7 U.S.C. § 499b : US Code - Section 499B: Unfair conduct

Search 7 U.S.C. § 499b : US Code - Section 499B: Unfair conduct

It shall be unlawful in or in connection with any transaction in
interstate or foreign commerce:
(1) For any commission merchant, dealer, or broker to engage in
or use any unfair, unreasonable, discriminatory, or deceptive
practice in connection with the weighing, counting, or in any way
determining the quantity of any perishable agricultural commodity
received, bought, sold, shipped, or handled in interstate or
foreign commerce.
(2) For any dealer to reject or fail to deliver in accordance
with the terms of the contract without reasonable cause any
perishable agricultural commodity bought or sold or contracted to
be bought, sold, or consigned in interstate or foreign commerce by
such dealer.
(3) For any commission merchant to discard, dump, or destroy
without reasonable cause, any perishable agricultural commodity
received by such commission merchant in interstate or foreign
commerce.
(4) For any commission merchant, dealer, or broker to make, for a
fraudulent purpose, any false or misleading statement in connection
with any transaction involving any perishable agricultural
commodity which is received in interstate or foreign commerce by
such commission merchant, or bought or sold, or contracted to be
bought, sold, or consigned, in such commerce by such dealer, or the
purchase or sale of which in such commerce is negotiated by such
broker; or to fail or refuse truly and correctly to account and
make full payment promptly in respect of any transaction in any
such commodity to the person with whom such transaction is had; or
to fail, without reasonable cause, to perform any specification or
duty, express or implied, arising out of any undertaking in
connection with any such transaction; or to fail to maintain the
trust as required under section 499e(c) of this title. However,
this paragraph shall not be considered to make the good faith
offer, solicitation, payment, or receipt of collateral fees and
expenses, in and of itself, unlawful under this chapter.
(5) For any commission merchant, dealer, or broker to
misrepresent by word, act, mark, stencil, label, statement, or
deed, the character, kind, grade, quality, quantity, size, pack,
weight, condition, degree of maturity, or State, country, or region
of origin of any perishable agricultural commodity received,
shipped, sold, or offered to be sold in interstate or foreign
commerce. However, any commission merchant, dealer, or broker who
has violated - 
(A) any provision of this paragraph may, with the consent of
the Secretary, admit the violation or violations; or
(B) any provision of this paragraph relating to a
misrepresentation by mark, stencil, or label shall be permitted
by the Secretary to admit the violation or violations if such
violation or violations are not repeated or flagrant;
and pay, in the case of a violation under either clause (A) or (B)
of this paragraph, a monetary penalty not to exceed $2,000 in lieu
of a formal proceeding for the suspension or revocation of license,
any payment so made to be deposited into the Treasury of the United
States as miscellaneous receipts. A person other than the first
licensee handling misbranded perishable agricultural commodities
shall not be held liable for a violation of this paragraph by
reason of the conduct of another if the person did not have
knowledge of the violation or lacked the ability to correct the
violation.
(6) For any commission merchant, dealer, or broker, for a
fraudulent purpose, to remove, alter, or tamper with any card,
stencil, stamp, tag, or other notice placed upon any container or
railroad car containing any perishable agricultural commodity, if
such card, stencil, stamp, tag, or other notice contains a
certificate or statement under authority of any Federal or State
inspector or in compliance with any Federal or State law or
regulation as to the grade or quality of the commodity contained in
such container or railroad car or the State or country in which
such commodity was produced.
(7) For any commission merchant, dealer or broker, without the
consent of an inspector, to make, cause, or permit to be made any
change by way of substitution or otherwise in the contents of a
load or lot of any perishable agricultural commodity after it has
been officially inspected for grading and certification, but this
shall not prohibit re-sorting and discarding inferior produce.