CHAPTER 388
S.P. 290 - L.D. 941
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §950, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 513, §2, is amended to read:
2. Consumer pack. "Consumer pack" means a unit of 50 pounds or less net weight of potatoes contained in a bag, crate or any other type of container.
Sec. 2. 7 MRSA §951, 3rd ¶, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 298, §2, is amended to read:
Notwithstanding the provisions of article 4, the commissioner after consultation with the Maine Potato Board may require, by rules adopted pursuant to the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, the inspection of all or a portion of consumer packs of potatoes for conformity with the U.S. #1 grade or other grades. Inspection under any rule adopted pursuant to this section must be performed by a licensed federal-state potato inspector, state potato inspector or seed potato inspector. At the request of and in consultation with the Maine Potato Board, the commissioner shall initiate rulemaking to require inspection of consumer packs of potatoes.
Sec. 3. 7 MRSA §975-A, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. HHHH, §1, is amended to read:
§975-A. Interest on Potato Marketing Improvement Fund balance
All or any portion of the interest earned or accruing on the cash balance of the Potato Marketing Improvement Fund may be used for grants to partially or fully fund research projects to study and assess technical problems experienced with new and retrofitted storage facilities and to develop means of dealing with such problems, or to examine, monitor and develop new technologies for the production, storage and handling of potatoes.
Sec. 4. 7 MRSA §1015, 4th ¶, as amended by PL 1983, c. 465, §1, is further amended to read:
In order to insure the licensee's financial responsibility and to protect potato producers, the commissioner shall require the licensee to file a bond in a form and amount satisfactory to the commissioner, but in no event not less than $35,000 $50,000 nor more than $200,000 $300,000 in the case of dealers and brokers, or not less than $50,000 $100,000 nor more than $300,000 $500,000 in the case of processors, payable to the commissioner in his the commissioner's official capacity and conditioned on the full and prompt payment for all potatoes received or purchased from producers or other licensees during the effective period of the license. In the case of processors, the amount of bond required shall must be based on the licensee's anticipated monthly volume of purchases, but may be adjusted to reflect other federal escrow accounts or bond requirements met by the licensee which that satisfy the purposes of this section.
Sec. 5. 7 MRSA §2103-A, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 336, is amended to read:
4. Release to public. For the benefit of the Maine potato industry as a whole, only varieties of seed potatoes of a variety which has that have been released to the public, as provided in this subsection, may be certified, except that varieties of seed potatoes of a variety which that are protected by patent or are otherwise not released to the public may be certified if the applicant for certification demonstrates that he the applicant has been authorized to propagate the variety by the patent holder or, if there is no patent, the registered breeder. Notwithstanding Title 1, chapter 13, subchapter I, all records pertaining to patented and nonreleased potato varieties received or kept by the department are confidential and not available for inspection. A grower may authorize in writing the disclosure of records pertaining to patented or nonreleased potato varieties. Pursuant to the rule-making provisions of the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, the commissioner shall establish rules for the administration of this subsection, including, without limitation, procedures for demonstrating authorization from a patent holder or registered breeder and the establishment of a registry of bona fide breeders and patent holders of potato varieties. For purposes of this subsection, a potato variety shall be is deemed to have been released to the public upon publication of a description of that variety for purposes of release in the North America Potato Variety Inventory, published by the Potato Association of America, or in the American Potato Journal or another equivalent scientific or technical journal.
Effective September 19, 1997, unless otherwise indicated.
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