2023 Tennessee Code › Title 43 - AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE (§§ 43-1-101 — 43-40-105) › Chapter 32 - COMMODITY WAREHOUSES, DEALERS AND PRODUCERS (§§ 43-32-101 — 43-32-213) › Part 2 - COMMODITY PRODUCER INDEMNITY LAW (§§ 43-32-201 — 43-32-213) › Section 43-32-206 - Assessments - Notice - Refunds - Applicability

(a)
Upon an affirmative vote in the referendum, the commissioner shall notify forthwith by certified mail all persons in this state engaged in the business of purchasing commodities from producers, except for purchasers who are incidental grain dealers, unsecured, that on and after the date specified in the letter, the assessment specified in §
43-32-202
shall be deducted from the producer's payment by the purchaser or the purchaser's agent or representative from the purchase price of the commodities. The assessment so deducted shall, on or before the twentieth day of the month following the end of the month in which the commodities are sold to the purchaser, be remitted by the purchaser to the Tennessee grain indemnity fund. The books and records of all purchasers of commodities, which shall clearly indicate the producer and the amount of the assessment, shall be at all times open for inspection by the commissioner or the commissioner's agents during regular business hours. The commissioner or the commissioner's agents may take such steps as are reasonably necessary to verify the accuracy of books and records of purchasers of commodities.
(b)
Any producer upon and against whom the assessment is levied and collected under this section, if dissatisfied with the assessment and its result, may demand of and receive from the Tennessee commodity producer indemnity fund a refund of the assessment collected from the producer. Requests for refunds shall be made within ninety (90) days of the date the amount was deducted. By voluntarily submitting to a refund, the producer foregoes any protection or compensation provided by the Tennessee grain indemnity fund.
(c)
(1)
Producers who have requested and received a refund of an assessment pursuant to this part may re-enter the program by petitioning commissioner for approval of re-entry into the program and immediately upon mailing a petition for re-entry to the offices of the department, placing an amount equal to all previous assessment refunds plus interest to that producer in an escrow account in a local bank, the previous assessments and the terms and conditions of the escrow account to be determined by the department.
(2)
The commissioner shall review the producer's petition for re-entry and, if approved, the producer shall repay into the appropriate indemnity fund all previous assessment refunds as determined by the department. Producers re-entering the program pursuant to this section will be protected by the program ninety (90) days from the time all previous assessment refunds were placed in escrow.
(3)
No producer will be granted protection of the grain producer indemnity program who has not been a participant in the program prior to meeting the criteria of a claimant.
(d)
Commodity producers from outside Tennessee shall not be subject to the assessment if they certify to the commodity dealer or warehouseman that they are out-of-state producers. The department shall establish the form to be completed, signed and given to the commodity dealer or warehouseman in order to obtain the exemption. A copy of the form shall be kept as a part of the books and records by the commodity dealer or warehouseman and, in addition, a copy of the form shall be supplied to the department. A commodity producer from outside of Tennessee may be subject to the assessment and therefore awarded all the protection of this part if the producer so chooses and meets the requirements of this part. The commissioner may enter into a reciprocal agreement with a contiguous state having a similar program.
(e)
The assessments by the department pursuant to this part are in addition to any other fees or assessments required by law.
Acts 1989, ch. 232, § 15; 1997, ch. 387, §§ 6 - 10; 2011, ch. 69, § 2.