GENERAL BONDED WAREHOUSE ACT

Act No. 3893, As Amended

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known by the short title of "General Bonded Warehouse Act." (As amended by RA No. 247, approved June 12, 1948.)

SEC. 2. Definitions. — As used in this Act, the term "warehouse" shall be deemed to mean every building, structure, or other protected enclosure in which commodity is kept for storage. The word "commodity" shall mean any farm, agricultural or horticultural product; animal and animal husbandry or livestock, dairy or poultry product; water, marine or fish product; mineral, chemical, drug or medicinal product; forestry product; and any raw, processed, manufactured or finished product or by-product, goods, article, or merchandise, either of domestic or of foreign production or origin, which may be traded or dealt in openly and legally. "Person" includes a corporation or partnership or two or more persons having a joint or common interest; "warehouseman" means a person engaged in the business of receiving commodity for storage; and, "receipt" means any receipt issued by a warehouseman for commodity delivered to him. For the purpose of this Act, the business of receiving commodity for storage shall include:

1. any contract or transaction wherein the warehouseman is obligated to return the very same commodity delivered to him or to pay its value;
2. any contract or transaction wherein the commodity delivered is to be milled for and on account of the owner thereof;
3. any contract or transaction wherein the commodity delivered is commingled with the commodity delivered by or belonging to other persons, and the warehouseman is obligated to return commodity of the same kind or to pay its value.

(As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 3. License Required. — No person shall engage in the business of receiving commodity for storage without first securing a license therefor from the Director of the Bureau of Commerce. Said license shall be annual and shall expire on the 31st day of December. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 4. Where Business and Warehouse Are to Be Established. — Any person applying for a license to engage in the business of receiving commodity for storage shall set forth in the application the place or places where the business and the warehouse are to be established or located and the maximum quantity of commodity to be received. The application shall be accompanied by a cash bond or bond secured by real estate or signed by a duly authorized bonding company, the amount of which shall be fixed by the Director of the Bureau of Commerce at not less than thirty-three and one-third percent of the market value of the maximum quantity of commodity to be received. Said bond shall be so conditioned as to respond for the market value of the commodity actually delivered and received at any time the warehouseman is unable to return the commodity or to pay its value. The bond shall be approved by the Director of the Bureau of Commerce before a license shall be issued, and it shall be the duty of said Director, before issuing a license under this Act, to satisfy himself concerning the sufficiency of such bond, and to determine whether the warehouse for which such license is applied for is suitable for the proper storage of commodity. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 5. Additional Bond. — Whenever the Director of the Bureau of Commerce shall determine that a bond approved by him, is, or for any cause, has become insufficient, he may require an additional bond or bonds to be given by the warehouseman concerned, conforming with the requirements of the preceding section, and unless the same be given within the time fixed by a written demand therefor, the license of such warehouseman may be suspended or revoked.

SEC. 6. Insurance Requirement. — Every person licensed under this Act, to engage in the business of receiving commodity for storage shall insure the commodity so received and stored against fire. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 7. Action on Bond. — Any person injured by the breach of any obligation to secure which a bond is given under the provisions of this Act, shall be entitled to sue on the bond in his own name in any court of competent jurisdiction to recover the damages he may have sustained by such breach. Nothing contained herein shall exempt any property or assets of any warehouseman licensed under this Act, not exempted by law from attachment and execution, from being sued on, in case the bond given is not sufficient to respond for the full market value of the commodity received by such warehouseman. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 8. Receipt of Commodity. — Every warehouseman licensed under this Act shall receive for storage, so far as his license and the capacity of his warehouse permit, any commodity, of the kind customarily stored therein by him, which may be tendered to him in a suitable condition for warehousing, in the usual manner and in the ordinary and usual course of business, without making any discrimination between persons desiring to avail themselves of warehouse facilities. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 9. Record. — Every warehouseman licensed under this Act shall keep a complete record of all commodity received by him, of the receipts issued therefor, of the withdrawals, of the liquidation, and of all receipts returned to and cancelled by him. He shall make reports to the Director of the Bureau of Commerce concerning his warehouse and the condition, contents, operation, and business thereof in such form and at such times as the said Director may require, and shall conduct said warehouse in all other respects in compliance with this Act and the rules and regulations made in accordance therewith. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 10. Rules and Regulations. — The Director of the Bureau of Commerce shall, from time to time, make such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary for the efficient execution of the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 11. Violations of the Act. — Any person engaging in the business of receiving commodity for storage in violation of Section 3 of this Act shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one month, or by a fine of not more than five thousand pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 12. Penalty for Excess Receipt. — Any warehouseman licensed under this Act, receiving a quantity of commodity greater than that specified in his application and license, shall, upon conviction, be fined double the market value of the commodity so received in excess of the quantity of commodity he is authorized to receive. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 13. Warehouseman Not Licensed. — Any person entering into connivance or combination with any warehouseman that is not licensed under this Act, with the purpose of evading the provisions of Section 3 of this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than two hundred pesos or imprisoned for not more than one month, or both, in the discretion of the court.

SEC. 14. Suspension or Revocation of License. — The Director of the Bureau of Commerce may, after opportunity for hearing has been afforded to the licensee concerned, suspend or revoke any license issued to any warehouseman conducting a warehouse under this Act, for any violation of or failure to comply with any provision of this Act or of the rules and regulations made by virtue thereof.

SEC. 15. Provisions Not Applicable. — This Act shall not be applicable to cooperative marketing associations of commodity producers organized under Act No. 3425, known as the "Cooperative Marketing Law," provided such associations shall not receive, for storage, commodity from non-members which is greater in quantity than one-half of the total quantity of commodity received from members at any time. (As amended by RA No. 247.)

SEC. 16. Repealing Clause. — Act No. 3469, known as "Bonded Rice Warehouse Act," is hereby repealed.

SEC. 17. Separability Clause. — If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this Act shall, for any reason, be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

SEC. 18. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and thirty-two.

Approved: November 16, 1931.