Title 06, Title 06: Agriculture

§ 443. Rules; hearing; inspections (a) The Secretary may, after public hearing, revise rules and adopt additional rules for such operations, including temperature control, sanitation, and other matters. (b) The Secretary may enter premises or vehicles conducting such operations a…

§ 444. Reinspection The Secretary may, in instances such as a first offense, make due allowance for initial corrective action, minor violation, or extenuating circumstances and employ reinspection or other preliminary steps to secure compliance. (Added 1971, No. 196 (Adj. Sess.),…

§ 445. Penalties Any person violating this chapter, or any regulation made under its authority, shall be fined not more than $100.00 for the first offense and not more than $200.00 for each subsequent offense. Each day in which a violation exists shall constitute a separate viola…

§ 481. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Advertisement” means any method used to call attention to a product that is intended to arouse a desire to purchase that product. It shall include signs, displays, radio and television broadcasts, newspapers and periodicals, direct…

§ 482. Enforcement; inspectors (a) The Secretary shall enforce the provisions of this chapter. He or she may appoint one or more inspectors who shall be authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter. (b) The Secretary shall pay any such inspectors their salaries and necess…

§ 483. License required (a) A dealer or processor who is doing business in this State or who wishes to do business in this State shall first obtain a license to do so from the Secretary. (b) A dealer wishing to be licensed shall apply annually before July 1 to the Secretary for a…

§ 484. Records; inspection (a) The Secretary may, by rule, require all licensed dealers or processors to maintain specific records for the purchase and sale of maple products. Those records shall be kept in a full and accurate manner and shall be made available to the Secretary o…

§ 485. Revocation or suspension of licenses; appeals (a) The Secretary may suspend, revoke, or decline to grant a dealer or processor license for cause or for failure of the applicant to provide all information that the Secretary may reasonably request. Before declining to grant …

§ 486. Trademark The trademark, “State of Vermont Pure Maple Syrup,” is hereby registered with the Secretary of State and its use shall be restricted to the terms of this chapter. (Added 1981, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 487. Standards (a) Grade standards. The Secretary shall establish by rule grade standards for maple syrup. In establishing grade standards, the Secretary may utilize the color standards and grade designations established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the testing and…

§ 488. Sampling, testing, and grading devices; certification (a) The Secretary may procure accurate sampling, testing, and grading devices in a quantity sufficient to meet the anticipated requirements under this chapter. (b) In addition to the mandatory inspection program conduct…

§ 489. Hydrometers (a) Maple syrup hydrometers sold in this State shall be tested, approved, and so marked by the Agency before any are sold, offered, or exposed for sale or distributed by any person. (b) All maple sap hydrometers used in this State for testing the sugar content …

§ 490. Labels (a) Maple syrup. Every shipment, package, or container of maple syrup packed, sold, offered, or exposed for sale or distribution by any person shall be plainly marked in accordance with 9 V.S.A. § 2633(c) for packaging and labeling rules and shall include: (1) the n…

§ 491. Adulteration; filtration (a) No person shall manufacture, package, sell, offer for sale, deliver, or in any way possess any maple product that is adulterated within the meaning of 18 V.S.A. § 4059. (b) Maple syrup that is produced, packaged, handled, or sold in this State …

§ 492. Labeling container of maple flavored products (a) Every product or package containing a product made by combining maple sap, maple sugar, or maple syrup with any other sugar or other substance packed, sold, offered, or exposed for sale or distribution by any person in this…

§ 493. Labeling container of artificial maple flavored products It shall be unlawful to use the term “maple syrup” or “maple sugar,” however modified, to describe any product, flavoring, sweetener, or food additive unless the product, flavoring, sweetener, or food additive so des…

§ 493a. Use of the term “Vermont maple” The term “Vermont maple” may be used only to describe any product, flavoring, sweetener, or food additive when the product, flavoring, sweetener, or food additive so described contains “maple products” that are “produced in Vermont” as thos…

§ 494. Containers and equipment; rules; manufacturer certification required if plastic resin used (a) Applicability. This section shall apply to all containers and equipment that come into contact with maple sap, maple syrup, or maple products, referred to for the purposes of thi…

§ 495. Advertising (a) All advertisements of maple syrup displayed, circulated, broadcast by radio, or telecast within this State that quote a price shall specify the grade and volume of maple syrup in equal prominence with the stated price. (b) All advertisements of maple produc…

§ 496. Rules; powers (a) The Secretary may adopt and enforce all rules that the Secretary deems necessary to enforce this chapter. (b) When the Secretary determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that a maple product is in violation of this chapter or any rules adopted…

§ 497. Violation A person shall not knowingly or intentionally: (1) produce, package, label, sell; (2) hold, store, transport, offer, expose, or advertise for sale; (3) possess in any premises where maple products, maple flavored products, or artificial maple flavored products, a…

§ 498. Penalties (a) The Secretary may suspend or revoke the license of a dealer or processor for any violation of this chapter or the rules adopted pursuant to this chapter. (b) A person, including licensed dealers or processors, who knowingly or intentionally violates any provi…

§ 499. Construction (a) This chapter shall not be construed to limit in any way the powers of the Department of Health with regard to the regulation of food and drink and the standards, adulteration, misbranding, and misrepresentation thereof. (b) The provisions of this chapter a…

§ 551. Definitions (a) The word “persons” as used in this chapter shall include individuals, corporations, companies, societies, and associations. The act, omission, or failure of an officer, agent, or other person acting for or employed by a corporation, company, society, or ass…

§ 552. Application of chapter The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all shipments, packages, containers, or displays in which potatoes are packed, distributed, sold, offered, or exposed for sale except as provided in this chapter. (Amended 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 77…

§ 553. Marking of containers Every shipment, package, or container containing potatoes that are packed in the State, sold in the State, distributed in the State, offered, or exposed for sale or distribution in the State by any person shall be plainly and conspicuously marked with…

§ 554. Exemptions (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent a grower from selling potatoes at his or her premises or storage, or delivering potatoes to a central packing house, processing plant, storage, or to a retailer or consumer in quantity of five bushels or …

§ 555. Advertising All newspaper, radio, or display advertising of potatoes in which the price is stated must show or state the grade or grades of potatoes being advertised.

§ 556. Enforcement; rules The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall diligently enforce all of the provisions of this chapter. The Secretary, either in person or by a duly authorized representative, shall have free access, ingress, and egress during business hours to an…

§ 557. Penalty Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be fined not more than $25.00 nor less than $10.00 for the first offense and not more than $50.00 nor less than $25.00 for each subsequent offense. A person who obstructs or hinders the Secretary or any of…

§ 561. Findings; intent (a) Findings. (1) Hemp has been continuously cultivated for millennia; is accepted and available in the global marketplace; and has numerous beneficial, practical, and economic uses, including high-strength fiber, textiles, clothing, biofuel, paper product…

§ 562. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Agency” means the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. (2)(A) “Grow” means: (i) planting, cultivating, harvesting, or drying of hemp; and (ii) selling, storing, and transporting hemp grown by a grower. (B) “Grow” may be used in…

§ 563. Hemp; an agricultural product (a) Hemp is an agricultural product that may be grown as a crop produced, possessed, marketed, and commercially traded in Vermont pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and section 10113 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Pub. L. …

§ 564. State Hemp Program; registration; application; administration (a) The Secretary may establish and administer a State Hemp Program to regulate the growing, processing, testing, or marketing of hemp and hemp products in the State. (b)(1) A person shall register annually with…

§ 566. Rulemaking authority (a) The Secretary may adopt rules to provide for the implementation of this chapter and the Program authorized under this chapter, which may include rules to: (1) require hemp to be tested during growth for tetrahydrocannabinol levels; (2) authorize or…

§ 568. Test results; enforcement (a) When notified of a hemp crop, hemp product, or hemp-infused product that has a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration exceeding the applicable federally defined tetrahydrocannabinol concentration level of hemp, the person registered with t…

§ 569. Administrative penalties (a) Except for violations set forth under subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may assess an administrative penalty, not to exceed $1,000.00 per violation, for any violation of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter, including: (…

§ 570. Registration fees (a) A person applying for a registration or renewal under section 564 of this title annually shall pay the following fees: (1) for an application to grow less than 0.5 acres of hemp for personal use: $25.00; (2) for an application or renewal of registrati…

§ 571. Hemp seed; labeling; standards (a) A person shall not sell, offer for sale, expose for sale, transport for sale, or distribute in the State hemp seed that: (1) is not labeled in accordance with the requirements of this section or rules adopted by the Secretary; (2) fails t…

§ 611. Service for certification of seed; standards and rules (a) The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall establish and make available to the people of the State a service for the inspection of fields of potatoes for the purpose of certifying the product thereof for …

§ 613. Assistants The Secretary shall employ assistants to enable the Secretary to make inspections of potato or other fields enrolled under the rules referred to. (Amended 1999, No. 49, § 110; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 80, eff. July 1, 2…

§ 614. Certificates; tags for containers; shipping inspectors When the inspections are completed, the Secretary shall issue to growers whose fields qualify for certification under the adopted standards and rules a certificate showing the percentage of objectionable diseases found…

§ 615. Shipping inspection The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall have authority to set up shipping inspection as a part of the certification service. (Amended 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003.)

§ 616. Fees (a) The Secretary shall have authority to assess growers who apply for the certification privilege a fee per acre, to be paid in one or more installments. (b) Growers shall be assessed $35.00 for the first five acres inclusive. Over five acres shall be assessed $35.00…

§ 617. Denial of use of certification service The Secretary shall also have authority to deny further use of the certification service to a person who, in the Secretary’s judgment, has violated the provisions of this subchapter relating to certification of seeds and seed potatoes…

§ 618. Penalty A person who by himself or herself or his or her agent uses a certificate, issued by the Secretary, for the purpose of fraudulently selling potatoes or seeds that in fact are not qualified for sale under such certificate or who knowingly uses a certification tag, i…