South Carolina § 46-17-290 - Purpose of agreement or order and power to be exercised stated.

§ 46-17-290. Purpose of agreement or order and power to be exercised stated.

The purpose of each marketing agreement and order issued and the power to be exercised thereunder shall be stated in detail in the provisions of the agreement or order for:

(a) Determining the grade of any agricultural commodity and provisions for the control and disposition of such grade;

(b) Regulating the period during which any agricultural commodity or any grade may be processed, distributed, handled, or otherwise marketed;

(c) The establishment of surplus or reserve pools of any agricultural commodity or of any grade thereof, and providing for the sale of such surplus commodity and the equitable distribution, among the persons interested, of the net returns derived from the sale of such commodity;

(d) The establishment of uniform grading and inspection of any agricultural commodity delivered by producers to handlers or processors or others engaged in the handling thereof and for the establishment of grading standards of quality, condition, size, or pack for any agricultural commodity, and the inspection and grading of such commodity in accordance with such grading standards so established. Such grading standards for any such commodity shall not be established below any minimum standards now prescribed by law for such commodity. The Federal-State inspection service shall perform all inspections made necessary by these provisions;

(e) The establishment of plans for advertising and sales promotion to create markets for agricultural commodities. The commodity board and the Commission shall prepare and enforce plans for promoting and advertising the sale of such agricultural commodity. Any such plan shall be directed toward increasing the sale of such commodity without reference to a particular brand or trade name and may be in conjunction or cooperation with other states or areas as determined by the Commission and commodity board;

(f) Price posting; provided, that any grade shall be sold by the handlers only at prices filed by such handlers in the manner provided for in the marketing order;

(g) Requiring the labeling, marking or branding of any agricultural commodity;

(h) Establishing convenient stations for inspection, weighing and receiving payment for any agricultural commodity sold by producers under any marketing agreement or order and providing for the collection of expenses of operating such stations;

(i) Allowing the Commission and commodity board to cooperate with any State or Federal agency;

(j) Requiring the packaging of any agricultural commodity in containers, and to set standards for such containers, in conformity with requirements in any marketing agreement or order;

(k) The establishment of research programs for the improvement of control of insects or disease, economic causes and effects, harvesting, storing, transporting, marketing, handling, processing, or any other phase or division of research which would benefit any affected commodity. The advice of the Director of the State Agricultural Experiment Station shall be sought by the Commission and the commodity board in the development of research projects. Insofar as practicable, such research shall be carried out by the State Agricultural Experiment Station and may be financed by such funds as may be available to the Commission and commodity board;

(l) Establishing methods, whereby agricultural commodities other than marketable products may be disposed of and for prohibiting dispositions thereof except as provided by the marketing order or agreement for such agricultural commodity;

(m) The prevention of unfair competition;

(n) Establishing market development programs and for the dissemination of market information according to the marketing agreement or order;

(o) Insuring payment for all usable products purchased from producers according to established grades;

(p) Establishing for any agricultural commodity an educational program designed to acquaint producers, handlers, processors, or other interested persons with the results of research.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 3-235.28; 1968 (55) 2743.