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 90-38.050 - Enforcement of 2 CSR 90-38.030 Stayed or Enjoined

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule provides alternate provisions
				  concerning price filings, volume price differentials and cost records which
				  were filed in 1970 and upheld in 1972 by the Missouri Supreme Court, if
				  enforcement of all or part of
				  2 CSR 90-38.030 is
				  stayed or enjoined by any court in this state.
(1) Within fifteen (15) days (July 17, 1970)
				after the effective date of these rules (July 2, 1970), every processor and
				distributor shall file with the director of agriculture, on forms furnished by
				the director, the price of every milk product proposed to offer for sale in
				Missouri. Any processor or distributor whose prices differ in localities served
				for the reasons enumerated in section
				416.420,
				RSMo or for any other lawful reason will file a separate price list for each
				such locality. The prices filed as provided in this rule will be current at all
				times and any change in prices after the initial filing (up or down) will be
				filed with the director within forty-eight (48) hours after the effective date
				thereof. In compliance with this rule, processors will file their dock price
				and their wholesale price. Distributors shall file their wholesale
				price.
(2) No sale will be made by
				any processor or distributor below the prices filed with the director as
				provided by this rule, except as provided otherwise in this rule. Provided
				further, nothing contained in this rule will prohibit a processor or
				distributor from making a sale at a price below the prices on file with the
				director of agriculture if such a sale is made in good faith to meet the
				equally lower price of a competitor. Any sale made under this provision must be
				reported to the director of agriculture in writing, by registered mail or
				telegram, postmarked or dated within twenty-four (24) hours after the sale has
				been made and the notification of the sale for such purpose to the director of
				agriculture shall name the competitor offering the lower price, the name and
				address of the person receiving the lower price, the date or dates, the amount
				of the lower price and any and all other conditions of the sale relevant to
				indicate the good faith of the person making the reduction to meet competition.
				Upon receipt of the report, the director will immediately cause an
				investigation to be conducted to determine whether good cause exists to justify
				a lower price to meet competition as alleged in the report. The director will
				notify the person filing the report that his/her lower price is either approved
				or disapproved within ten (10) days after receipt of the report.
(3) Any sale by any processor or distributor
				to a customer for an amount less than the prices filed under section (1),
				except as provided in this rule, or a reduction in good faith still validly in
				force under the meeting competition provisions of section (2), will be
prima facie
evidence of an illegal discount and a violation of
				section
				416.420,
				RSMo and may result in the institution of proceedings as provided in section
				416.450,
				RSMo.
(4) The director recognizes
				that, under certain conditions and circumstances, a processor or distributor
				may be justified in making a price reduction to a given purchaser which results
				from a saving to a processor or distributor because of the quantity and type of
				delivery in which the milk products to that purchaser are sold or delivered.
				The difference between the price as filed and the price as so reduced as a
				result of the saving, stated in cents or as a percentage of the filed price
				shall be known as the volume price differential. In the event any processor or
				distributor wishes to grant a price reduction and establish a volume price
				differential to one (1) or more customers, s/he will file the volume price
				differential with the director (on forms furnished by the director) five (5)
				days before the effective date of the proposed volume price differential on
				each price reduction to be granted, including the name and address of the
				recipient, the date or dates on which it will be granted and all relevant
				factors indicating the cost-justification. The proposed volume price
				differential will be examined by the director and approved or disapproved
				before the effective date and the proponent will be notified accordingly. If
				the proposed volume price differential is disapproved by the director, the
				aggrieved processor or distributor may request a hearing at which s/he may
				submit evidence to the director showing justification for the proposed volume
				price differential. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with
				procedures for contested cases as established by Chapter 536, RSMo.
(5) Each processor and each distributor shall
				keep current records to show the cost of doing business. On the written request
				of the director, the product cost shall be computed for any designated period
				in accordance with accepted cost accounting methods.
*Original authority 1959, amended
					 1993.