Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Division 90 - Weights, Measures and Consumer Protection › Chapter 38 - Unfair Milk Sales Practices Act › Section 2 CSR 90-38.020 - Unfair Milk Sales Practices

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This regulation places prohibitions or
				  requirements on practices done with the intent of or with the effect of
				  unfairly diverting trade from a competitor or otherwise injuring a competitor
				  or destroying competition or of creating a monopoly.
(1) No processor, distributor or
				nonprocessing retailer shall sell any milk product for less than cost, except
				in conformance with section (6) of this rule.
(2) No processor or distributor shall sell
				milk products from different price schedules, including any applicable volume
				price differentials, in different communities in this state from the same
				plant, except that price differentials which reflect actual transportation cost
				differences or which are allowed by section (12) of this rule may be
				made.
(3) No person may advertise,
				offer to sell or sell any milk product with any other commodity or service
				(except services permitted by section (9) of this rule) at a combined price
				which is less than the aggregate of the prices for which the milk product and
				the other commodity or service are offered for sale. This prohibition includes
				the giving of bonus trading stamps, cash discounts or other things of value
				specifically tied to the purchase of milk, but does not prohibit a retailer
				from giving trading stamps, cash discounts and other similar things of value
				for the purchase of milk products on the same basis as those things of value
				are given for the purchase of all other products sold by such
				retailer.
(4) No processor or
				distributor shall differentiate between the price charged for private label
				products and the price charged for the regular brand products if both contain
				like grade and quality of the same milk products and are contained in the same
				size and type of container unless the processor or distributor can establish a
				cost justification for any price differential. The sale of any private label
				product for a price less than the regular brand product the difference not
				being cost justified, will be considered an illegal discount except as that
				price may be authorized by section (12) of this rule.
(5) Delivery tickets or invoices from
				processors or distributors to retail stores must show the actual unit price of
				milk products delivered to the retail store. In the absence of delivery tickets
				or invoices a current report showing the actual unit price of milk products
				delivered must be furnished to each retail store.
(6) No processor or distributor shall give,
				allow or grant to any customer any rebate or discount from the invoice price of
				milk products except as follows:
(A)
				Cost-justified volume price differentials based on differences in delivery
				costs or other provable cost differences may be granted by appropriate discount
				from list price or by lower net invoice prices, provided that they are made
				available to any purchaser who buys the required volume; and
(B) A processor or distributor, at its
				option, may allow a discount of no more than two percent (2%) for prompt
				payment. This discount may be allowed either where a customer requests central
				billing or when s/he pays on an individual and independent basis. In no event,
				however, shall a customer who is centrally billed be allowed any greater
				discount for prompt payment than customers who pay equally promptly for
				products received on an individual and independent basis. In the event that a
				processor or distributor chooses to offer this discount, it may do so only
				after defining the terms of eligibility for this discount through the
				publication of objective written criteria and the distribution of criteria to
				all customers. The criteria shall clearly state the amount of discount any
				customer is entitled to for payment on each of the following items: payment in
				advance, cash on delivery, payment within ten (10) days of delivery, payment
				within twenty (20) days of delivery, payment within thirty (30) days of
				delivery and payment within ten (10) days of monthly billing. A processor or
				distributor may offer the same rate of discount to more than one (1) of these
				categories but each category shall have a rate of discount equal to or greater
				than that given to all categories below it. No discount in any way shall be
				conditioned on the amount of milk products purchased from the processor or
				distributor or on the use of central billing. All customers who pay in a timely
				fashion so as to satisfy the written criteria for prompt payment shall be
				credited with that discount without further request.