reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 377a - Final liquidations—Share received in sugar

Whenever a grower or a group of growers who receive their share in the proceeds of their cane in sugar sell said sugar to a sugar broker intermediary, or to any other buyer, on the basis of a given price or a price to be determined in the future, less shipment and marketing expenses, the Department shall have jurisdiction over these transactions and the parties thereto and may determine, motu proprio, or at the request of a party, the fair and reasonable amount of shipping and marketing expenses as provided in § 377 of this title.
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, added as § 8a on June 27, 1961, No. 125 p. 269, § 2; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 16, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 377b - Final liquidations—Share payable in cash

Whenever a mill pays a grower the money for his/her share in the proceeds of the canes delivered for grinding at said mill, based on a given price of sugar less the shipping and marketing expenses as provided by § 377 of this title and sells the sugar to a sugar broker intermediary or to any other buyer, the Department shall have jurisdiction over these transactions and the parties thereto and may determine, motu proprio, or at the request of a party, the fair and reasonable amount of shipping and marketing expenses as provided in § 377 of this title.
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, added as § 8b on June 27, 1961, No. 125, p. 269, § 2; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 17, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 378 - Checking computations by Department representatives or growers

The Department or any grower or group of growers of any mill, on their own account and expense, may designate a representative and the necessary assistants at the factory, the scales and laboratories of the mill, under the regulations promulgated by the Department to such effects, to oversee the testing operations of the scales, taring the carts, the weighing of cane, juice, sugar and molasses, taking and analyzing samples, and all things inherent to the computation of the sugar in the process of liquidation. The mill shall allow access of such personnel to said factory dependencies and the refinery annexed thereto, if any, and offer reasonable facilities as they may be needed for the performance of their duties.
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, § 9; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 18, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 385 - Regulations—Analyses, apparatus, etc

The Department is hereby empowered to prescribe the rules and regulations it deems proper with regard to taking of samples, analysis and computations. The Department shall be empowered to cause all weighing and measuring devices used by the mills to be calibrated and shall determine whether the laboratory equipment used in each mill is adequate and sufficient and shall see to it that the rules and regulations prescribed by this section are strictly complied with by the mills.
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, § 16; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 20, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 386 - Regulations—Liquidation, payment, etc

Within the powers and limitations established in §§ 371—405 of this title the Department is hereby empowered to prescribe rules and regulations in connection with the liquidation, disposal, pignoration, insurance and payment of the sugar and molasses produced by the growers’ cane as well as the compensation which the growers shall received from each mill on account of hauling and delivery (arrimo).
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, § 17; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 21, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 388 - Inspection of accounts; filing of reports

The Department shall have the right at all times to examine all the accounts, files and notes kept by the mills and may designate any of its officers, officials or employees to perform said inspection. The Department shall also have the power to require that any report, file, document or data be prepared and filed in its office provided it deems it necessary.
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, § 19; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 23, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter I - Sugar Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 371 — 390) › § 389 - Verification of factors

The Department is hereby authorized to verify, at any time it may deem convenient, the factors computed and used by the mills to render the liquidation to the grower and if it were to find a deficiency unfavorable to the grower, the mill shall be bound to immediately readjust the factor determined by the Department, the liquidation or liquidations made to the grower, and reimburse what it has failed to pay him/her. If the deficiency were unfavorable to the mill, it may collect the excess paid to the grower in the subsequent liquidation or subsequent liquidations, as [may be] agreed by both parties.
History —May 13, 1951, No. 426, p. 1138, § 20; Aug. 5, 1993, No. 43, § 24, retroactive to July 1, 1993.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter II - Commission for the Survey of the Problems Confronted by the Sugar Industry (§§ 406 — 408) › § 406 - Integration

There is hereby created a Commission for the Survey of the Problems Confronted by the Sugar Industry, which commission shall be composed of the following members: the Presiding Officers of both Houses of the Legislative Assembly, the chairmen of the Committees on Agriculture and on Labor of both Houses of the Legislative Assembly and one executive officer designated by the Governor of Puerto Rico.
History —May 11, 1950, No. 396, p. 942, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter II - Commission for the Survey of the Problems Confronted by the Sugar Industry (§§ 406 — 408) › § 407 - Presiding officers; advisors

