Title 46, Agriculture

Every person or common carrier who shall sell, offer for sale, or transport in this State any commercial fertilizer without being properly branded or having attached thereto such labels and tags, as required by law, or any person who shall receive any such fertilizer may be requi…

The State may maintain an action in any court of competent jurisdiction against the vendor or owner of any commercial fertilizer sold, offered, or exposed for sale in this State or shipped or transported within or into the State in violation of law, to recover the fines and penal…

Any seller of commercial fertilizers manufactured beyond this State shall be taken and deemed to be an agent of the manufacturer of such fertilizer for the purpose of the service of process and of such papers as may be necessary in the commencement of any action or suit in any co…

If there be judgment in favor of this State, as plaintiff, in an action brought under Section 46-25-1100 and the commercial fertilizers be ordered sold under execution to satisfy such judgment, an inspector shall, under direction of the commission, prior to the sale, draw proper …

The commission may remit, in whole or in part, upon payment of the expenses incident to an investigation, any penalty provided for in this article except the penalties provided for the deficiency in analysis, where the offending person or registrant is able to show that its viola…

The commission or its authorized representative may issue and enforce a written or printed "stop sale, use or removal order" to the owner or custodian of any lot of commercial fertilizer and hold at a designated place when the commission or its authorized representative finds suc…

No person shall distribute an adulterated fertilizer product. A commercial fertilizer shall be deemed to be adulterated if: (1) It contains any deleterious or harmful ingredient in sufficient amount to render it injurious to beneficial plant life when applied in accordance with d…

It is unlawful for a person to receive or use any materials regulated by this chapter when he knows or should know that the material, the manufacturer, the distributor, or the deliverer fails to meet the requirements set forth in this chapter or in the regulations promulgated by …

In addition to a denial, suspension, revocation, or modification of a provision of a license, permit, or certificate, or any other penalty provided in this chapter, a person who violates a provision of this chapter may be assessed a civil penalty by the director of not more than …

When used in this chapter: (1) "Commission" means the State Crop Pest Commission or an officer or employee of the commission to whom it delegates its authority. (2) "Commercial fertilizer" means a substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrients used for plant nutrient…

(A) Each company guaranteeing commercial fertilizer offered for sale, sold, or distributed in this State must be registered with the State. The application for registration must be submitted to the commission on forms furnished by the commission. Upon approval by the commission o…

The commission may prohibit the registration and sale of any fertilizer which has a misleading or deceptive trademark or commercial brand name, firm name, or carries exaggerated claims, or contains materials other than recognized plant nutrients which are injurious to growing pla…

Where it shall appear to the commission that any registrant has been persistently fraudulent in his dealings, the commission may revoke or refuse to register such registrant.

The brand name or trademark registered by a person shall not be entitled to registration by another; and the person having first registered and used the brand name or trademark shall be entitled to it, even should the brand name or trademark not be offered for current registratio…

Until the commission prescribes the alternative form of "guaranteed analysis", the term "guaranteed analysis" shall mean the minimum percentage of plant nutrients claimed in the following order and form: Total nitrogen (N) percent Available phosphoric acid (P(2)O(5)) percent Solu…

The commission may establish such rules and regulations in regard to the inspection, analysis, distribution, and sale of commercial fertilizer, agricultural lime, and soil amendments as shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter and as in its judgment will best…

All commercial fertilizer distributed in this State in containers shall have placed on or affixed to the container a label setting forth in clearly legible and conspicuous form (a) the net weight; (b) the brand and grade; (c) the guaranteed analysis; (d) the name and address of t…

The commission shall delegate the duties provided in this chapter to the director who may administer and enforce this chapter and promulgate related regulations.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to restrict or avoid sales or exchange of commercial fertilizers to each other by importers, registrants, or manipulators who mix fertilizer materials for sale or as preventing the free and unrestricted shipments of commercial fertilizer…

Superphosphate containing less than eighteen percent available phosphoric acid may not be offered for sale, sold, or distributed in this State.

Minimum standards of soda, sulfate of ammonia and superphosphate and other fertilizer materials may be established by regulation.

It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, offer for sale, or sell in this State any commercial fertilizer containing any substance used as a filler that is injurious to crop growth or deleterious to the soil, or to use in such commercial fertilizer as a filler any subst…

No commercial fertilizer shall be offered for sale which contains such an amount of water as to render the handling or manipulation of such commercial fertilizer difficult, or to cause the clogging of fertilizer distributors by reason of its bad mechanical condition; such wet or …

If a penalty is incurred as a result of a distributor altering the content or labeling of a commercial fertilizer shipped in bulk to the distributor by a registrant, the commission or its authorized representative may relieve the registrant of the liability for payment of the pen…

A commercial fertilizer is misbranded if it carries any false or misleading statement upon or attached to the container, or, if false or misleading statements concerning its agricultural value are made on the container or in any advertising matter accompanying or associated with …

The commission shall cause one or more analyses to be made annually of such commercial fertilizers sold, or offered for sale under the provisions of this chapter, as may be sampled under its direction and in accordance with such regulations as it may adopt. For this purpose, the …

In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter, any officer or agent of the commission or of a committee thereof authorized by the commission for the purpose, may at any hour during the day or night enter any factory, plant, car, or other place in which any commercial ferti…

The commission shall publish at least annually and in such forms as may be deemed proper (1) information concerning the distribution of commercial fertilizers; (2) results of analysis based on official samples of commercial fertilizers distributed within the State as compared wit…

A person or dealer who violates the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, all registrants or guarantors who distribute or sell any commercial fertilizer in South Carolina shall pay to the division an inspection tax of fifty cents for each ton of commercial fertilizer sold. A report of tonn…

In addition to the inspection tax on the distribution or sale of commercial fertilizer imposed pursuant to Section 46-25-810, there is imposed an inspection fee equal to one dollar a ton on the distribution or sale of commercial fertilizer in this State. The provisions of Section…

On individual packages of commercial fertilizer containing ten pounds or less, there must be paid in lieu of the fifty cents a ton inspection tax a combined annual registration fee and inspection tax of sixty dollars for each brand and grade sold or distributed. Where fertilizer …

Each separately identified product shall be registered before being distributed in this State. The application for registration shall be submitted to the commission on the form furnished or approved by the commission and shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars per pr…

The registrant or guarantor transacting, distributing, or selling commercial fertilizer to a nonregistrant shall mail to the commission or its duly authorized representative a report showing the following information: name and county of consignee, amount (tons) by grade, and anal…

In order to guarantee faithful performance, each registrant must be able to furnish a satisfactory financial statement or surety bond to the commission or its authorized representative. The registrant must also satisfy the commission or its duly authorized representative that he …

The commission or its authorized representative shall have authority to examine the registrant's records and verify the tonnages of commercial fertilizer manufactured, stored, handled, or sold.

Any information as to the amount of commercial fertilizer sold and business practices of any guarantor obtained from tonnage reports or from inspection of records and books shall remain confidential and shall not be revealed by the commission or its representatives to the public,…

Nothing in this article shall interfere with fertilizer passing through this State in transit; nor shall it apply to the delivery of commercial fertilizer moving between registrants.