§ 1446.703 - Assessment of penalties against handlers.

(a) Penalty liability. A handler shall be subject to the penalty for a violation of any provision of this part including, but not limited to, any or all of the following violations:

(1) Failure to register as a handler of peanuts;

(2) Failure to examine and make entries on marketing card;

(3) Failure to keep or make available records as required by this part;

(4) Marketing excess quota peanuts, as set forth in this part, including any marketing of reentered contract additional peanuts or peanut products made from contract additional peanuts or any marketing of imported peanut products made from additional peanuts purchased from the inventory of CCC loan collateral peanuts;

(5) Failure to store and account for contract additional peanuts in accordance with the requirements of this part;

(6) Failure to export or dispose of contract additional peanuts in accordance with the requirements of this part or failure to export or crush such peanuts by the final disposition date as established in this part;

(7) Failure to obtain supervision of, or to handle properly, contract additional peanuts in the manner required by this part;

(8) Reentering or importing contract additional peanuts or products made from such peanuts as prohibited by this part; or

(9) Failure to comply with any other provision of this part.

(b) Amount of penalty. Except when reduced in accordance with this part, the penalty amount for any violation of this part shall be equal to 140 percent of the national average quota support rate for the applicable crop year times the quantity of peanuts:

(1) Handled by an unregistered handler;

(2) Not properly entered on the marketing card;

(3) For which records have not been properly kept or made available;

(4) Marketed as excess quota peanuts;

(5) Not properly stored;

(6) Not properly disposed of;

(7) Not properly supervised or handled in accordance with the regulations of this part;

(8) Imported as contract additional peanuts;

(9) Determined by CCC to have been necessary to produce the quantity of peanut products which have been determined to have been made from contract additional peanuts, and imported and sold in the United States; or

(10) Otherwise involved in such other violation of this part as may occur.

(c) Notice of assessment. A handler shall be notified in writing of the assessment of a penalty by a CCC contracting officer. Such notice shall state the basis for the assessment of the penalty, and shall advise the handler of the handler's appeal rights under this part.

(d) Interest liability. The person liable for payment or collection of any penalty provided for in these regulations shall be liable also for interest thereon at a rate per annum equal to the rate of interest which was charged CCC by the Treasury of the United States on the date such penalty became due. The date on which the penalty became due shall be the date on which the penalty was first assessed.

(e) Applicability. The provisions of this section are in addition to other remedies provided for by this part or other provisions of law.