The Commission for the Survey of the Problems Confronted by the Sugar Industry, set up under § 406 of this title, shall be presided over by the Presiding Officers of both Houses of the Legislative Assembly, who shall alternate in presiding over the meetings of the Commission; Provided, That the said Commission shall have power to select the advisors it may deem advisable for the best attainment of the purposes of §§ 406—408 of this title, taking into consideration, when making the selection of advisors, the various factors related to the sugar industry, such as industry and labor.
History —May 11, 1950, No. 396, p. 942, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter II - Commission for the Survey of the Problems Confronted by the Sugar Industry (§§ 406 — 408) › § 408 - Scope of survey

The Commission for the Survey of the Problems Confronted by the Sugar Industry shall make a thorough investigation of the present situation of the industry, including production costs, quotas, competition, sugar market prices, etc.; Provided, That it shall make a direct investigation of the conditions prevailing in the competing areas of Cuba, Hawaii, the Philippines, and others.
History —May 11, 1950, No. 396, p. 942, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter III - Tax Exemptions (§§ 409 — 414) › § 409 - Property taxes

The provisions of any other act to the contrary notwithstanding, sugar produced in Puerto Rico in excess of the annual marketing quotas appertaining to producers and growers, as the case may be, as fixed by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States in the exercise of the authority vested in him under Act No. 388 of the Eightieth Congress of the United States of America, known as the Sugar Act of 1948, as subsequently amended, is hereby exempted from the payment of property taxes.
History —July 1, 1953, No. 123, p. 484, § 1, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1952.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter III - Tax Exemptions (§§ 409 — 414) › § 410 - Unemployment security taxes

Notwithstanding the provisions to the contrary of § 2 of Act May 13, 1951, No. 420, sugarcane growers and sugar factories growing their own sugarcane shall, insofar as such sugarcane is concerned, be exempt from payment of the tax of ten cents (10¢) on each hundredweight of raw sugar yielded by such sugarcane harvested by them, whenever such sugar has been produced in excess of their corresponding marketing quota, and there shall likewise be exempt from the tax of two cents (2¢) a hundredweight the raw sugar manufactured by sugar factories in excess of their marketing quota, and from the tax of one cent (1¢) a hundredweight the refined sugar processed by refineries from such surplus sugar; Provided, That nothing contained herein shall be construed as meaning that any sum collected for unemployment on the basis of the old payroll-tax system shall be returned.
History —July 1, 1953, No. 123, p. 484, § 2, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1952.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter III - Tax Exemptions (§§ 409 — 414) › § 411 - Manufacturing tax

The provisions of any other act to the contrary notwithstanding, sugar produced in Puerto Rico in excess of the annual marketing quotas appertaining to producers and growers, as the case may be, as fixed by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States in the exercise of the authority vested in him under Act No. 388 of the Eightieth Congress of the United States of America, known as the Sugar Act of 1948, as subsequently amended, is hereby exempt from payment of the manufacturing tax of five cents (5¢) a hundredweight fixed by law.
History —July 1, 1953, No. 123, p. 484, § 3, 1953, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1952.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter III - Tax Exemptions (§§ 409 — 414) › § 412 - Selling price; reduction of exemption

It is requisite, for excess sugar to receive the benefits of the exemptions referred to by §§ 409—411 of this title, that such sugar shall have been heretofore sold or shall hereafter be sold outside the domestic market, chargeable to the surplus from the 1951 and 1952 crops, at a price lower than the domestic price as of the date of the sale. Should the selling price, together with the exemptions granted under the provisions of §§ 409—411 of this title, turn out to be higher than the domestic sugar selling price as of the date of the sale of the surplus, such price excess shall be subtracted proportionately from the total of the exemptions.
History —July 1, 1953, No. 123, p. 484, § 4, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1952.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter III - Tax Exemptions (§§ 409 — 414) › § 413 - Refunds or credits

The Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico shall return, chargeable to any existing funds in the Treasury of Puerto Rico, or credit, to the pertinent taxpayer, any amount paid as property tax on surplus sugar exempt by the provisions of §§ 409—414 of this title; he shall likewise return, chargeable to any existing pertinent funds any amount paid as unemployment tax, exempt by the provisions of said sections; and he shall likewise return, chargeable to any existing funds in the Treasury of Puerto Rico, or credit, to the pertinent taxpayer, any amount paid as manufacturing tax on surplus sugar exempt by the provisions of said sections.
History —July 1, 1953, No. 123, p. 484, § 5, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1952.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter III - Tax Exemptions (§§ 409 — 414) › § 414 - Appropriations; personnel; regulations

The sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated from any available funds in the Treasury of Puerto Rico, for the enforcement of §§ 409—414 of this title; and, said sections being of a transitory character, the Secretary of the Treasury may appoint such personnel as may be necessary without being subject to the personnel regulations, and shall prescribe the proper regulations for the enforcement of said sections.
History —July 1, 1953, No. 123, p. 484, § 6, retroactive to Jan. 1, 1952.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter IV - Program to Improve Sugar Industry (§§ 415 — 420g) › § 420 - Program to Improve the Sugar Industry; creation

Under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico, there is hereby established a program of incentives, services and other measures with the intention of improving the sugar industry, not only in its agricultural phase but also in the manufacturing.
History —Dec. 6, 1966, No. 1, p. 3, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter IV - Program to Improve Sugar Industry (§§ 415 — 420g) › § 420b - Authority to transfer

The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, with the approval of the Governor or of the officer in whom he may delegate, to make transferences between the different items appropriated by §§ 420—420g of this title.
History —Dec. 6, 1966, No. 1, p. 3, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter IV - Program to Improve Sugar Industry (§§ 415 — 420g) › § 420c - Use of surpluses

Any surpluses of appropriations provided by approved laws or joint resolutions for similar or analogous programs to those established by §§ 420—420g of this title shall be used, in addition to the funds herein appropriated, to strengthen any or whichever of the phases of the program indicated in § 420a of this title.
History —Dec. 6, 1966, No. 1, p. 3, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter IV - Program to Improve Sugar Industry (§§ 415 — 420g) › § 420e - Personnel

The personnel appointed chargeable to the funds appropriated by §§ 420—420g of this title shall be included in the Exempt Service in accordance with the act which created the Personnel Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Act No. 345 of May 12, 1947, as amended. For the administration of this program the provisions of the law which created the Office of Transportation, Act No. 49, of August 4, 1947, as amended, shall not be applicable nor those of the law which created the Procurement and Supplying of Services, Act No. 96, of June 29, 1954, as amended.
History —Dec 6, 1966, No. 1, p. 3, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter IV - Program to Improve Sugar Industry (§§ 415 — 420g) › § 420f - Faculties, rights and powers of Secretary

The Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico is hereby vested with those necessary faculties, rights and powers so that through himself, or through his employees, agents or authorized representatives, shall carry out the purposes of §§ 420—420g of this title, including but without it being construed as a limitation, the following:
(a) To receive as a gift from any natural or artificial person or private or public institution of Puerto Rico, or of any other country, money, cane cuttings, equipment, supplies and services to be used and expended according to the purposes of §§ 420—420g of this title.
(b) To execute with any natural or juridical person or private or public institution of Puerto Rico or of any other country such contracts, covenants or agreements as the Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico may deem necessary and advisable to carry out the purposes of §§ 420—420g of this title.
(c) To acquire all kinds of real estate, properties and equipment necessary for implementing this program.
(d) To render by itself or to contract for the rendering of services provided under §§ 420—420g of this title.
(e) To transfer funds and resources to other agencies or instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to carry out certain phases of activities of the program established by §§ 420—420g of this title when in his judgment such action would facilitate or hasten the achievements of the proposed objectives.
(f) To enter the grounds or premises of persons or entities receiving benefits from any of the provisions of §§ 420—420g of this title with the purpose of verifying that the established standards of §§ 420—420g of this title and regulations promulgated thereunder are or have been complied with.
History —Dec. 6, 1966, No. 1, p. 3, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 17 - Sugar (§§ 371 — 420g) › Subchapter IV - Program to Improve Sugar Industry (§§ 415 — 420g) › § 420g - Annual reports

There shall be annually rendered to the Legislature a report of the investments and of the funds appropriated by §§ 420—420g of this title, also of the works and tasks carried out with said funds.
History —Dec. 6, 1966, No. 1, p. 3, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430 - Definitions

