine as defined by the Secretary in
accordance with trade usages.
(5) The term "commission merchant" means any person engaged in
the business of receiving in interstate or foreign commerce any
perishable agricultural commodity for sale, on commission, or for
or on behalf of another.
(6) The term "dealer" means any person engaged in the business
of buying or selling in wholesale or jobbing quantities, as
defined by the Secretary, any perishable agricultural commodity
in interstate or foreign commerce, except that (A) no producer
shall be considered as a "dealer" in respect to sales of any such
commodity of his own raising; (B) no person buying any such
commodity solely for sale at retail shall be considered as a
"dealer" until the invoice cost of his purchases of perishable
agricultural commodities in any calendar year are in excess of
$230,000; and (C) no person buying any commodity other than
potatoes for canning and/or processing within the State where
grown shall be considered a "dealer" whether or not the canned or
processed product is to be shipped in interstate or foreign
commerce, unless such product is frozen or packed in ice, or
consists of cherries in brine, within the meaning of paragraph
(4) of this section. Any person not considered as a "dealer"
under clauses (A), (B), and (C) may elect to secure a license
under the provisions of section 499c of this title, and in such
case and while the license is in effect such person shall be
considered as a "dealer".
(7) The term "broker" means any person engaged in the business
of negotiating sales and purchases of any perishable agricultural
commodity in interstate or foreign commerce for or on behalf of
the vendor or the purchaser, respectively, except that no person
shall be deemed to be a "broker" if such person is an independent
agent negotiating sales for and on behalf of the vendor and if
the only sales of such commodities negotiated by such person are
sales of frozen fruits and vegetables having an invoice value not
in excess of $230,000 in any calendar year.
(8) A transaction in respect of any perishable agricultural
commodity shall be considered in interstate or foreign commerce
if such commodity is part of that current of commerce usual in
the trade in that commodity whereby such commodity and/or the
products of such commodity are sent from one State with the
expectation that they will end their transit, after purchase, in
another, including, in addition to cases within the above general
description, all cases where sale is either for shipment to
another State, or for processing within the State and the
shipment outside the State of the products resulting from such
processing. Commodities normally in such current of commerce
shall not be considered out of such commerce through resort being
had to any means or device intended to remove transactions in
respect thereto from the provisions of this chapter.
(9) The term "responsibly connected" means affiliated or
connected with a commission merchant, dealer, or broker as (A)
partner in a partnership, or (B) officer, director, or holder of
more than 10 per centum of the outstanding stock of a corporation
or association. A person shall not be deemed to be responsibly
connected if the person demonstrates by a preponderance of the
evidence that the person was not actively involved in the
activities resulting in a violation of this chapter and that the
person either was only nominally a partner, officer, director, or
shareholder of a violating licensee or entity subject to license
or was not an owner of a violating licensee or entity subject to
license which was the alter ego of its owners.
(10) The terms "employ" and "employment" mean any affiliation
of any person with the business operations of a licensee, with or
without compensation, including ownership or self-employment.
(11) The term "retailer" means a person that is a dealer
engaged in the business of selling any perishable agricultural
commodity at retail.
(12) The term "grocery wholesaler" means a person that is a
dealer primarily engaged in the full-line wholesale distribution
and resale of grocery and related nonfood items (such as
perishable agricultural commodities, dry groceries, general
merchandise, meat, poultry, and seafood, and health and beauty
care items) to retailers. However, such term does not include a
person described in the preceding sentence if the person is
primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution and resale of
perishable agricultural commodities rather than other grocery and
related nonfood items.
(13) The term "collateral fees and expenses" means any
promotional allowances, rebates, service or materials fees paid
or provided, directly or indirectly, in connection with the
distribution or marketing of any perishable agricultural
commodity.
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