4:4-20.13 Penalties

13. Penalties. a. Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or who shall impede, hinder, or otherwise prevent, or attempt to prevent, said secretary or his duly authorized agent in performance of his duty in connection with the provisions of this act, shall be fined not less than $100.00 or more than $500.00 for the first violation, and not less than $200.00 or more than $1,000.00 for a subsequent violation in any two years.

b. Nothing in this act shall be construed as requiring the State Chemist or his representative to: (1) report for prosecution, or (2) institute seizure proceedings, or (3) issue a withdrawal from distribution order, as a result of minor violations of the act, or when he believes the public interest will best be served by suitable notice of warning in writing.

c. It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to whom any violation is reported to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction without delay. Before the State Chemist reports a violation for such prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present his view to the secretary.

d. The secretary is hereby authorized to apply for and the court to grant in an appropriate case, a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of this act or any rule or regulation promulgated under the act, notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. Said injunction to be issued without bond.

e. Any person adversely affected by an act, order, or ruling made pursuant to the provisions of this act may seek judicial review by appeal to the Superior Court by a proceeding in lieu of prerogative writs.

f. Any person who used to his own advantage, or reveals to other than the secretary, or officers of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, or to the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding, any information acquired under the authority of this act, concerning any method, records, formulations, or processes which as a trade secret is entitled to protection, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall on conviction thereof be fined not less than $500.00 or imprisoned for not less than one year or both, provided that, this prohibition shall not be deemed as prohibiting the secretary or his duly authorized agent, from exchanging information of a regulatory nature with duly appointed officials of the United States Government, or of other states, who are similarly prohibited by law from revealing this information.

g. Upon receiving any information of a violation of any provisions of this act or of any rule or regulation adopted thereunder, the secretary or any agent designated by him for such purpose, is empowered to hold hearings upon said violation and, upon finding the violation to have been committed, to assess a penalty against the violator in such amount, as the secretary deems proper under the circumstances. If the violator pays such penalty as settlement, no further prosecution shall be had upon that violation. Payment of such a penalty shall be deemed equivalent to a conviction for violation of this act.

L.1970,c.338,c.13; amended 2002, c.34, s.4.