[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 8]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR900.82]

[Page 26]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
  CHAPTER IX--AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and 
      Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 900--GENERAL REGULATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Subpart--Supplemental Rules of Practice for Marketing Orders, Marketing 
 Agreements, and Requirements Issued Pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 608b(b) and 7 
            U.S.C. 608e Covering Fruits, Vegetables, and Nuts
 
Sec. 900.82  Stipulation procedures.

    The Administrator, or the Administrator's representative, may, at 
any time before the issuance of a complaint seeking a civil penalty 
under the Act, enter into a stipulation with any handler or importer in 
accordance with the following procedures:
    (a) The Administrator, or the Administrator's representative, shall 
give the handler or importer notice of the alleged violation of the 
applicable marketing order or marketing agreement, or the requirements 
issued pursuant to 7 U.S.C. 608b(b) and 7 U.S.C. 608e, and an 
opportunity for a hearing thereon as provided by the Act;
    (b) In agreeing to the proposed stipulation, the handler or importer 
expressly waives the opportunity for a hearing and agrees to pay a 
specified civil penalty within a designated time;
    (c) The Administrator, or the Administrator's representative, agrees 
to accept the specified civil penalty in settlement of the particular 
matter involved if it is paid within the designated time;
    (d) In cases where the handler or importer does not pay the 
specified civil penalty within the designated time, or the handler or 
importer does not agree to the stipulation, the Administrator may issue 
an administrative complaint; and
    (e) The civil penalty that the Administrator may have proposed in a 
stipulation agreement shall have no bearing on the civil penalty amount 
that the Department may seek in a formal administrative proceeding 
against the same handler or importer for the same alleged violation.