MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Agriculture
By: Representative Bomgar
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 75-27-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE WITH REGULATORY AUTHORITY TO GRANT EXCEPTION FOR THE USE OF CERTAIN WEIGHING DEVICES WHICH DISPENSE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, WHETHER LIQUID OR NONLIQUID, WITHIN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; TO AMEND SECTION 75-27-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 75-27-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
75-27-39. (1) Except as
otherwise provided by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce,
commodities in liquid form shall be sold only by liquid measure or by weight * * *.
Commodities not in liquid form shall be sold only by weight, * * * measure * * * or by count. Provided, that
liquid commodities may be sold by weight, and commodities not in liquid form
may be sold by count only if such methods * * * provide accurate information as to
the quantity of commodity sold.
(2) Pulpwood shall be sold either by volume or weight, and measured by the cord or the ton as defined in Section 75-27-7. Purchasers of pulpwood, in determining payment to seller, may convert from weight to volume or volume to weight. Such purchasers shall make the conversion by using the following weights per cord: five thousand two hundred (5,200) pounds for pine, five thousand four hundred (5,400) pounds for soft hardwood, five thousand six hundred (5,600) pounds for mixed hardwood, and five thousand eight hundred (5,800) pounds for hard hardwood.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
( * * *a) * * * Insect damaged, dead or otherwise damaged
pulpwood * * *;
( * * *b) * * * Commodities when sold for immediate
consumption on the premises where sold * * *;
( * * *c) * * * Vegetables when sold by the head or bunch * * *;
( * * *d) * * * Commodities in containers standardized by a
law of this state or by federal law * * *;
( * * *e) * * * Commodities in package form when there
exists a general consumer usage to express the quantity in some other manner * * *;
( * * *f) * * * Concrete aggregates, concrete mixtures, and
loose solid materials such as earth, soil, gravel, crushed stone, and the like,
when sold by cubic measure * * *;
( * * *g) * * * Unprocessed vegetable and animal fertilizer
when sold by cubic measure * * *; or
( * * *h) * * * Timber when sold in bulk on the stump.
(4) The * * * commissioner may issue such
reasonable regulations as are necessary to assure that amounts of commodity
sold are determined in accordance with good commercial practice and are so
determined and represented as to be accurate and informative to all parties at
interest.
SECTION 2. Section 75-27-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
75-27-23. (1) When
not otherwise provided by law, the * * * commissioner shall have the
power to inspect and test, to ascertain if they are correct, all weights and
measures kept, offered, or exposed for sale or purchase. It shall be the duty
of the * * *
commissioner within a twelve-month period, or less frequently if in
accordance with a schedule issued by him or her, and as much oftener as
he or she may deem necessary to inspect and test, to ascertain if they
are correct, all weights and measures commercially used:
( * * *a) In determining the weight,
measurement or count of commodities or things sold or purchased, or offered or
exposed for sale or purchase, on the basis of weight, measure, or of count; or
( * * *b) In computing the basic charge or
payment for services rendered on the basis of weight, measure, or of count.
* * * With respect to single-service
devices * * *
(devices designed to be used commercially only once and to be then
discarded), and with respect to devices uniformly mass-produced * * * (as by means of a mold or die, and not
susceptible of individual adjustment), tests may be made on
representative samples of such devices * * *. The lots of which such samples
are representative shall be held to be correct or incorrect upon the basis of
the results of the inspections and tests on such samples.
(2) The manufacturer or distributor of any weighing device(s) offered for sale, sold, installed for commercial use or used commercially in this state shall subject such device to type evaluation testing by the National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), except such evaluation testing shall not apply to any weighing devices that dispense liquid or nonliquid commodities which are exempted by regulatory control of the commissioner. Any weighing device not covered by a certificate of conformance from such agency shall not be used commercially in this state.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.