Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 2001
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: WESTON, PIEH, DIAMOND, SHERMAN, SNOWE-MELLO, BLANCHETTE, MAREAN, TIBBETTS
Amends: 36 MRSA §4302, 36 MRSA §4305, 36 MRSA §4314, 36 MRSA §4315, 36 MRSA §4316

Legislative Document 
No. 2001 
S.P.795 
December 18, 2007 
Aa Act Ttl Reduce Wild Waeberry Theft 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 18,2007. Referred to the Committee 
on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed . 
Presented by Senator WESTON of Waldo. 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Representative PIEH of Bremen and Senators: DIAMOND of Cumberland, 
RA YE ofWashingtoD, SHERMAN of Aroostook, SNOWE-MELLO of Androseoggin, 
Representatives: BLANCHETTE ofBaIigor, MAREAN of Hollis, McFADDEN of 
Dennysville, TIBBETTS of Columbia. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4302, sub-§l-F is enacted to read: 
I-F. First hauler. "First hauler" means a person, firm, partnership, association or 
corporation engaged in the transportation of wild blueberries from the field from which 
tbccx were harvested to a shipper or processor. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §4302, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1997, c. 511, §8, is further 
amended to read: 
4. Shipper. "Shipper" means a person, firm, partnership, association or corporation 
engaged in the shipping, transporting, storing, selling or otherwise handling of wild 
blueberries either in processed form or as fresh fruit, whether as owner, agent or 
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otherwise, and that is not a first hauler as defined in subsection I-F. 
Sec.3. 36 MRSA §4305, as amended by PL 2003, c. 705, §5, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
§4305. Certification 
IS 
1. Certification required. Every processor or shipper of wild blueberries shall 
obtain certification from the assessor before processing or shipping wild blueberries. The 
assessor shall provide the applications for the certification, which must contain the name 
under which the processor or shipper is transacting business in the State, the place or 
places of business, the names and addresses of the persons constituting a firm, company 
or partnership and, if a corporation, the corporate name and names and addresses of its 
principal officers and agents in the State. A processor or shipper may not process or ship 
wild blueberries until the certification has been issued. 
2. Violation; faiIsre to obtaiIl tel tificaDoll. The failure to obtain certification 
under subsection I is a civil violation punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000. 
3. Discretiollary slISpellSion or revocation. The assessor may suspend or revoke 
certification for: 
A. Failure to pAy the tax imposed try section 4303; 
B. Filing false or fraudulent reports or returns; or 
C. Failure to comply with section 4315 or 4316. 
4. Mandatory 5l1Spension or revocation. The assessor may suspend or revoke 
certification of a processor or shipper who is convicted under section 4316, subsection 
3-A. Any person convicted under section 431f), subsection 3-A whose certification has 
been suspended may not obtain a new certification from the assessor for 5 years from the 
date of any such conviction. Any firm, company, partnership, association or corporation 
who has one or more owners or principal officers who have been convicted or who have 
been connected with a firm, company. partnership. association or corporation that has 
Page I - J23LR3J97(OJ)-J 
been convicted under section 4316, subsection 3-A may not obtain certification from the 
assessor for 5 years from the date of any such conviction. 
5. Certificate not license. A certificate issued by the assessor pursuant to this 
section is not a license within the meaning of that term in the Maine Administrative 
Procedure Act. 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §4314, sub-§l, as amended by PL 1997, c. 511, §22, is further 
amended to read: 
1. Possession or removal unlawful. It is unlawful for a person to harvest, pick, 
rake, possess or remove wild blueberries from the land of an owner without first securing 
written permission from the owner or the owner's authorized agent. This section does not 
1 
apply to members of an organized crew, if the crew leader has first secured the written 
permission of the owner. The written permission must identify the land by reference to 
tax map, lot number and town. A person authorized to make inspections under this 
chapter may require a person on the land of an owner who has possession of wild 
blueberries or is found harvesting, raking, picking or removing wild blueberries to show a 
current written pemHt permission. Violation of this subsection is a strict liability crime as 
defined in Title 17-A, section 34, subsection 4-A. 
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §4314, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 214, §2, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place: 
3. Violatioa; first offense. A person who violates subsection 1 commits a Class E 
crime. 
Sec. 6. 36 MRSA §4314, sub-§4 is enacted to read: 
4. Violation; subsequent offenses. A person who violates subsection 1 when the 
person has a prior conviction for violation of subsection 1 within the prior 5 years 
commits a Class C crime. Title 17-A, section 9-A governs the use of prior convictions 
when determining a sentence. 
Sec. 7. 36 MRSA §4315, as amended by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. U, §§6 to 8 and 
affected by Pt. X, §2, is further amended to read: 
§4315. Transportation of wild blueberries 
1. Transportation of wild blueberries without permit. A person may not transport 
I 
wild blueberries in quantities exceeding 25 pounds without first obtaining a transportation 
permit on an official form to be furnished by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. 
The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine shall issue upon request offieial uniquely 
numbered transportation permit forms to sl:iippers and proeessors eertified I:Inder seetion 
~ 
owners. Shippers and proeessors Owners may issue the transportation permits to 
owners or O'ymer's trans!,!ortation agents vlith written al:lthorizatioR from owners first 
haulers or shippers who transport wild blueberries directly from the field from which the 
wild blueberries were harvested. Each transportation permit issued ml:lst bear a different 
number and expire automatically expires at the end of September in the ealendar year in 
I 
which it was issued. This subsection does not apply to wild blueberries that have been 
received by a certified shipper or processor and have been weighed, logged into a 
permanent record-keeping system and reloaded onto a vehicle for shipping under a bill of 
lading. 
