[CHAPTER 506-1ST SESSION]

[H. J. Res. 431]

JOINT RESOLUTION

Making an appropriation for the control of outbreaks of insect pests.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for carrying out the purposes of and for expenditures authorized under the public resolution entitled "Joint resolution making funds available for the control of incipient or emergency outbreaks of insect pests or plant diseases, including grasshoppers, Mormon crickets, and chinch bugs", approved April 6, 1937, there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $1,000,000, to remain available until June 30, 1938: Provided, That in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, no part of this appropriation shall be expended for control of grasshoppers, Mormon crickets, or chinch bugs in any State until such State has provided the organization or materials and supplies necessary for cooperation: Provided further, That this appropriation shall be expended under the personal supervision and direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall make a detailed report to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives of the several items of expenditure made hereunder: Provided further, That transportation of control materials purchased under this appropriation shall be under conditions and means determined by the Secretary of Agriculture as most advantageous to the Federal Government: Provided further, That procurements under this appropriation may be made by open-market purchases notwithstanding the provisions of section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. C., title 41, sec. 5).

Approved, July 17, 1937.

[CHAPTER 719-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 6762]

AN ACT

To amend the Act known as the "Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930", approved June 10, 1930, as amended.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That paragraph 6 of section 1 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(6) The term 'dealer' means any person engaged in the business of buying or selling in carloads any perishable agricultural commodity in interstate or foreign commerce, except that (A) no producer shall be considered as a 'dealer' in respect of 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' in respect of any such commodity in any calendar year until his purchases of such commodity in carloads in such year are in excess of twenty; and (C) no person buying any such commodity 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 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 3, and in such case and while the license is in effect such person shall be considered as a 'dealer'. As used in this paragraph, the term 'in carloads' includes wholesale or jobbing quantities as defined for any such commodity by the Secretary;". SEC. 2. That subsection 5 of section 2 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(5) For any commission merchant, dealer, or broker, for a fraudulent purpose, to misrepresent by word, act, mark, stencil, label, statement, or deed the character, kind, grade, quality, condition, degree of maturity, or State or country of origin of any perishable agricultural commodity received, shipped, sold, or offered to be sold in interstate or foreign commerce.'

SEC. 3. That subsection 6 of section 2 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(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."

SEC. 4. That section 2 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended by adding a new subsection numbered 7 and reading as follows:

"(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."

SEC. 5. That section 3 (a) of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is amended by adding thereto the following:

"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 $25, 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."

SEC. 6. That section 4 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(a) Whenever an applicant has paid the prescribed fee the Secretary, except as provided elsewhere in this Act, shall issue to such applicant a license, which shall entitle the licensee to do business as a commission merchant and/or dealer and/or broker unless and until it is suspended or revoked by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or is automatically suspended under section 7 (d) of this Act, but said license shall automatically terminate on any anniversary date thereof unless the annual fee has been paid: Provided, That notice of the necessity of paying the annual fee shall be mailed at least thirty days before the anniversary date: Provided further, That if the annual fee is not paid by the anniversary date the licensee may obtain a renewal of that license at any time within thirty days by paying a fee of $15;

"(b) The Secretary shall refuse to issue a license to an applicant (1) if he finds that the applicant has previously been responsible in whole or in part for any violation of the provisions of the Act for which a license of the applicant. or the license of any partnership, association, or corporation in which the applicant held any office or, in the case of a partnership, had any share or interest, was revoked under the provisions of section 8; or (2) if at any time within two years he has found after notice and hearing that said applicant was responsible in whole or in part for any flagrant or repeated violation of the provisions of section 2; or (3) if he finds, in case the applicant is a partnership, association, or corporation, that any individual holding office or, in the case of a partnership, having any interest or share in the applicant, has previously been responsible in whole or in part for any violation of the provisions of the Act for which the