The following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meaning stated below, except when it is otherwise clearly indicated in the context:
(a) Assets. — Shall mean any thing owned by a person or enterprise.
(b) Authority. — Shall mean the Puerto Rico Land Authority, created by §§ 241 et seq. of Title 28.
(c) Sugar. — Shall mean the product in crystal form extracted from sugarcane.
(d) Bank. — Shall mean the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, created by §§ 551 et seq. of Title 7.
(e) Batey. — Shall mean the area or site occupied by the sugar mill, refinery, dwellings, sheds, warehouses, boilers and other facilities surrounding the sugar mill which are necessary for its operation.
(f) Cane. — Shall mean a gramineous plant of the genus Sacharum with a ligneous and knotty stem measuring between three (3) and four (4) meters in height, from which sugar is extracted.
(g) Central (sugar mill). — Shall mean a system of machinery to grind the cane and obtain sugar.
(h) Colono. — Shall mean any natural or juridical person or public corporation in Puerto Rico who presently or in the future participates in the planting and harvesting of sugarcane which is sent to a sugar mill where said cane is to be ground.
(i) Corporation. — Shall mean the Puerto Rico Sugar Corporation, created by Resolution No. 27, approved by the Board of Governors of the Authority on January 29, 1973.
(j) Department. — Shall mean the Department of Agriculture of Puerto Rico, created by §§ 351 et seq. of Title 3.
(k) Enterprise(s). — Shall mean the juridical person(s) constituted by the colonos to execute the purposes of this chapter.
(l) Date of transfer. — Shall mean the date or dates on which the transfer of certain assets and liabilities of the Corporation and/or the Authority is made to the enterprises created by the colonos. Each date of transfer shall refer to an asset or assets transferred at that specific moment.
(m) Government of Puerto Rico or Government. — Shall mean the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(n) Act. — Shall mean the Transfer of Assets of the Puerto Rico Sugar Corporation and/or the Puerto Rico Land Authority Act.
(o) Liability. — Shall mean the total amount of a debt or lien of a person or entity.
(p) Refinery. — Shall mean the plant to refine the sugar extracted from the cane.
(q) Secretary. — Shall mean the Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico.
(r) Variety. — Shall mean each of the classes into which the Saccharum officinarum species is divided, according to their special characteristics.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 2; Dec. 28, 1997, No. 202, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430c - Supervision by the Authority

The Authority shall be entitled to examine the books, accounts and records of the enterprise(s) for the period of twenty-five (25) years, in order to verify that the assets alienated by the enterprise(s) are reinvested in their operations.
The enterprise(s) shall be responsible for providing to the Legislature and to the Authority a yearly audited general balance sheet with the corresponding recommendations.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430e - Incentives

This chapter shall not affect the granting of subsidies and incentives provided to the colonos through the Farming and Animal Husbandry Services and Development Administration. No later than five (5) years after the transfer date, the Secretary shall conduct a study and present to the Governor of Puerto Rico his/her recommendations as to whether said subsidies and incentives should continue or be repealed. To that end, the enterprise(s) shall submit all reports required by the Secretary and place at his/her disposal all books, accounts and other documents so that the latter may obtain the necessary data for said study.
The subsidies and incentives offered by the Corporation to the colonos annually shall be terminated on the transfer date, with the exception of the incentive for new plantings, and cutting and transportation, which shall be granted by the Farming and Animal Husbandry Services and Development Administration under the same terms as those indicated in the first paragraph of this section.
The enterprise(s) that take(s) charge of the cultivation, production, marketing and sale of sugarcane and/or its by-products using the assets transferred by this chapter, shall enjoy the provisions of §§ 10401 et seq. of Title 13, known as the “Agricultural Tax Incentives Act”.
Furthermore, they shall be entitled to the exemption provided by § 9011(c)(5) of Title 13, part of the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430f - Authorization

The Executive Director of the Corporation, or if the latter has been liquidated, the Executive Director of the Authority, is hereby authorized to negotiate the specific terms and conditions of the transfer, as well as to execute and grant, on behalf and in favor of the Corporation, all certificates, deeds, agreements, contracts and other instruments deemed to be necessary or convenient to effect the transfer provided in this chapter, with the approval of the Board of Governors of the Authority.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 8; Dec. 28, 1997, No. 202, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430g - Liquidation ordered

