7 USC 87b - Prohibited acts

U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 22, 2024

§ 87b.

Prohibited acts

(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.

(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.)

cite as: 7 USC 87b