§ 106-660. Registration of brands; licensing of manufacturers and distributors; fluid fertilizers.
§ 106‑660. Registration of brands; licensing ofmanufacturers and distributors; fluid fertilizers.
(a) Each brand of commercial fertilizer for tobacco, specialtyfertilizer, fertilizer materials, manipulated manure and fortified mulch shallbe registered by the person whose name appears upon the label before beingoffered for sale, sold or distributed in this State, except those brandsexpressly produced for experimental and demonstration purposes only. Otherfertilizers may be manufactured and sold without registration after obtaining alicense as required in G.S. 106‑661(a). The application for registrationshall be submitted in duplicate to the Commissioner for his approval on formsfurnished by the Commissioner, and shall include a fee of five dollars ($5.00)per brand and grade for all packages greater than five pounds. The registrationfee for packages of five pounds or less shall be thirty dollars ($30.00). Allapproved registrations expire on June 30 of each year. The application shallinclude such information as deemed necessary by the Board of Agriculture.
(b) The distributor of any brand and grade of commercialfertilizer shall not be required to register the same if it has already beenregistered under this Article by a person entitled to do so and suchregistration is then outstanding.
(c) The grade of any brand of mixed fertilizer shall not bechanged during the registration period, but the guaranteed analysis may bechanged in other respects and the sources of materials may be changed:Provided, prompt notification of such change is given to the Commissioner andthe change is noted on the container or tag: Provided, further, that theguaranteed analysis shall not be changed if it, in any way, lowers the qualityof the fertilizer: Provided, further, that if at a subsequent registrationperiod, the registrant desires to make any change in the registration of agiven brand and grade of fertilizer, said registrant shall notify theCommissioner of such change 30 days in advance of such registration. If theCommissioner, after consultation with the director of the agriculturalexperiment station decides that such change materially lowers the cropproducing value of the fertilizer, he shall notify the registrant of hisconclusions, and if the registrant registers the brand and grade with theproposed changes, then the Commissioner shall give due publicity to saidchanges through the Agricultural Review or by such other means as he may deemadvisable.
(d) Any person desiring to manufacture or distribute fertilizersnot required to be registered shall first secure a license. Application forsaid license shall be made on forms provided by the Commissioner and shall beaccompanied by a reasonable fee to be determined by the Board of Agriculture.The Board shall charge a maximum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for saidlicense. Said license shall be renewable annually on the first day of July.Said license may be suspended, revoked or terminated for a violation of thisArticle or any rule promulgated thereunder.
(e) When fluid fertilizer is offered for sale or sold in thisState, the method of transfer of custody shall be by weight expressed inpounds, and shall be invoiced in such a manner as to show the name of theseller, the name of the purchaser, the date of sale, the grade, and the netweight; provided, however, that fluid fertilizer may be measured in gallons of231 cubic inches and its equivalent expressed in pounds, with a formula forconverting from gallons to pounds shown on the invoice.
(f) Repealed by Session Laws 1983, c. 146, s. 2.
(g) Before any anhydrous ammonia installation that handles,stores, distributes, or applies anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer use shall bebuilt in this State, a general layout of the installation shall be submitted induplicate and approved by the Commissioner. In order that the layout may beapproved it must conform to the minimum standards and rules and regulations,relating to safe handling, storage, distribution, or application adopted by theBoard of Agriculture. All storage tanks, transfer or transport containers,applicator containers, and attached equipment for fertilizer use shall conformto the minimum standards adopted by the Board of Agriculture. It shall be theduty of a contractor, as defined in G.S. 106‑657 to obtain, maintain andoperate in accordance with the minimum standards and rules and regulationsadopted by the Board of Agriculture, any equipment that the contractor may usein the application of anhydrous ammonia. It shall be the duty of the Commissionerto inspect and ascertain whether or not the provisions of this section arecomplied with. (1947, c. 1086, s. 4;1949, c. 637, s. 1; 1951, c. 1026, ss. 3‑6; 1959, c. 706, ss. 3‑5;1961, c. 66, ss. 3, 4; 1973, c. 611, ss. 1‑4; 1977, c. 303, s. 6; 1981,c. 448, ss. 5, 6; 1983, c. 146, ss. 2, 3; 1987, c. 292, s. 2; 1989, c. 544, s.5; 2001‑440, s. 2.)