The Executive Director of the Corporation and/or the Authority is hereby authorized to solicit from time to time, from the Puerto Rico Legislature, the funds needed to liquidate all those obligations of the Corporation or the Authority, while administering the Mercedita Refinery, related to retirement plans and collective bargaining agreements of the employees, environmental obligations, legal actions and other contingencies which may arise after the tansfer dte, related to actions or omissions of the Corporation or the Authority, while administering the Mercedita Refinery, before the tansfer date, as established in subsection (a)(1) of § 430a of this title.
Part of the negotiations authorized by virtue of this chapter shall be to make an estimate of the losses corresponding to the 1998 crop in order to fix the total amount of said losses to be assumed by the Sugar Corporation, or if the latter has been liquidated, by the Land Authority, which may not exceed the amount of nine million dollars ($9,000,000). Should the losses exceed said limit, the Executive Director of the Corporation and/or the Authority shall proceed according to the provisions of § 430d of this title.
Part of the negotiations authorized by virtue of this chapter shall be to make an estimate of the costs corresponding to the 1999 crop and the running expenses for the year 2000 in order to fix the total amount of said costs, of which a total of eight million dollars ($8,000,000) shall be assumed by the Corporation, or if the latter has been liquidated, by the Authority. Said additional funds shall be provided for this purpose by the bank ($6,000,000) and by the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico ($2,000,000), as established in § 430d of this title. Furthermore, the colonos shall have access to the two million seven [hundred] thousand dollars ($2,700,000) which were previously authorized and not disbursed to cover the running expenses for the 1998 crop.
The amount honored shall be included as part of the ten million dollars ($10,000,000) which the Office of Management and Budget shall recommend annually in the General Expenses Budget of the Government of Puerto Rico in order to amortize the debt of the Sugar Corporation.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 9; Dec. 28, 1997, No. 202, § 6; Aug. 17, 1999, No. 271, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430h - Extension of accreditation benefits for prior services

The accreditation benefits for prior services accrued in the Employees Retirement System of the Government of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities are extended to the employees of the sugar mills which were acquired by the Government of Puerto Rico after 1970 and which became participants in the Retirement System when the Corporation joined the latter in 1976.
The Corporation shall pay the corresponding employer’s contribution for each employee requesting accreditation of services.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 10.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 18 - Sugar Corporation—Transfer of Assets and Debts to Sugarcane Growers (§§ 430 — 430i) › § 430i - Exemption of rights

The transfer of all real property and other property provided in this chapter shall exempt them from the payment of all kinds of fees prescribed for granting public documents and the registration of said documents and other operations in the Puerto Rico Property Register.
History —Sept. 5, 1996, No. 189, § 11.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 19 - Citron Industry (§§ 431 — 434) › § 431 - Regulation

The duties of the Department of Agriculture shall be, among others, to labor for the improvement of the production of citron on this island, and for an improved industrial processing thereof in order to safeguard the quality of the products; to make surveys of markets; to take steps to find markets for said fruit; and to forestall, as may be most advisable, such unfair competition among producers and industrialists, as might be the cause of economic trouble to producers, industrialists and laborers of said industry, but without interfering with Commonwealth or federal enactments which guarantee the freedom of agricultural, commercial or industrial activities.
History —May 5, 1948, No. 94, p. 212, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 19 - Citron Industry (§§ 431 — 434) › § 432 - Referendum; scope of regulations

The Department of Agriculture shall adopt regulations, which shall be submitted to a referendum among the citron producers and industrialists of Puerto Rico not later than thirty days after the adoption thereof by the Department. Said regulations shall, without implying a limitation to the powers of the Department, include provisions for the equitable apportionment of quotas among the citron producers and the industrialists who process the fruit; a definition of what constitutes a citron grower and a processing industrialist of this fruit in Puerto Rico; permits which shall be issued to the interested parties; measures to ensure the best distribution of the quantities of citron normally absorbed by national and foreign markets, and the best quality and processing of the fruit; to fix quantities to be processed as surpluses, as well as to determine when such regulations shall be suspended either temporarily or permanently. If the result of the referendum is favorable to the adoption thereof, it shall be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for his signature, and from that time it shall have the force of law, and shall be binding on the citron producers and industrialists of Puerto Rico.
History —May 5, 1948, No. 94, p. 212, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 19 - Citron Industry (§§ 431 — 434) › § 433 - Personnel; finances

