Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4315, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1997, c. 511, §23, is further amended to read:

1. Transportation of wild blueberries without permit. It is unlawful for a person to transport wild blueberries in quantities exceeding 25 pounds without first obtaining a transportation permit on an official form to be furnished by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine shall issue upon request official transportation permit forms to owners who shippers and processors certified under section 4305.__ Shippers and processors may issue the transportation permits to individuals owners or owner's transportation agents with written authorization from owners. Each permit issued must bear a different number and expire at the end of the calendar year. When an owner a shipper or processor issues a transportation permit, the owner shipper or processor shall immediately send a copy to the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. The commission shall keep a permanent record of all permits issued. The commission may adopt rules establishing shall establish the form and content of transportation permits and governing the means of their issuance and establishing establish the record-keeping functions requirements of the commission and the owners, shippers and processors. Notwithstanding any provision of Title 1, chapter 13, subchapter I to the contrary, records pertaining to transportation permits required to be kept by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine under this section are confidential to the extent necessary to preserve the identity of parties to individual business transactions. The confidential status does not apply when records kept by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine are needed as evidence in any proceeding to enforce any provision of section 4314 or this section, or in any prosecution for a violation of any other criminal law. This subsection does not apply to wild blueberries that have been received by a certified shipper or processor and have been weighed, logged into a permanent record-keeping system and reloaded onto a vehicle for shipping under a bill of lading.

SUMMARY

This bill discourages the theft of wild blueberries by strengthening the laws concerning the illegal transportation of blueberries by extending liability from owners alone to any shipper or processor, limiting issuance of transportation permits to owners or owners' transportation agents and requiring the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine to establish and administer the