Bill Text: FL S0654 | 2013 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Agricultural Storage and Shipping Containers

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-25 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 1393 (Ch. 2013-211) [S0654 Detail]

Download: Florida-2013-S0654-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2013                              CS for SB 654
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Agriculture; and Senator Montford
       
       
       
       
       575-01864-13                                           2013654c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to agricultural storage and shipping
    3         containers; amending s. 506.19, F.S.; providing that
    4         an owner of containers used for the storage or
    5         transport of agricultural or other commercial products
    6         may adopt for his or her exclusive use a particular
    7         mark or brand to designate and distinguish ownership
    8         of the containers; making technical and grammatical
    9         changes; creating s. 506.265, F.S.; providing
   10         definitions; requiring that a person who purchases
   11         five or more plastic bulk merchandise containers from
   12         one seller obtain proof of ownership, verify the
   13         seller’s identity, pay noncash, and record and
   14         maintain other information for a specified period of
   15         time; providing that prosecuting attorneys may inspect
   16         the records at any time upon reasonable notice;
   17         providing an exception for licensed waste haulers;
   18         creating s. 506.266, F.S.; providing criminal and
   19         civil penalties; providing an effective date.
   20  
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 506.19, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   24  read:
   25         506.19 Protection of owners of marked or branded field
   26  boxes or other specified containers; recordation.—Any person who
   27  owns being the owner of field boxes, pallets, crates,
   28  containers, or receptacles used in the general production,
   29  harvesting, packing, transportation, or marketing of fruits or
   30  vegetables or their byproducts or used for the storage or
   31  transport of agricultural or other commercial goods in this the
   32  state may adopt for his or her exclusive use and ownership a
   33  particular mark or brand that designates or distinguishes to
   34  designate and distinguish his or her ownership thereof and may
   35  identify his or her field boxes, pallets, crates, containers, or
   36  receptacles so used with a such mark or brand using in the form
   37  of such combinations, initials, symbols, designs, or names, or
   38  any combination thereof as he or she may desire, by plainly and
   39  distinctly stamping, stenciling, painting, cutting, etching, or
   40  burning the mark or brand same into or upon both ends or sides
   41  of the such field boxes, pallets, crates, receptacles, or
   42  containers. For purposes of any court or administrative
   43  proceeding, if a copy of the mark or brand has been filed and
   44  recorded in the office of the Department of Agriculture and
   45  Consumer Services as provided in this chapter, and the presence
   46  of this such identifying mark or brand and the required
   47  registration number on any field box, pallet, crate, container,
   48  or receptacle is whenever a copy or description thereof shall
   49  have been filed and recorded in the office of the Department of
   50  Agriculture and Consumer Services as herein provided for, shall,
   51  in any court and in any proceedings in this state, be prima
   52  facie evidence of the ownership of such boxes, pallets, crates,
   53  containers, or receptacles by the person in whose name such mark
   54  or brand may have been recorded, provided such mark or brand
   55  shall have been recorded with the Department of Agriculture and
   56  Consumer Services as herein provided and shall bear the
   57  registered number herein provided for.
   58         Section 2. Section 506.265, Florida Statutes, is created to
   59  read:
   60         506.265 Purchase of plastic bulk merchandise containers.—
   61         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   62         (a) “Bona fide purchaser” means a person who in good faith
   63  makes a purchase without knowledge of another person’s
   64  outstanding rights.
   65         (b) “Plastic bulk merchandise container” means a plastic
   66  crate or shell used by a product manufacturer, distributor, or
   67  retailer for the bulk transportation or storage of goods and
   68  includes a plastic pallet used as a portable platform upon which
   69  containers, products, or materials may be placed to facilitate
   70  handling.
   71         (c) “Proof of ownership” means a bill of sale or other
   72  evidence showing that a person who claims to be the owner of an
   73  item is the bona fide purchaser who purchased the item for fair
   74  market value.
   75         (2) A person who purchases five or more plastic bulk
   76  merchandise containers from one seller shall:
   77         (a) Obtain from the seller proof of ownership of the
   78  containers and maintain a record that includes the date of the
   79  transaction; the seller’s or consignee’s name, address, and
   80  telephone number; and a description of the containers, including
   81  the number of containers being sold, each container’s serial
   82  number, and other identifying marks.
   83         (b) Verify the seller’s identity with a valid driver
   84  license or other government-issued photo identification card and
   85  maintain a copy thereof in the record of sale.
   86         (c) Make a noncash payment for five or more plastic bulk
   87  merchandise containers and record the method of payment used in
   88  each transaction.
   89         (3) The purchaser shall maintain required records for at
   90  least 2 years after the date of purchase or delivery, whichever
   91  is later. State attorneys of the judicial circuits in this state
   92  may inspect these records at any time upon reasonable notice.
   93         (4) This section does not apply to the collection, receipt,
   94  or recycling of plastic bulk merchandise containers by a
   95  licensed waste hauler.
   96         Section 3. Section 506.266, Florida Statutes, is created to
   97  read:
   98         506.266 Penalties.—
   99         (1) As used in subsections (2) and (3), the term “value”
  100  has the same meaning as in s. 812.012.
  101         (2) A person who violates s. 506.265 in a transaction in
  102  which the value of the plastic bulk merchandise containers is
  103  $10,000 or less commits a misdemeanor of the first degree,
  104  punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
  105         (3) A person who violates s. 506.265 in a transaction in
  106  which the value of the plastic bulk merchandise containers is
  107  more than $10,000 commits a felony of the third degree,
  108  punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
  109         (4) A person who violates s. 506.265 is liable to the owner
  110  of a stolen plastic bulk merchandise container for three times
  111  the replacement value of the stolen plastic bulk merchandise
  112  container. The owner of the plastic bulk merchandise container
  113  may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to
  114  recover money damages and attorney fees and costs incurred in
  115  maintaining the action.
  116         Section 4. This act shall take effect October 1, 2013.