The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to employ personnel from his department, without prejudice to other duties, and he is hereby authorized to dispose, for the enforcement of §§ 431—434 of this title, of any sums, or the part thereof that may be necessary which may be available in his department and not otherwise allocated.
History —May 5, 1948, No. 94, p. 212, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 19 - Citron Industry (§§ 431 — 434) › § 434 - Penalties

The violation of §§ 431—434 of this title or regulations hereunder shall be considered as a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a maximum fine of one hundred dollars ($100) for the first violation, and for subsequent violations by a minimum fine of two hundred dollars ($200).
History —May 5, 1948, No. 94, p. 212, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 21 - Promoting Cultivation of Various Products (§§ 461-467 — 473) › § 472 - Bay trees, protection and promotion of cultivation

The Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico is hereby directed to promulgate such rules and regulations as he may consider necessary for the purpose of protecting the present plantations of bay trees and of preventing their destruction, and that likewise tend to increase the cultivation of this tree in Puerto Rico; Provided, That as soon as possible, the Secretary of Agriculture shall take a census showing the names of those farmers who are cultivating this tree and the amount of land that each one is devoting to its cultivation, for the purpose of determining how far the planting of this tree may be promoted and of furnishing some special protection for its cultivation, if necessary and advisable, through action that this Legislative Assembly may take for the purpose at some future session.
History —Apr. 9, 1941, No. 18, p. 356, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 21 - Promoting Cultivation of Various Products (§§ 461-467 — 473) › § 473 - Repealed. Act Feb. 18, 2011, No. 13, § 1, effective February 18, 2011

History —Apr. 12, 1917, No. 36, p. 202, § 1; Repealed. Act.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 520a - Introduction of commercial fertilizers with sand, earth, soil or vegetable matter as filler

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the [importation] or introduction into Puerto Rico of any commercial fertilizer whatsoever which contains or may contain sand, earth, soil or vegetable matter as a filler, or whose filler contains or may contain any type of plant disease, as that term is defined in §§ 613—613n of this title, known as the “Plant Quarantine Act of Puerto Rico”, is forbidden.
(b) The Secretary may allow the [importation] or introduction into Puerto Rico of any commercial fertilizer containing sand, earth, soil or vegetable matter as filler, provided that the lot of said commercial fertilizer is accompanied by an official inspection certificate issued by the Department of Agriculture of the United States, or the Department of Agriculture of any State of the United States, or any country from whence said commercial fertilizer comes, evincing that the sand, earth, soil or vegetable matter used as filler in said commercial fertilizer were duly sterilized immediately prior to being added to the commercial fertilizer to be imported or introduced into Puerto Rico.
(c) Every lot of commercial fertilizer arriving in Puerto Rico from abroad shall be subject to inspection by the Secretary or his/her authorized representative, pursuant to the provisions of § 525 of this title, in order to verify that said commercial fertilizer complies with the applicable requirements of §§ 519—535 of this title.
If upon inspection of commercial fertilizer imported or introduced into Puerto Rico, it is determined that the latter contains sand, earth, soil or vegetable matter as a filler, and that it does not include the certificate of inspection required under subsection (b) of this section, or that said filler contains any plant disease, the lot of commercial fertilizer inspected shall, at the option of the importer or consignee, be returned to the sender or destroyed without payment of any compensation whatsoever.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, added as § 2-A on Aug. 24, 1997, No. 103, § 3, eff. 30 days after Aug. 24, 1997.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 521 - Bonds

Every person or organization manufacturing, importing and/or distributing, for use in Puerto Rico, commercial fertilizers and/or raw materials for fertilizers and amendments to the soil shall file with the Secretary a bond in favor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in the amount that the Secretary may determine, and which shall not be less than two thousand dollars ($2,000) nor more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), according to the volume of his business, and in the form approved by the Secretary of Justice. Said bond shall be underwritten by a surety corporation or company authorized to do business in Puerto Rico, and the amount thereof shall answer for any claim made by any person in connection with any commercial fertilizer or raw material for fertilizer, purchased in Puerto Rico, as determined by these §§ 519—535 of this title.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 3, eff. 120 days after May 8, 1973.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 523 - False labeling

