(1) ELIGIBILITY. A processing potato buyer may elect not to participate in the fund by doing all of the following: (a) Submitting a notification of nonparticipation to the department by January 31 of each year or, for a new processing potato buyer, at the time of application for its first license. (b) Certifying in a statement to the department that the processing potato buyer will not, in the next licensing year, enter into any of the following: 1. An unwritten contract with a vegetable producer in this state under which the processing potato buyer takes custody or control of processing potatoes more than 10 days before paying for the processing potatoes in full. 2. A written contract with a vegetable producer in this state under which the processing potato buyer takes custody or control of processing potatoes more than 30 days before paying for the processing potatoes in full. (c) Certifying in a statement to the department that the pro- cessing potato buyer does not at the time of certification have any unpaid obligations to vegetable producers under any of the following: 1. An unwritten contract with a vegetable producer in this state under which the processing potato buyer takes custody or control of processing potatoes more than 10 days before paying for the processing potatoes in full. 2. A written contract with a vegetable producer in this state under which the processing potato buyer takes custody or control of processing potatoes more than 30 days before paying for the processing potatoes in full. (d) Providing evidence to the department that the processing potato buyer has a license under the federal Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 7 USC 499a to 499t, that is in good standing. (e) Certifying that it will disclose to all vegetable producers with whom the processing potato buyer contracts that the processing potato buyer does not participate in the fund by providing the following statement, in at least 10-point bold type, in each written contract for processed potatoes or, for unwritten contracts, in a written statement signed by the vegetable processor and the vegetable producer: “The undersigned processing potato buyer, as defined in s. 126.55 (10r), Wisconsin Statutes, does not participate in the Wisconsin agricultural producer security fund, established under s. 25.463, Wisconsin Statutes. As a result the producer does not have the security or other protections against nonpayment provided by that fund. The parties to this contract acknowledge that the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the State of Wisconsin cannot be held liable for any default under the contract between the parties.” (f) Maintaining documentation that every purchase of potatoes grown in this state for processing under contract with the processing potato buyer qualifies for trust protection under the federal Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 7 USC 499a to 499t, and that the vegetable producers’ trust rights have been validly preserved. (2) RESUMING PARTICIPATION. (a) 1. A processing potato buyer that has elected not to participate in the fund may rescind its election and participate in the fund by notifying the department of its intention to participate and complying with par. (b). Participation is effective the 30th day after the day on which the department receives the notice or on the effective date of the security described in par. (b) 1., whichever is later. 2. A processing potato buyer that has elected not to participate in the fund shall participate in the fund if the processing potato buyer ceases to meet the requirements in sub. (1). Participation is effective on the day on which the department notifies the processing potato buyer that the potato buyer in no longer eligible under sub. (1) or on the effective date of the security described in par. (b) 1., whichever is later. (b) 1. A processing potato buyer that decides or is required to participate in the fund under par. (a) shall file security with the department in a form that satisfies the requirements in s. 126.61 (4) and that is in an amount equal to at least 75 percent of the amount last reported under s. 126.56 (9) (b) . The processing potato buyer shall maintain the security until the department releases it. The department may not release the security until the processing potato buyer has participated in the fund for 2 continuous complete license years. 2. A processing potato buyer that decides or is required to participate in the fund under par. (a) shall begin contributing to the fund at the beginning of its 2nd complete license year of participation, except that this requirement does not apply to a processing potato buyer that is disqualified under s. 126.59 (2).
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