Unfair Trade Practices

V.S.A. tit. 6, ch. 151, subch. 4

in effect

6 V.S.A. § 2751 Unfair discrimination

2751. Unfair discrimination A handler doing business in this State and engaged in the business of buying dairy products for the purpose of manufacture or sale who, or whose agents, officers, or employees, shall begin or continue such methods or practices as to create a monopoly, or to restrain trade or to prevent or limit competition or to destroy the business of a competitor, or to destroy or affect adversely the operations of a producers’ cooperative bargaining or marketing association organized under the Vermont cooperative marketing act, 11 V.S.A. chapter 7, subchapter 2 or similar laws of another state and doing business in Vermont, shall discriminate between different sections, communities, localities, cities, or towns of this State by purchasing such commodity at a higher price or rate in one section, community, location, city, or town than is paid for the same commodity by such person, firm, handler, association, or corporation in another section, community, locality, city, or town after making due allowance for the difference, if any, in the grade or quality and in the actual cost of transportation from the point of purchase to the point of manufacture or sale, or who shall so discriminate between different persons in the same section, community, location, city, or town by purchasing such commodity at a lower price from one person than paid for the same commodity to another person after making due allowance for the difference, if any, in the grade or quality and in the actual cost of transportation from the point of purchase to the point of manufacture, or who shall so discriminate between different persons by refusing to purchase, within the limits of its actual requirements, such commodities from a person, or his or her agent, offering the same for sale, on the ground that such person has executed a marketing contract with a cooperative marketing association by the terms of which such cooperative marketing association has been designated the marketing agent of such person for such commodities, or who shall intimidate or attempt to intimidate members of such a producers’ cooperative bargaining association for the purpose of causing them to withdraw from such membership or who shall intimidate or attempt to intimidate producers of dairy products for the purpose of preventing them from joining such an association shall be deemed guilty of unfair discrimination. It shall not be necessary to prove intent in reference to the methods or practices prohibited in this section, nor shall this section be construed to prevent milk handlers from paying and milk producers who have installed farm bulk tanks from receiving such payments in addition to the payment for can milk as may be mutually agreed upon. Added 1965, No. 175, § 37.

6 V.S.A. § 2752 Refusal to purchase; hearing; Secretary’s order

2752. Refusal to purchase; hearing; Secretary’s order (a) A handler doing business in this State who has a contract either verbal or written with a producer residing in this State for the purchase of the producer’s dairy products shall not refuse to purchase them from the producer except for violations of the sanitary rules or standards applicable to the market in which the dairy product is sold or marketed, without being deemed guilty of unfair discrimination. In the event that the refusal is to be based upon reasons of oversupply or other reasonable grounds, the refusal shall not become operative until the purchaser has given the producer at least 90 days’ notice of intention to refuse the producer’s product on these grounds, which shall be particularly set forth in writing so that the producer may be fully appraised of the refusal. (b) If the producer desires to question the existence or validity of such grounds of refusal, the producer may do so within 90 days after receiving the notice or refusal by requesting the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets for a hearing, and the Secretary is hereby given jurisdiction to hear and determine the question. The producer shall make complaints of such contemplated refusal in writing to the Secretary, setting forth the substance of the refusal notice and requesting to be heard thereon. The Secretary shall then notify both the producer and the purchaser in writing, sent to them by registered mail, of the time and place of hearing thereon. The time of the hearing shall not be less than 10 nor more than 30 days from the date of the notice. Hearing shall be informal. Both parties shall have an opportunity to produce evidence. (c) The decision of the Secretary as to whether or not the grounds relied upon by the purchaser are reasonable in fact shall be final. Either party shall have the right to appeal any question of law to the Superior Court where the producer resides. If the Secretary, or the Superior Court on appeal, does not sustain the action of the purchaser, the purchaser shall be deemed guilty of unfair discrimination. (d) If a request for a hearing is made by a producer, refusal of the purchaser shall not become operative until hearing and decision in the purchaser’s favor by the Secretary. (e) A contract shall exist between the producer and the purchaser when the purchaser receives the producer’s dairy product regularly and pays the producer the going price for the product. Added 1965, No. 175, § 38; amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 116, eff. July 1, 2022; 2025, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2026.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/06/151Fetched: 10/21/2026