(a) The importation or distribution in Puerto Rico of falsely labeled commercial fertilizers or amendments to the soil is hereby forbidden.
(b) A commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil shall be considered falsely labeled:
(1) If the label does not bear all the information required by § 522 of this title.
(2) If the information on the label contains false or unjustified claims concerning properties, constituents, or concentration of constituents in the commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 5; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 524 - Adulteration and deficiencies

(a) The importation or distribution in Puerto Rico of commercial fertilizers or amendments to the soil deficient as to the guaranteed analysis is hereby forbidden.
(b) A commercial fertilizer or soil additive shall be deemed adulterated of deficient:
(1) If it contains any raw material or other substance whose use in said commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil has not been authorized by the Secretary.
(2) If the analysis of an official sample shows that there is a deficiency in the composition of the commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil according to its guaranteed analysis.
(3) If it contains noxious substances in amounts that are harmful or prejudicial to the crops or plants on which it is used.
(4) If it contains additional materials to those authorized by the Secretary for that formula.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 6; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 5; Aug. 24, 1997, No. 103, § 5, eff. 30 days after Aug. 24, 1997.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 526 - Rules to determine deficiencies

To determine if a commercial fertilizer or raw material for fertilizer is or is not deficient for the purposes of §§ 519—535 of this title, the following rules shall be applied:
(1) When the official chemical analysis thereof discloses that its total commercial value is less than ninety-seven percent (97%) of its guaranteed total commercial value, the corresponding commercial fertilizer or raw material for fertilizers shall be deemed deficient.
(2) When the deficiency in nitrogen (N) is eight-tenths of one percent (0.8%) or more, or the deficiency in total phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5) is one percent (1%) or more, or the deficiency in assimilable phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5) is eight-tenths of one percent (0.8%) or more, or the deficiency in water soluble potash (K 2 O) is eight-tenths of one percent (0.8%) or more, the commercial fertilizer or raw material for fertilizers in question shall be deemed deficient, without taking into consideration the total commercial value of the nutritive elements or substances for plants that they may contain, that is, notwithstanding they may contain an excess of the amount guaranteed in the other ingredients, this excess shall not be taken into consideration in estimating the deficiency.
(3) In the case of amendments to the soil, the product shall be considered deficient when the total content of the active ingredient or ingredients, as shown by analysis, is two percent (2%) or less than the total guaranteed content; or when the percentage or percentages of pulverization is less than five percent (5%) than the corresponding guaranteed percentage or percentages of pulverization. A commercial fertilizer shall be considered deficient when it contains less than a total of twenty-four percent (24%) by weight of the nutritive substances: nitrogen (N), assimilable phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5) and water soluble potash (K 2 O), save for such exceptional cases where the Secretary, with the advice of the Fertilizer Board created under § 520 of this title, deems necessary or convenient its manufacture or distribution for use in Puerto Rico.
(4) The commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil shall be considered deficient if it contains elements or organisms which are harmful to the normal development of plants.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 8; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 7.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 528 - Detention and confiscation of commercial fertilizers and amendments to soil

(a) The Secretary shall be empowered to issue a detainer on any lot of a commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil that in his judgment is being distributed or imported in violation of any of the provisions of §§ 519—535 of this title or of the regulations promulgated hereunder. It is hereby prohibited to distribute or otherwise dispose of any lot of commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil thus detained without the previous written authorization of the Secretary, or of a competent court of justice in any appeal the manufacturer, importer or distributor may file in the Court of First Instance opposing the validity of the detention not later than 30 days after having received copy of the detainer. Notwithstanding the penalties provided in §§ 519—535 of this title, which shall not be applicable to this violation, any person who distributes or otherwise disposes of any detained lot of commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil without the previous written authorization of the Secretary or of a competent court of justice shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars ($200) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) or imprisonment for not less than ten (10) days nor more than ninety (90) days, or by both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
(b) The Secretary shall stay the detainer on any lot of commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil when the violations are corrected to his satisfaction within a period of thirty (30) days from the date the detainer was served. When the violations are not corrected within said period of thirty (30) days, or in any case in which the detention of the commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil has not been appealed on time or the appeal has not been successful, the Secretary may require from the Secretary of Justice that the fertilizer or amendment to the soil be confiscated. In such cases, the confiscated product may be donated to Commonwealth agencies or instrumentalities which can use it.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 10; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 9.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 529a - Penalties and interest on taxes in arrears

