7 U.S.C. § 499c : US Code - Section 499C: Licenses

Search 7 U.S.C. § 499c : US Code - Section 499C: Licenses

(a) License required; penalties for violations
After December 10, 1930, no person shall at any time carry on the
business of a commission merchant dealer, or broker without a
license valid and effective at such time. Any person who violates
any provision of this subsection shall be liable to a penalty of
not more than $1,000 for each such offense and not more than $250
for each day it continues, which shall accrue to the United States
and may be recovered in a civil suit brought by the United States.
Any person violating this provision may, upon a showing
satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture, or his authorized
representative, that such violation was not willful but was due to
inadvertence, be permitted by the Secretary, or such
representative, to settle his liability in the matter by the
payment of the fees due for the period covered by such violation
and an additional sum, not in excess of $250, to be fixed by the
Secretary of Agriculture or his authorized representative. Such
payment shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States in
the same manner as regular license fees.
(b) Application and fees for licenses
(1) Application for license
Any person desiring any such license shall make application to
the Secretary. The Secretary may by regulation prescribe the
information to be contained in such application and to be
furnished thereafter.
(2) License fees
Upon the filing of an application under paragraph (1), the
applicant shall pay such license fees, both individually and in
the aggregate, as the Secretary determines necessary to meet the
reasonably anticipated expenses for administering this chapter
and the Act to prevent the destruction or dumping of farm
produce, approved March 3, 1927 (7 U.S.C. 491-497). Thereafter,
the licensee shall pay such license fees annually or at such
longer interval as the Secretary may prescribe. The Secretary
shall take due account of savings to the program when determining
an appropriate interval for renewal of licenses. The Secretary
shall establish and alter license fees only by rulemaking under
section 553 of title 5, except that the Secretary may not alter
the fees required under paragraph (3) or (4) for retailers and
grocery wholesalers that are dealers. Effective on November 15,
1995, and until such time as the Secretary alters such fees by
rule, an individual license fee shall equal $550 per year, plus
$200 for each branch or additional business facility operated by
the applicant in excess of nine such facilities, as determined by
the Secretary, subject to an annual aggregate limit of $4,000 per
licensee. Any increase in license fees prescribed by the
Secretary under this paragraph shall not take effect unless the
Secretary determines that, without such increase, the funds on
hand as of the end of the fiscal year in which the increase takes
effect will be less than 25 percent of the projected budget to
administer this chapter and such Act for the next fiscal year. In
no case may a license fee increase by the Secretary take effect
before the end of the three-year period beginning on November 15,
1995.
(3) One-time fee for retailers and grocery wholesalers that are
dealers
During the three-year period beginning on November 15, 1995, a
retailer or grocery wholesaler making an initial application for
a license under this section shall pay the license fee required
under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (4) for license
renewals in the year in which the initial application is made.
After the end of such period, a retailer or grocery wholesaler
making an initial application for a license under this section
shall pay an administrative fee equal to $100. In either case, a
retailer or grocery wholesaler paying a fee under this paragraph
shall not be required to pay any fee for renewal of the license
for subsequent years.
(4) Gradual elimination of annual fees for retailers and grocery
wholesalers that are dealers
In the case of a retailer or grocery wholesaler that holds a
license under this section as of November 15, 1995, payments for
the renewal of the license shall be made pursuant to the
following schedule:
(A) For anniversary dates occurring during the one-year
period beginning on November 15, 1995, the licensee shall pay a
renewal fee in an amount equal to 100 percent of the applicable
renewal fee (subject to the $4,000 aggregate limit on such
payments) in effect under this subsection on the day before
November 15, 1995.
(B) For anniversary dates occurring during the one-year
period beginning at the end of the period in subparagraph (A),
the licensee shall pay a renewal fee in an amount equal to 75
percent of the amount paid by the licensee under subparagraph
(A).
(C) For anniversary dates occurring during the one-year
period beginning at the end of the period in subparagraph (B),
the licensee shall pay a renewal fee in an amount equal to 50
percent of the amount paid by the licensee under subparagraph
(A).
(D) After the end of the three-year period beginning on
November 15, 1995, the licensee shall not be required to pay
any fee if the licensee seeks renewal of the license.
(5) Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Fund
Such fee, when collected, shall be deposited in the Treasury of
the United States as a special fund, without fiscal year
limitation, to be designated as the "Perishable Agricultural
Commodities Act Fund", which shall be available for all expenses
necessary to the administration of this chapter and the Act
approved March 3, 1927, referred to above. Any reserve funds in
the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Fund may be invested
by the Secretary in insured or fully-collateralized interest-
bearing accounts or, at the discretion of the Secretary, by the
Secretary of the Treasury in United States Government debt
instruments. Any interest earned on such reserve funds shall be
credited to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Fund and
shall be available for the same purposes as the fees deposited in
such fund. Financial statements prescribed by the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget for the last completed fiscal
year, and as estimated for the current and ensuing fiscal years,
shall be included in the budget as submitted to the Congress
annually.
(c) Use of trade names
A licensee may conduct business in more than one trade name or
change the name under which business is conducted without requiring
an additional or new license. The Secretary may disapprove the use
of a trade name if, in his opinion, the use of the trade name by
the licensee would be deceptive, misleading, or confusing to the
trade, and the Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for a
hearing, suspend for a period not to exceed ninety days the license
of any licensee who continues to use a trade name which the
Secretary has disapproved for use by such licensee. The Secretary
may refuse to issue a license to an applicant if he finds that the
trade name in which the applicant proposes to do business would be
deceptive, misleading, or confusing to the trade if used by such
applicant.