Title 7

SECTION 869.303

869.303 Electronic warehouse receipts.

§ 869.303 Electronic warehouse receipts.

(a) Warehouse operators issuing EWR under the Act may issue EWR's for the agricultural product stored in their warehouse. Warehouse operators issuing EWR's under the Act must:

(1) Only issue EWR's through one AMS-authorized provider annually;

(2) Inform AMS of the identity of their provider, when they are a first time user of EWR's, 60 calendar days in advance of issuing an EWR through that provider. AMS may waive or modify this 60-day requirement as set forth in § 869.2(b);

(3) Before issuing an EWR, request and receive from AMS a range of consecutive warehouse receipt numbers that the warehouse will use consecutively for issuing their EWR's;

(4) When using an authorized provider, issue and cancel all warehouse receipts as EWR's;

(5) Cancel an EWR only when they are the holder of the warehouse receipt;

(6) Be the holder of an EWR to correct information contained within any required data field;

(7) Receive written authorization from AMS at least 30 calendar days before changing providers. Upon authorization, they may request their current provider to transfer their EWR data from its Central Filing System (CFS) to the CFS of the authorized provider whom they select; and

(8) Notify all holders of EWR's by inclusion in the CFS at least 30 calendar days before changing providers, unless otherwise required or allowed by AMS.

(b) An EWR establishes the same rights and obligations with respect to an agricultural product as a paper warehouse receipt and possesses the following attributes:

(1) The holder of an EWR will be entitled to the same rights and privileges as the holder of a paper warehouse receipt.

(2) Only the current holder of the EWR may transfer the EWR to a new holder.

(3) The identity of the holder must be confidential and included as information for every EWR.

(4) Only one person may be designated as the holder of an EWR at any one time.

(5) A warehouse operator may not issue an EWR on a specific identity-preserved or commingled lot of agricultural product or any portion thereof while another valid warehouse receipt representing the same specific identity-preserved or commingled lot of agricultural product remains not canceled. No two warehouse receipts issued by a warehouse operator may have the same warehouse receipt number or represent the same agricultural product lot.

(6) An EWR may only be issued to replace a paper warehouse receipt if requested by the current holder of the paper warehouse receipt.

(7) Holders and warehouse operators may authorize any other user of their provider or the provider itself to act on their behalf with respect to their activities with this provider. This authorization must be in writing, and acknowledged and retained by the warehouse operator and provider.

(c) A warehouse operator not licensed under the Act may, at the option of the warehouse operator, issue EWRs in accordance with this subpart, except this option does not apply to a warehouse operator that is licensed under State law to store agricultural products in a warehouse if the warehouse operator elects to issue an EWR under State law.

[67 FR 50783, Aug. 5, 2002. Redesignated and amended at 84 FR 45645, 45646 Aug. 30, 2019]

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