Every manufacturer or distributor or commercial fertilizer or soil additives who fails to pay the extraordinary taxes established in § 535 of this title within the term fixed by this provision, shall [pay] the following surcharges in addition to said taxes:
(1) Progressive surtax. — Five percent (5%) of the total amount of the taxes when payment is made thirty (30) days after the date when payment was due and ten percent (10%) of the total amount of the taxes when payment is made sixty (60) days after the date when payment was due.
(2) Interest. — Interest on the total amount of the tax computed at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum from the date fixed for payment.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, added as § 11-A on Aug. 24, 1997, No. 103, § 8, eff. 30 days after Aug. 24, 1997.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 530 - Regulations

The Secretary shall draft, with the advice of the Fertilizer Board, the corresponding regulations for commercial fertilizers and soil additives, in which all those rules for the inspection, analysis, manufacture, [importation] and distribution of commercial fertilizers and soil additives not in conflict with §§ 519-535 of this title shall be established, and which, in his/her judgment, may be necessary to achieve the best enforcement thereof. Said regulations shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”, and shall have the force of law.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 12; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 12; Aug. 24, 1997, No. 103, § 9, eff. 30 days after Aug. 24, 1997.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 531 - Damages by harmful substances

If any commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil contains substances harmful to vegetation, even though its purity may be guaranteed by the manufacturer or distributor and the composition of the respective commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil may correspond to the stipulated guarantee, the purchaser may claim from the manufacturer or distributor and damages suffered, provided the presence of such harmful substances is the cause of the damage to the plantation where said commercial fertilizer or amendment to the soil is used.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 13; June 18, 1974, No. 74, Part 1, p. 275.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 532 - Emergency; rationing

When the Secretary determines that an emergency exists in the supply or production of commercial fertilizers and/or raw materials for fertilizers for use in Puerto Rico, or that the possible stock of such commercial fertilizers and/or raw materials for fertilizers for use in Puerto Rico does not offer a guarantee of stability, said Secretary shall request the Governor of Puerto Rico to declare the existence of an emergency in the supply and/or production of commercial fertilizers and/or raw materials for fertilizers for use in Puerto Rico. After such an emergency has been declared, the Secretary may, with the advice of the Fertilizer Board, by regulation or order, freeze and ration to growers the quantities of such elements or nutritive substances of which there is or may be a critical shortage, in order to insure an equitable distribution of said nutritive elements or substances, whether in the form of raw materials for fertilizers or of commercial fertilizers. To determine what constitutes an equitable distribution, the quantities of the nutritive elements or substances respectively consumed during the three (3) fiscal years prior to the date on which the emergency is declared shall be taken into consideration.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 14, eff. 120 days after May 8, 1973.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 533 - Administrative fines

After holding the corresponding administrative hearing, in which the person involved shall have the opportunity to be heard, according to the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”, the Secretary is hereby empowered to impose administrative fines up to a sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for any violation of the provisions of §§ 519—535 of this title or of the regulations promulgated thereunder.
The Secretary, at his/her discretion, may prosecute any violation of §§ 519—535 of this title through the administrative or judicial venue. The regulations to be established by virtue of the provisions of §§ 519—535 of this title shall provide the procedure to be followed in the imposition and collection of these fines, which shall be paid by certified check or money order payable to the Secretary of the Treasury and directed to the Department of Agriculture.
The provisions of this section shall not be applicable in cases of violations of the requirements of the minimum guaranteed analysis for nitrogen (N), assimilable phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5) and water soluble potash (K 2 O) in any commercial fertilizer or raw material for fertilizers, in which case the provisions of § 527 of this title shall be applicable.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 15; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 13; Aug. 24, 1997, No. 103, § 10, eff. 30 days after Aug. 24, 1997.