Warehouse receipts shall be either a written or an electronic
document and must comply with the requirements of Article 7 of the Uniform
Commercial Code, except to the extent inconsistent with the Code, in which
instance the provisions of the Code prevail. A licensee may issue warehouse
receipts by use of a written warehouse receipt system, an electronic warehouse
receipt system, or both.
1) Paper
warehouse receipts shall include the following information:
A) Class of warehouse (I or II).
B) The legal name of the entity operating the
warehouse.
C) If a license covers
multiple locations, at which location delivery was made and date of
delivery.
D) The kind and the grade
factors of the grain as prescribed by the Official Grain Standards ( 7 CFR 810,
January 2007).
E) The number of
bushels stored.
F) The words
"Negotiable" or "Non-negotiable" according to the nature of the receipt,
conspicuously printed or stamped on the receipt.
2) Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWR)
A) An EWR must be in the format prescribed in
the applicable provider agreement.
B) An EWR issued in accordance with the Code
shall not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability on the grounds
that the information is generated, sent, received or stored by electronic or
similar means.
C) A warehouseman
shall not be required to issue a warehouse receipt in electronic
form.
D) If a warehouseman licensed
under the Code elects to issue EWRs, and if the depositor or other holder
prefers a paper receipt, the warehouseman shall cancel the EWR and reissue a
paper receipt.
E) A warehouseman
intending to issue or issuing EWRs under the Code shall:
i) issue an EWR through only one authorized
provider annually;
ii) inform the
Department of the identity of its provider 60 calendar days in advance of first
issuing an EWR through that provider. The Department may waive or modify this
60-day requirement;
iii) before
issuing an EWR, request and receive from FSA or the Department a range of
consecutive warehouse receipt numbers that the warehouseman will use
consecutively for issuing their EWRs;
iv) cancel an EWR only when it is the holder
of the EWR;
v) receive written
authorization from FSA at least 30 calendar days before changing providers.
Upon authorization, a warehouseman may request its current provider to
transfer, and that provider shall transfer, its EWR data from the current
provider's CFS to the CFS of the authorized provider it selects;
vi) notify all holders of EWRs in the CFS at
least 30 calendar days before changing providers, unless otherwise allowed or
required by FSA; and
vii) For
purposes of subsection (a)(2)(E)(iv), the warehouseman is considered a "holder"
solely for the purpose of canceling an electronic warehouse receipt on the
electronic warehouse receipt system and the warehouseman shall in no way be
considered the owner of the grain that was covered by the cancelled electronic
warehouse receipt, absent evidence of sale of that grain to the
warehouseman.
F) EWR
Rights and Obligations
An EWR establishes the same rights and obligations with respect
to an agricultural product as a paper warehouse receipt and possesses the
following attributes:
i) The holder of
an EWR will be entitled to the same rights and privileges as the holders of a
paper warehouse receipt.
ii) Only
the current holder of the EWR may transfer the EWR to a new holder.
iii) The identity of the holder must be kept
confidential by the provider.
iv)
Only one person may be designated as the holder of an EWR at any one
time.
v) A warehouse operator may
not issue an EWR on a specific identity-preserved or commingled lot of grain or
any portion thereof while another valid warehouse receipt representing the same
specific identity-preserved or commingled lot of grain remains not cancelled.
No two warehouse receipts issued by a warehouseman may have the same warehouse
receipt number or represent the same lot of grain.
vi) Holders and warehousemen may authorize
any other user of their provider 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 warehouseman and provider.