[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR46.49]

[Page 289-290]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
                        DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 46_REGULATIONS (OTHER THAN RULES OF PRACTICE) UNDER THE 
PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ACT, 1930--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 46.49  Written notifications and complaints.

    (a) Written notification, as used in section 6(b) of the Act, means:
    (1) Any written statement reporting or complaining of a PACA 
violation(s) filed by any officer or agency of any State or Territory 
having jurisdiction

[[Page 290]]

over licensees or persons subject to license, or any other interested 
person who has knowledge of or information regarding a possible 
violation, other than an employee of an agency of USDA administering 
this Act or a person filing a complaint under Section 6(c);
    (2) Any written notice of intent to preserve the benefits of the 
trust established under section 5 of this Act; or
    (3) Any official certificate(s) of the United States Government or 
States or Territories of the United States.
    (b) Any written notification may be filed by delivering it to any 
office of USDA or any official thereof responsible for administering the 
Act. A written notification which is so filed, or any expansion of an 
investigation resulting from any indication of additional further 
violations of the Act found as a consequence of an investigation based 
on written notification or complaint, shall also be deemed to constitute 
a complaint under section 13(a) of this Act.
    (c) Upon becoming aware of a complaint under Section 6(a) or 6(b) of 
this Act, the Secretary will determine if reasonable grounds exist for 
an investigation of such complaint for disciplinary action. If the 
investigation substantiates the existence of violations, a formal 
disciplinary complaint may be filed by the Secretary as described under 
Section 6(c)(2) of the Act.
    (d) Whenever an investigation, initiated as a result of a written 
notification or complaint under Section 6(b) of the Act, is commenced, 
or expanded to include new violations, notice shall be given by the 
Secretary to the subject of the investigation within thirty (30) days of 
the commencement or expansion of the investigation. Within one hundred 
and eighty (180) days after giving initial notice, the Secretary shall 
provide the subject of the investigation with notice of the status of 
the investigation, including whether the Secretary intends to issue a 
complaint under Section 6(c)(2) of this Act, terminate the 
investigation, or continue or expand the investigation. Thereafter, the 
subject of the investigation may request in writing, no more frequently 
than every ninety (90) days, a status report from the Chief of the PACA 
Branch who shall respond thereto within fourteen (14) days of receiving 
the request. When an investigation is terminated, the Secretary shall, 
within fourteen (14) days, notify the subject of the investigation of 
the termination. In every case in which notice or response is required 
under this subsection such notice or response shall be accomplished by 
personal service or by posting the notice or response by certified mail 
to the last known address of the subject of the investigation.

[62 FR 15089, Mar. 31, 1997]