license of such individual, or of any partnership, association, or corporation in which such person held any office, or, in the case of a partnership, had any share or interest, was revoked under the provisions of section 8; or (4) if at any time within two years he has found after notice and hearing, in case the applicant is a partnership, association, or corporation, that any individual holding any office or, in the case of a partnership, having any interest or share in the applicant was responsible in whole or in part for any flagrant or repeated violation of the provisions of section 2; or (5) if he finds that the applicant, subject to his right of appeal under section 7 (c), has failed, except in case of bankruptcy, to pay within the time limit provided therein any reparation order which has been issued, within two years, against him as an individual, or against a partnership of which he was a member, or an association or corporation in which he held any office, or, in case the applicant is a partnership, association, or corporation, that any individual holding any office or, in the case of a partnership, having any interest or share in the applicant, subject to his right of appeal under section 7 (c), has failed, except in the case of bankruptcy, to pay within the time limit provided therein any reparation order which has been issued, within two years, against him as an individual or against a partnership of which he was a member, or an association or corporation in which he held any office. Notwithstanding all of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, the Secretary, in the case of such applicant, may issue a license if the applicant furnishes a bond or other satisfactory assurance that his business will be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Act and that he will pay all reparation orders which may previously have been issued against him for violations, or which may be issued against him within two years following the date of the license, subject to his right of appeal under section 7 (c), but such license shall not be issued before the expiration of one year from the date of revocation of license or from the date of the Secretary's finding that the applicant has been responsible, in whole or in part, for any flagrant or repeated violation of section 2. Such bond shall be in an amount sufficient in the judgment of the Secretary of Agriculture to insure payment of such reparation orders;

"(c) The Secretary shall refuse to issue a license to an applicant if he finds after notice and hearing that at any time within two years said applicant has been found guilty in a Federal court of having violated the provisions of the Act known as the Produce Agency Act (7 U. S. C., secs. 491-497), or of having violated section 14 (b) of this Act, or, in case the applicant is a partnership, that any member of the partnership was found guilty within two years of having violated the Produce Agency Act, or section 14 (b) of this Act, or, if the applicant is an association or corporation, that any officer or any person holding a responsible position therein has been found within two years to have been guilty of violating the Produce Agency Act or section 14 (b) of this Act;

"(d) The Secretary may withhold the issuance of a license to an applicant, for a period not to exceed thirty days pending an investigation, for the purpose of determining (a) whether the applicant is unfit to engage in the business of a commission merchant, dealer, or broker by reason of having prior to the date of the application engaged in any practice of the character prohibited by this Act, or

(b) whether the application contains any materially false or misleading statement or involves any misrepresentation, concealment, or withholding of facts respecting any violation of the Act by any officer, agent, or employee of the applicant. If after investigation the Secretary believes that the applicant should be refused a license, the applicant shall be given an opportunity for hearing within sixty days from the date of the application to show cause why the license should not be refused. If after the hearing the Secretary finds that the applicant is unfit to engage in the business of a commission merchant, dealer, or broker by reason of having prior to the date of the application engaged in any practice of the character prohibited by this Act, or because the application contains a materially false or misleading statement made by the applicant or by its representative on its behalf, or involves a misrepresentation, concealment, or withholding of facts respecting any violation of the Act by any officer, agent, or employee, the Secretary shall refuse to issue a license to the applicant."

SEC. 7. That paragraph (a) of section 5 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(a) If any commission merchant, dealer, or broker violates any provision of section 2 he shall be liable to the person or persons injured thereby for the full amount of damages sustained in consequence of such violation."

SEC. 8. That paragraph (b) of section 6 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(b) Any officer or agency of any State or Territory having jurisdiction over commission merchants, dealers, or brokers in such State or Territory and any employee of the United States Department of Agriculture or any interested person may file, in accordance with rules and regulations of the Secretary, a complaint of any violation of any provision of this Act by any commission merchant, dealer, or broker and may request an investigation of such complaint by the Secretary."

SEC. 9. That paragraph (e) of section 6 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(e) In case a complaint is made by a nonresident of the United States, the complainant shall be required, before any formal action is taken on his complaint, to furnish a bond in double the amount of the claim conditioned upon the payment of costs, including a reasonable attorney's fee for the respondent if the respondent shall prevail, and any reparation award that may be issued by the Secretary of Agriculture against the complainant on any counter claim by respondent: Provided, That the Secretary shall have authority to waive the furnishing of a bond by a complainant who is a resident of a country which permits the filing of a complaint by a resident of the United States without the furnishing of a bond."

SEC. 10. That section 7 of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(a) If after a hearing on a complaint made by any person under section 6, or without hearing as provided in section 6, paragraphs (c) and (d), or upon failure of the party complained against to

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