7 U.S.C. § 473: Persons required to furnish…

Summary

Owners, officers (like presidents, treasurers, secretaries, directors), agents, and anyone who owns or stores cotton at a warehouse, ginnery, mill, or other storage place must, when asked by the Secretary of Agriculture or a Department agent working for the Secretary, give complete and accurate information about the cotton they have, including its grade and staple length. They must also let the agent inspect and classify samples when asked. The request can be made in person or in writing; a written request will be sent by registered or certified mail and the mail receipt is proof. If a person refuses, purposely fails to answer, lies, or blocks inspection, they commit a misdemeanor and, if convicted, can be fined $300 to $1,000.

Title 7, §473

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It shall be the duty of every owner, president, treasurer, secretary, director, or other officer or agent of any cotton warehouse, cotton ginnery, cotton mill, or other place or establishment where cotton is stored, whether conducted as a corporation, firm, limited partnership, or individual, and of any owner or holder of any cotton and of the agents and representatives of any such owner or holder, when requested by the Secretary of Agriculture or by any special agent or other employee of the Department of Agriculture acting under the instructions of said Secretary to furnish completely and correctly, to the best of his knowledge, all of the information concerning the grades and staple length of cotton on hand, and when requested to permit such agent or employee of the Department of Agriculture to examine and classify samples of all such cotton on hand. The request of the Secretary of Agriculture for such information may be made in writing or by a visiting representative, and if made in writing shall be forwarded by registered mail, or by certified mail and the registry receipt or receipt for certified mail of the United States Postal Service shall be accepted as evidence of such demand. Any owner, president, treasurer, secretary, director, or other officer or agent of any cotton warehouse, cotton ginnery, cotton mill, or other place or establishment where cotton is stored, or any owner or holder of any cotton or the agent or representative of any such owner or holder, who, under the conditions hereinbefore stated, shall refuse or willfully neglect to furnish any information herein provided for or shall willfully give answers that are false or shall refuse to allow agents or employees of the Department of Agriculture to examine or classify any cotton in store in any such establishment, or in the hands of any owner or holder or of the agent or representative of any such owner or holder, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $300 or more than $1,000.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1960—Pub. L. 86–507 inserted “or by certified mail” after “registered mail”, and “or receipt for certified mail” after “registry receipt.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“United States Postal Service” substituted in text for “Post Office Department” pursuant to Pub. L. 91–375, §§ 4(a), 6(o), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 773, 783, which are set out as notes preceding section 101 of Title 39, Postal Service, and under section 201 of Title 39, respectively, which abolished Post Office Department, transferred its functions to United States Postal Service, and provided that references in other laws to Post Office Department shall be considered a reference to United States Postal Service.

§473 Persons Required to Furnish Information; Request; Failure to Furnish; False Information