                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 3.2-4709)

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Auction market,&#8221;"livestock auction market,&#8221;"livestock sales
ring,&#8221;"livestock auction,&#8221; or &#8220;livestock auction ring&#8221;
means a place or establishment operated for compensation or profit as a private
or public market, consisting of pens, or other enclosures, and their
appurtenances, in which livestock are received, held for sale or where livestock
is sold or offered for sale either privately or at public auction.
		&#8220;Commission merchant&#8221; means any person who (i) operates an auction
market; (ii) receives farm products for sale on commission or contracts with the
producer for farm products sold on commission or for a fee; (iii) accepts in
trust from the producer for the purpose of sale; (iv) sells or offers for sale
on commission; (v) solicits consignments of any kind of farm products; or (vi)
handles the account of or as an agent of the producer any kind of farm products.
No person shall be deemed to be an agent of the producer unless a specific price
has been agreed upon by both parties before shipment or delivery by the producer
for resale.
		&#8220;Commission merchant&#8221;does not include (i) any cooperative
corporation or association that is subject to the provisions of Article 2 (§
13.1-312 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 13.1; (ii) any association or
organization of farmers, including produce exchanges, not incorporated under or
subject to the provisions of Article 2 (§ 13.1-312 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of
Title 13.1, organized and maintained by farmers for mutual help in the marketing
of their produce and not for profit; (iii) any person buying vegetables,
viticulture, or horticultural farm products for the purpose of reselling these
products in dried, canned, or other preserved form; (iv) the sale of farm
produce at public auction by a licensed auctioneer, acting as the agent of
another to whom such farm produce is consigned; (v) the sale by sheriffs and
other officers and fiduciaries and court officials; (vi) seed sold at retail; or
(vii) persons licensed pursuant to the provisions under the federal Perishable
Agricultural Commodities Act (7 U.S.C. § 499a et seq.).
		&#8220;Farm produce&#8221; or &#8220;farm products&#8221; means horticultural,
viticulture, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee, and other products
ordinarily produced on farms.
		&#8220;Licensee&#8221; means any person who has been granted a license to
operate, conduct, or carry on the business of a commission merchant.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 3-534; 1966, c. 702, § 3.1-692; 1975, c. 505; 1977, c.
21; 2008, c. 860; 2025, c. 142.