I-A. Records of permits; confidentiality. When a shipper or processor an owner 
issues a transportation permit, the shi\3\3er or \3rocessor owner shall ·immediatel)' send a 
copy to the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine within 3 business days of the date of 
issuance. The commission shall keep a permanent record of all transportation permits 
issued. The commission shall establish the form and content of transportation permits 
and establish the record-keeping requirements ef for the commission, shippers and 
II 
processors. Notwithstanding any provision of Title I, chapter 13, subchapter I to the 
contrary, records pertaining to transportation permits required to be kept by the \\ ,Id 
Blueberry Commission of Maine under this section are confidential to the extent 
necessary to preserve the identity of parties to individual business transactions. The 
confidential status does not apply when records kept by the Wild Blueberry Commi sion 
of Maine are needed as evidence in a proceeding to enforce a provision the provisions of 
section 4314 or this section chapter or in a prosecution for a violation of any other 
criminal law. 
2. Permits subject to forgery laws. Every permit specified l''1der ~his section is 
deemed to be a written instrument subject to the laws of forgery. 
3. Violation. The following penalties apply to violations of this section. 
A. 
A person who transports wild blueberries in violation of this section commits a 
Oass g crime. Violatioo of this paragraph is a strict liability crime as defined in Title 
A, section 34, subsectiofl 4 A.~ 
(I) A Class E crime if the value of the wild blueberries being transported was 
$100 or less; 
(2) A Class D crime if the value of the wild blueberries being transported was 
more than $100 but not more than $500; 
(3) A Class C crime if the value of the wild blueberries being transported was 
more than $500 but not more than $5,000; and 
(4) A Class B crime if the value of the wild blueberries being transported was 
more than $5,000. 
Violation of this paragraph is a strict liability crime as defined in Title 17-A, section 
34, subsection 4-A. 
B. 
A person who violat~s any other provision of this section commits a civil 
violation for which a fine of not more than ~ 
$1,000 may be adjudged. 
4. Exceptions. A person is not guilty of transporting wild blueberries without a 
transportation permit if: 
A. 
The person is transporting wild blueberries that were not harvested in this State; 
6f 
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B. 
That person purchased the wild blueberries at a store, farm stand, produce 
market or other retail outleh;..Q! 
C. That person is an owner transporting less than 100 pounds of wild blueberries 
harvested from the owner's own land to the owner's residence for personal use. 
Sec. 8. 36 MRSA §4316, as amended by PL 1997, c. 5 I I, §24, is further amended 
to read: 
§4316. Receivers of wild blueberries 
1. Record keeping required. A person who receives wild blueberries shall keep a 
permanent record of each lot or load of wild blueberries received. The record must 
include the name of the driver of the vehicle used to deliver the wild blueberries, the date 
I I 
of delivery, the delivery point, the flUFflser of the traflsportatiofl peffflit a copy of the 
transportation permit, the driver's license number and the total pounds of wild blueberries 
delivered. 
2. Inspection of permit required. It is unlawful for a person to receive or accept 
delivery of wild blueberries in lots of greater than 5 pounds without first inspecting the 
transportation permit of the driver of the vehicle used to deliver the wild blueberries and 
r8cordiflg the traflsportatiofl peffflit fluFflser creating a permanent record in accordance 
with subsection I. 
3. Violation; civil. The failure to keep the permanent records of wild blueberries 
received as required in this section, failure to inspect the transportation permit of a driver 
of a vehicle used to deliver wild blueberries or any other violation ofthis section is a civil 
violation punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 $5,000 for a first-time violation 
and punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 when the person is found to have 
committed a prior civil violation of this section within the prior 5 years. 
3-A. Violation; criminal. A person who violates this section when the person is 
found to have committed 2 prior civil violations of this section commits a Class C crime. 
n 
Title 17-A. section 9-A governs the use of prior convictions when determining a 
sentence. 
3-B. Strict liability crime. Violation of this section is a strict liability crime as 
defined in Title 17-A, section 34, subsection 4-A. 
4. Audits. The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine may request the Department 
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources to conduct audits of the records of receivers for 
the purpose of ascertaining compliance with this section. The commissioner, or a duly 
authorized agent, has free access, during normal business hours, to all records required to 
be kept by receivers pursuant to this section and also to receivers' accounts payable, 
accounts receivable, records of inventories, actual inventories, records of shipments and 
such other business records as are needed to ascertain compliance with this section. Any 
documents inspected or taken by the department in furtherance of the audit functions or 
any other information collected by the department pursuant to the audit must be kept 
confidential notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in Title 1, chapter 
I 
13, subchapter! 1. This confidential status does not apply to any documents, records or 
information that is needed as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding to enforce any 
law under this chapter or any other criminal law. 
SUMMARY 
This bill increases the penalties for violation of the laws regarding transportation and 
receipt of wild blueberries. The bill also clarifies the law regarding issuance of permits 
for transportation of wild blueberries. 
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