(a) Each brand of commercial fertilizer for tobacco, specialty fertilizer, fertilizer materials, manipulated manure and fortified mulch shall be registered by the person whose name appears upon the label before being offered for sale, sold or distributed in this State, except those brands expressly produced for experimental and demonstration purposes only. Other fertilizers may be manufactured and sold without registration after obtaining a license as required in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-661(a). The application for registration shall be submitted in duplicate to the Commissioner for his approval on forms furnished by the Commissioner, and shall include a fee of five dollars ($5.00) per brand and grade for all packages greater than five pounds. The registration fee for packages of five pounds or less shall be fifty-five dollars ($55.00). All approved registrations expire on June 30 of each year. The application shall include such information as deemed necessary by the Board of Agriculture.

(b) The distributor of any brand and grade of commercial fertilizer shall not be required to register the same if it has already been registered under this Article by a person entitled to do so and such registration is then outstanding.

(c) The grade of any brand of mixed fertilizer shall not be changed during the registration period, but the guaranteed analysis may be changed in other respects and the sources of materials may be changed: Provided, prompt notification of such change is given to the Commissioner and the change is noted on the container or tag: Provided, further, that the guaranteed analysis shall not be changed if it, in any way, lowers the quality of the fertilizer: Provided, further, that if at a subsequent registration period, the registrant desires to make any change in the registration of a given brand and grade of fertilizer, said registrant shall notify the Commissioner of such change 30 days in advance of such registration. If the Commissioner, after consultation with the director of the agricultural experiment station decides that such change materially lowers the crop producing value of the fertilizer, he shall notify the registrant of his conclusions, and if the registrant registers the brand and grade with the proposed changes, then the Commissioner shall give due publicity to said changes through the Agricultural Review or by such other means as he may deem advisable.

(d) Any person desiring to manufacture or distribute fertilizers not required to be registered shall first secure a license. Application for said license shall be made on forms provided by the Commissioner and shall be accompanied by a reasonable fee to be determined by the Board of Agriculture. The Board shall charge a maximum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for said license. Said license shall be renewable annually on the first day of July. Said license may be suspended, revoked or terminated for a violation of this Article or any rule promulgated thereunder.

(e) When fluid fertilizer is offered for sale or sold in this State, the method of transfer of custody shall be by weight expressed in pounds, and shall be invoiced in such a manner as to show the name of the seller, the name of the purchaser, the date of sale, the grade, and the net weight; provided, however, that fluid fertilizer may be measured in gallons of 231 cubic inches and its equivalent expressed in pounds, with a formula for converting from gallons to pounds shown on the invoice.

(f) Repealed by Session Laws 1983, c. 146, s. 2.

(g) Before any anhydrous ammonia installation that handles, stores, distributes, or applies anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer use shall be built in this State, a general layout of the installation shall be submitted in duplicate and approved by the Commissioner. In order that the layout may be approved it must conform to the minimum standards and rules and regulations, relating to safe handling, storage, distribution, or application adopted by the Board of Agriculture. All storage tanks, transfer or transport containers, applicator containers, and attached equipment for fertilizer use shall conform to the minimum standards adopted by the Board of Agriculture. It shall be the duty of a contractor, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-657 to obtain, maintain and operate in accordance with the minimum standards and rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Agriculture, any equipment that the contractor may use in the application of anhydrous ammonia. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to inspect and ascertain whether or not the provisions of this section are complied with. (1947, c. 1086, s. 4; 1949, c. 637, s. 1; 1951, c. 1026, ss. 3-6; 1959, c. 706, ss. 3-5; 1961, c. 66, ss. 3, 4; 1973, c. 611, ss. 1-4; 1977, c. 303, s. 6; 1981, c. 448, ss. 5, 6; 1983, c. 146, ss. 2, 3; 1987, c. 292, s. 2; 1989, c. 544, s. 5; 2001-440, s. 2; 2013-360, s. 13.9(a).)