The Commission shall be vested with the following powers:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-3204

  • Commission: means the Milk Commission. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
  • Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Milk: means the clean lacteal secretion obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows properly fed, housed, and kept; including milk that is cooled, pasteurized, standardized, or otherwise processed with a view to selling. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
  • Producer: means any person, regardless of whether they are also a distributor, who produces milk for sale as fluid milk in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-3200
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255

1. To confer and cooperate with the legally constituted authorities of other states and of the United States, with a view of securing a uniformity of milk control, with respect to milk coming into the Commonwealth and going out of the Commonwealth in interstate commerce, with a view of accomplishing the purposes of this chapter and to enter into a compact or compacts for such uniform system of milk control;

2. To investigate all matters pertaining to the production, processing, storage, transportation, distribution, and sale of milk in the Commonwealth;

3. To supervise, regulate, and control the production, transportation, processing, storage, distribution, delivery, and sale of milk for consumption within the Commonwealth;

4. To act as mediator or arbiter in any controversial issue that may arise among or between milk producers and distributors, as between themselves, or that may arise between them as groups;

5. To examine into the business, books, and accounts of any milk producer, association of producers, or milk distributors, their affiliates or subsidiaries; to issue subpoenas to milk producers, associations of producers, and milk distributors, and to require them to produce their records, books, and accounts; to subpoena any other person from whom information is desired;

6. To take depositions of witnesses within, or without, the Commonwealth. Any member of the Commission, or any employee designated by the Commission, may administer oaths to witnesses and sign and issue subpoenas; and

7. To make, adopt, and enforce all regulations or orders necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Every order of the Commission shall be posted for inspection in the main office of the Commission, and a certified copy filed in the office of the Commissioner. An order, applying only to a person named therein, shall be served on the person affected. An order, that is required to be served, shall be served by personal delivery of a certified copy, or by mailing a certified copy in a sealed envelope, with postage prepaid, to each person affected; or, in the case of a corporation, to any officer or agent of the corporation upon whom legal process may be served. If an order is not required to be served, then it shall be posted in the main office of the Commission and filed in the office of the Commissioner, which shall constitute due and sufficient notice to any person affected by the order.

Code 1950, § 3-352; 1966, c. 702, § 3.1-430; 2008, c. 860.