(a) Upon an affirmative vote in the referendum, the commissioner shall notify forthwith by certified mail all persons in this state engaged in the business of purchasing commodities from producers, except for purchasers who are incidental grain dealers, unsecured, that on and after the date specified in the letter, the assessment specified in § 43-32-202 shall be deducted from the producer‘s payment by the purchaser or the purchaser’s agent or representative from the purchase price of the commodities. The assessment so deducted shall, on or before the twentieth day of the month following the end of the month in which the commodities are sold to the purchaser, be remitted by the purchaser to the Tennessee grain indemnity fund. The books and records of all purchasers of commodities, which shall clearly indicate the producer and the amount of the assessment, shall be at all times open for inspection by the commissioner or the commissioner’s agents during regular business hours. The commissioner or the commissioner’s agents may take such steps as are reasonably necessary to verify the accuracy of books and records of purchasers of commodities.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 43-32-206
Claimant: means : (A) Any producer or person, possessing warehouse receipts covering commodities owned or stored by the warehouseman. See Tennessee Code 43-32-102
Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture, or the commissioner's designated representatives. See Tennessee Code 43-32-102
Commodity dealer: means any person engaged in the business of buying commodities from producers thereof for resale or for milling or processing. See Tennessee Code 43-32-102
Producer: means the owner, tenant or operator of land in this state who has an interest in and receives all or any part of the proceeds from the sale of the commodities produced thereon. See Tennessee Code 43-32-102
Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Any producer upon and against whom the assessment is levied and collected under this section, if dissatisfied with the assessment and its result, may demand of and receive from the Tennessee commodity producer indemnity fund a refund of the assessment collected from the producer. Requests for refunds shall be made within ninety (90) days of the date the amount was deducted. By voluntarily submitting to a refund, the producer foregoes any protection or compensation provided by the Tennessee grain indemnity fund.(c)(1) Producers who have requested and received a refund of an assessment pursuant to this part may re-enter the program by petitioning commissioner for approval of re-entry into the program and immediately upon mailing a petition for re-entry to the offices of the department, placing an amount equal to all previous assessment refunds plus interest to that producer in an escrow account in a local bank, the previous assessments and the terms and conditions of the escrow account to be determined by the department.(2) The commissioner shall review the producer’s petition for re-entry and, if approved, the producer shall repay into the appropriate indemnity fund all previous assessment refunds as determined by the department. Producers re-entering the program pursuant to this section will be protected by the program ninety (90) days from the time all previous assessment refunds were placed in escrow.(3) No producer will be granted protection of the grain producer indemnity program who has not been a participant in the program prior to meeting the criteria of a claimant.(d)Commodity producers from outside Tennessee shall not be subject to the assessment if they certify to the commodity dealer or warehouseman that they are out-of-state producers. The department shall establish the form to be completed, signed and given to the commodity dealer or warehouseman in order to obtain the exemption. A copy of the form shall be kept as a part of the books and records by the commodity dealer or warehouseman and, in addition, a copy of the form shall be supplied to the department. A commodity producer from outside of Tennessee may be subject to the assessment and therefore awarded all the protection of this part if the producer so chooses and meets the requirements of this part. The commissioner may enter into a reciprocal agreement with a contiguous state having a similar program.(e) The assessments by the department pursuant to this part are in addition to any other fees or assessments required by law.
