§ 499n. — Inspection of perishable agricultural commodities.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC499n]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 20A--PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES
Sec. 499n. Inspection of perishable agricultural commodities
(a) Employment of inspectors; fees and expenses; inspection certificate
as evidence
The Secretary is authorized, independently and in cooperation with
other branches of the Government, State, or municipal agencies and/or
any person, whether operating in one or more jurisdictions, to employ
and/or license inspectors to inspect and certify, without regard to the
filing of a complaint under this chapter, to any interested person the
class, quality, and/or condition of any lot of any perishable
agricultural commodity when offered for interstate or foreign shipment
or when received at places where the Secretary shall find it practicable
to provide such service, under such rules and regulations as he may
prescribe, including the payment of such fees and expenses as will be
reasonable and as nearly as may be to cover the cost for the service
rendered: Provided, That fees for inspections made by a licensed
inspector, less the percentage thereof which he is allowed by the terms
of his contract of employment with the Secretary as compensation for his
services, shall be deposited into the Treasury of the United States as
miscellaneous receipts; and fees for inspections made by an inspector
acting under a cooperative agreement with a State, municipality, or
other person shall be disposed of in accordance with the terms of such
agreement: Provided further, That expenses for travel and subsistence
incurred by inspectors shall be paid by the applicant for inspection to
the United States Department of Agriculture to be credited to the
appropriation for carrying out the purposes of this chapter: And
provided further, That official inspection certificates for fresh fruits
and vegetables issued by the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to any
law shall be received by all officers and all courts of the United
States, in all proceedings under this chapter, and in all transactions
upon contract markets under Commodities Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et
seq.), as prima-facie evidence of the truth of the statements therein
contained.
(b) Issuance of fraudulent certificates; penalties
Whoever shall falsely make, issue, alter, forge, or counterfeit, or
cause or procure to be falsely made, issued, altered, forged, or
counterfeited, or willingly aid, cause, procure or assist in, or be a
party to the false making, issuing, altering, forging, or counterfeiting
of any certificate of inspection issued under authority of this chapter,
sections 491, 493 to 497 of this title, or any Act making appropriations
for the Department of Agriculture; or shall utter or publish as true or
cause to be uttered or published as true any such false, forged,
altered, or counterfeited certificate, for a fraudulent purpose, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a
fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment for a period of not more
than one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.
(June 10, 1930, ch. 436, Sec. 14, 46 Stat. 537; Apr. 13, 1934, ch. 120,
Sec. 15, 48 Stat. 588; Aug. 20, 1937, ch. 719, Sec. 12, 50 Stat. 730;
Pub. L. 102-237, title X, Sec. 1011(7), Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1898.)
References in Text
The Commodities Exchange Act, referred to in subsec. (a), probably
means act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 369, 42 Stat. 998, as amended, known as
the Commodity Exchange Act, which is classified generally to chapter 1
(Sec. 1 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act
to the Code, see section 1 of this title and Tables.
Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 564 of this title.
Amendments
1991--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102-237 substituted ``(7 U.S.C. 1 et
seq.)'' for ``(7 U.S.C., Supp. 2, secs. 1 to 17(a))'' and a period for
semicolon at end.
1937--Act Aug. 20, 1937, designated existing provisions as subsec.
(a) and, among other changes inserted ``That official inspection
certificates for fresh fruits and vegetables issued by the Secretary of
Agriculture pursuant to any law shall be received by all officers and
all courts of the United States, in all proceedings under this chapter,
and in all transactions upon contract markets under Commodities Exchange
Act'' before ``as prima facie'' in third proviso, and added subsec. (b).
1934--Act Apr. 13, 1934, inserted ``and in all proceedings under
this chapter'' after ``United States'' in third proviso.
Potato Inspection
Pub. L. 99-198, title XVII, Sec. 1704, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1635,
as amended by Pub. L. 104-66, title I, Sec. 1011(g), Dec. 21, 1995, 109
Stat. 710, provided that: ``The Secretary of Agriculture shall perform
random spot checks of potatoes entering through ports of entry in the
northeastern United States.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 499h of this title; title 42
section 418.
