GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1991 SESSION

CHAPTER 98
SENATE BILL 507

AN ACT TO DELETE BOND REQUIREMENTS FOR SEED DEALERS AND FERTILIZER MANUFACTURERS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 106-277.28(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	A seed dealer or grower who sells only seed lots originated by his company may request of the Commissioner of Agriculture authority to report the quantity of seed sold and to pay the fees applicable under G.S. 106-277.28(1) in lieu of attaching an official North Carolina tag or stamp to each container of seeds weighing 10 pounds or more.
Upon granting authority, the Commissioner of Agriculture shall require each seed dealer or grower to keep such records as may be necessary to indicate accurately the quantity of seeds and container weights sold from each distribution point in the State. Such records shall be available to the Commissioner or his duly authorized representative at any and all reasonable hours for the purpose of making such examination as is necessary to verify the quantity of seed sold and the fees paid. Each seed dealer or grower shall report quarterly on forms furnished by the Commissioner the quantity and container weight of seeds sold. The reports shall be made on the first day of January, April, July, and October, or within 10 days thereafter, and the inspection fee shall be due and payable with the report. If the report is not filed and the inspection fee paid to the Department of Agriculture by the tenth day following the date due, or if the report of the quantity or container weights be false, the Commissioner may revoke the authority to use the reporting system. If the inspection fee is unpaid more than 15 days after the due date, the amount due shall bear a penalty of ten percent (10%) which shall be added to the inspection fee due.
."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 106-671(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Reporting System. – Each manufacturer, importer, jobber, firm, corporation or person who distributes commercial fertilizers in this State shall make application to the Commissioner for a permit to report the tonnage of commercial fertilizer sold and shall pay to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture an inspection fee of twenty-five cents (25¢) per ton. The Commissioner is authorized to require each such distributor to keep such records as may be necessary to indicate accurately the tonnage of commercial fertilizers sold in the State, and as are satisfactory to the Commissioner. Such records shall be available to the Commissioner, or his duly authorized representative, at any and all reasonable hours for the purpose of making such examination as is necessary to verify the tonnage statement and the inspection fees paid. Each registrant shall report monthly the tonnage sold to non-registrants on forms furnished by the Commissioner. Such reports shall be made and inspection fees shall be due and payable monthly on the fifteenth of each month covering the tonnage and kind of commercial fertilizers sold during the past month. If the report is not filed and the inspection fee paid by the last day of the month it is due, the amount due shall bear a penalty of ten percent (10%), which shall be added to the inspection fee due. If the report is not filed and the inspection fee paid within 60 days of the date due, or if the  report or tonnage be false, the Commissioner may revoke the permit. "
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1991.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 22nd day of May, 1991.

─────────────────── 
James C. Gardner
President of the Senate

─────────────────── 
Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives