7 U.S.C. § 87b — Prohibited acts

submitted 110 years ago by Pub. L. 90-487 to r/title-7-AGRICULTURE · 1,338 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law bans forging or misusing official grain certificates, marks, and inspection results. It also bans bribing, assaulting, or misleading inspectors, and putting removed dockage back into grain. Breaking these rules can bring criminal penalties and loss of a license.

(a) No person may: (1) knowingly falsify, alter, forge, or fake any official certificate, form, or mark; (2) knowingly use, publish, or claim as real any faked certificate, form, or mark, or possess one — or a device for making fake marks — without promptly telling the Secretary or surrendering it on demand, or knowingly possess grain in a container with a fake official mark without promptly reporting it; (3) knowingly cause, or try to cause, a false or incorrect official certificate to be issued, including by deceptively loading, handling, weighing, or sampling grain, or submitting grain for inspection knowing it was deceptively handled, without disclosing that first; (4) alter an official grain sample, or, knowing it was altered, pass it off as official; (5) knowingly put an official grade or mark on a grain container unless the grain in it was actually inspected from a sample taken while loading, or actually weighed, and found to qualify; (6) knowingly falsely claim grain was officially inspected, found to have a certain grade or condition, that certain facts were established by inspection, or that weighing service was performed; (7) try to improperly influence inspection or weighing personnel, or Agriculture Department staff, regarding their duties; (8) physically assault, resist, oppose, threaten, or interfere with inspection or weighing personnel, or Agriculture Department staff, doing their job; (9) falsely claim to be licensed or authorized to do official inspection or weighing; (10) use false or misleading information when applying for official inspection or weighing; (11) violate sections 77, 78, 79, 79a, 79b, 84, 87, 87a, 87e, or 87f–1 of this title; (12) knowingly falsify or misstate the weight of grain shipped in interstate or foreign commerce, including through inaccurate or broken weighing equipment; or (13) knowingly stop a buyer, seller, or other financially interested person, or their agent, from watching the loading, weighing, sampling, or inspection of grain under the Secretary's set conditions. (b) No licensed or authorized person may: (1) do anything banned under (a); (2) knowingly perform sampling, inspection, or weighing improperly; (3) knowingly issue a false or incorrect official certificate or form; or (4) take money or anything else, directly or indirectly, for neglecting or improperly doing the job. (c) An act counts as done "knowingly" if it came from gross negligence, or was done with knowledge of the relevant facts. (d) Dockage and foreign material: (1)(A) Once dockage or foreign material — as the Secretary defines them — is removed from grain, it cannot be put back in. (B) No dockage or foreign material from any source can be added to grain. (2) This ban does not stop: (A) treating grain to kill or prevent insects and fungi; (B) selling removed dockage or foreign material separately, in pellet form, or as part of processed livestock, poultry, or fish feed; (C) blending grain with similar grain of different quality to adjust the mix's quality; (D) mixing broken corn or broken kernels back with the same type of grain they came from; (E) through the end of 1987 only, mixing dockage or foreign material, except dust, back into grain during export loading, to even it out across one certified cargo, under the Secretary's rules; or (F) adding dust suppressant, confetti, or similar material in the amount needed to mark ownership or origin of a grain lot. (3)(A) The Secretary can exempt, by regulation, the final handling of grain in its last sale and shipment to a domestic user or processor, if that serves the best economic interest of producers, merchants, the industry, and the public. (B) Grain sold under this exemption must be used or processed by the buyer, not resold into commercial trade or blended with other grain for resale; its products or byproducts, except vegetable oils used as dust suppressant, cannot be blended into commercial grain either. (e) Contamination: (1) The Secretary can ban contaminating sound grain, or disguising its quality, by adding non-grain substances, grain unfit for normal commercial use, or grain exceeding FDA action limits or EPA pesticide-residue tolerances. (2) These bans cannot be used to stop selling grain as long as its grade or condition is honestly identified. (3) Before banning anything under this subsection, the Secretary must issue regulations, after public notice and comment, spelling out what's banned. (4) The Secretary can never ban blending an entire grade of grain. (5) When enforcing the pesticide-residue rule in (1)(C), the Secretary must report any bans to the relevant public health agencies.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)

No person shall—

(1)

knowingly falsely make, issue, alter, forge, or counterfeit any official certificate or other official form or official mark;

(2)

knowingly utter, publish, or use as true any falsely made, issued, altered, forged, or counterfeited official certificate or other official form or official mark, or knowingly possess, without promptly notifying the Secretary or the representative of the Secretary, or fail to surrender to such a representative upon demand, any falsely made, issued, altered, forged, or counterfeited official certificate or other official form, or any device for making any official mark or simulation thereof, or knowingly possess any grain in a container bearing any falsely made, issued, altered, forged, or counterfeited official mark without promptly giving such notice;

(3)

knowingly cause or attempt (whether successfully or not) to cause the issuance of a false or incorrect official certificate or other official form by any means, including but not limited to deceptive loading, handling, weighing, or sampling of grain, or submitting grain for official inspection or official weighing or supervision of weighing knowing that it has been deceptively loaded, handled, weighed, or sampled, without disclosing such knowledge to the official inspection personnel before official sampling or official weighing or supervision of weighing;

(4)

alter any official sample of grain in any manner or, knowing that an official sample has been altered, thereafter represent it as an official sample;

(5)

knowingly use any official grade designation or official mark on any container of grain by means of a tag, label, or otherwise, unless the grain in such container was officially inspected on the basis of an official sample taken while the grain was being loaded into or was in such container or officially weighed, respectively, and the grain was found to qualify for such designation or mark;

(6)

knowingly make any false representation that any grain has been officially inspected, or officially inspected and found to be of a particular kind, class, quality, or condition, or that particular facts have been established with respect to grain by official inspection under this chapter, or that any weighing service under this chapter has been performed with respect to grain;

(7)

improperly influence, or attempt to improperly influence, any official inspection personnel or personnel of agencies delegated authority or of agencies or other persons designated under this chapter or any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture with respect to the performance of the duties of the officer, employee, or other person under this chapter;

(8)

forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with any official inspection personnel or personnel of agencies delegated authority or of agencies or other persons designated under this chapter or any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture in, or on account of, the performance of the duties of the officer, employee, or other person under this chapter;

(9)

falsely represent that the person is licensed or authorized to perform an official inspection or official weighing or supervision of weighing function under this chapter;

(10)

use any false or misleading means in connection with the making or filing of an application for official inspection or official weighing or supervision of weighing;

(11)

violate section 77, 78, 79, 79a, 79b, 84, 87, 87a, 87e, or 87f–1 of this title;

(12)

knowingly engage in falsely stating or falsifying the weight of any grain shipped in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including, but not limited to, the use of inaccurate, faulty, or defective weighing equipment; or

(13)

knowingly prevent or impede any buyer or seller of grain or other person having a financial interest in grain, or the authorized agent of any such person, from observing the loading of the grain inspected under this chapter and the weighing, sampling, and inspection of such grain under conditions prescribed by the Secretary.

(b)

No person licensed or authorized to perform any function under this chapter shall—

(1)

commit any offense prohibited by subsection (a);

(2)

knowingly perform improperly any official sampling or other official inspection or weighing function under this chapter;

(3)

knowingly execute or issue any false or incorrect official certificate or other official form; or

(4)

accept money or other consideration, directly or indirectly, for any neglect or improper performance of duty.

(c)

An offense shall be deemed to have been committed knowingly under this chapter if it resulted from gross negligence or was committed with knowledge of the pertinent facts.

(d)

(1)

Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), to ensure the quality of grain marketed in or exported from the United States—

(A)

no dockage or foreign material, as defined by the Secretary, once removed from grain shall be recombined with any grain; and

(B)

no dockage or foreign material of any origin may be added to any grain.

(2)

Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit—

(A)

the treatment of grain to suppress, destroy, or prevent insects and fungi injurious to stored grain;

(B)

the marketing, domestically or for export, of dockage or foreign material removed from grain if such dockage or foreign material is marketed—

(i)

separately and uncombined with any such whole grain;

(ii)

in pelletized form; or

(iii)

as a part of a processed ration for livestock, poultry, or fish;

(C)

the blending of grain with similar grain of a different quality to adjust the quality of the resulting mixture;

(D)

the recombination of broken corn or broken kernels, as defined by the Secretary, with grain of the type from which the broken corn or broken kernels were derived;

(E)

effective for the period ending December 31, 1987, the recombination of dockage or foreign material, except dust, removed at an export loading facility from grain destined for shipment as a cargo under one export official certificate of inspection if—

(i)

the recombination occurs during the loading of the cargo;

(ii)

the purpose is to ensure uniformity of dockage or foreign material throughout that specific cargo; and

(iii)

the separation and recombination are conducted in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary; or

(F)

the addition to grain of a dust suppressant, or the addition of confetti or any other similar material that serves the same purpose in a quantity necessary to facilitate identification of ownership or origin of a particular lot of grain.

(3)

(A)

The Secretary may, by regulation, exempt from paragraph (1) the last handling of grain in the final sale and shipment of such grain to a domestic user or processor if such exemption is determined by the Secretary to be in the best economic interest of producers, grain merchants, the industry involved, and the public.

(B)

Grain sold under an exemption authorized by this paragraph shall be consumed or processed into one or more products by the purchaser, but may not be resold into commercial channels for such grain or blended with other grain for resale. Neither products nor byproducts derived therefrom (except vegetable oils as defined by the Secretary and used as a dust suppressant) shall be blended with or added to grain in commercial channels.

(e)

(1)

The Secretary may prohibit the contamination of sound and pure grain, or prohibit disguising the quality of grain, as a result of the introduction of—

(A)

nongrain substances;

(B)

grain unfit for ordinary commercial purposes; or

(C)

grain that exceeds action limits established by the Food and Drug Administration or grain having residues that exceed the tolerance levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

(2)

No prohibition imposed under this section shall be construed to restrict the marketing of any grain so long as the grade or condition of the grain is properly identified.

(3)

Prior to taking action under this subsection, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations after providing for notice and an opportunity for public comment, that identify and define actions and conditions that are subject to prohibition.

(4)

In no case shall the Secretary prohibit the blending of an entire grade of grain.

(5)

In implementing paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary shall report any prohibitions to other appropriate public health agencies.

Source credit: (Aug. 11, 1916, ch. 313, pt. B, § 13, as added Pub. L. 90–487, § 1, Aug. 15, 1968, 82 Stat. 766; amended Pub. L. 94–582, § 15, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2883; Pub. L. 95–113, title XVI, §§ 1604(j), 1606(h), Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 1029, 1030; Pub. L. 99–641, title III, § 303(a), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3564; Pub. L. 101–624, title XX, § 2008, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3931; Pub. L. 103–156, §§ 7, 12(l), Nov. 24, 1993, 107 Stat. 1526, 1529; Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 293(a)(7), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3237; Pub. L. 106–472, title I, § 107, Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2060.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1916Enacted · Pub. L. 90-487 · 82 Stat. 766
1976Amended · Pub. L. 94-582 · 90 Stat. 2883
1977Amended · Pub. L. 95-113 · 91 Stat. 1029, 1030
1986Amended · Pub. L. 99-641 · 100 Stat. 3564
1990Amended · Pub. L. 101-624 · 104 Stat. 3931
1993Amended · Pub. L. 103-156 · 107 Stat. 1526, 1529
1994Amended · Pub. L. 103-354 · 108 Stat. 3237
2000Amended · Pub. L. 106-472 · 114 Stat. 2060

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 90-487 on 1916-08-11.

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