(a) Any person or persons whose name appears upon the label of any regulated product as manufacturer or distributor shall obtain a permit to distribute in the state prior to distributing the regulated product. The application for registration shall be submitted to the commissioner on forms furnished or approved by the commissioner, and shall be accompanied by a fee established by legislative rule: Provided, That the commissioner shall take final action upon all completed permit applications within thirty days of receipt if the application is uncontested, or within ninety days if the application is contested.

(b) Each brand or grade of regulated product shall be registered before being distributed in this state. The application for registration shall be submitted to the commissioner on forms furnished or approved by the commissioner, and shall be accompanied by a fee established by legislative rule. Upon approval by the commissioner a copy of the registration shall be furnished to the applicant. All registrations expire on June 30 of the following year.

The application for fertilizer, soil amendment or horticultural growing medium shall include the following information:

(1) The net weight;

(2) The brand and, in the case of fertilizer when primary nutrients are claimed, the grade;

(3) The guaranteed analysis, or other information related to ingredients, guaranteed analysis of ingredients, percentages of ingredients, source of ingredients, physical components, physical properties or nutrient analysis as the commissioner may require;

(4) The purpose of the product;

(5) Directions for application; and

(6) The name and address of the registrant.

(c) A distributor is not required to register any regulated product which is already registered under this article by another person, providing the label does not differ in any respect.

(d) A distributor is not required to register each grade of regulated product formulated according to specifications which are furnished by a consumer prior to mixing, but is required to register his or her firm in a manner and at a fee established by legislative rule, and to label the regulated product as provided in subsection (c), section three of this article.

(e) Any person applying for registration of a fertilizer or specialty fertilizer, soil amendment or horticultural growing medium shall include with the application a label and any advertising literature.

(f) The commissioner may require proof of any claims made for any regulated product. If no claims are made, he or she may require proof of the usefulness and value of the regulated product. For evidence of proof the commissioner may rely on experimental data, evaluations or advice supplied from such sources as the director of the agricultural experiment station. The experimental design shall be related to state conditions for which the product is intended. The commissioner may accept or reject other sources of proof as additional evidence in evaluating regulated products.

(g) If the commissioner identifies any unregistered regulated product in commerce or any regulated product from any nonregistered manufacturer or distributor during the registration year, the commissioner shall give the grantor a grace period of fifteen working days from issuance of notification within which to register the regulated product or distributor. Any person required to register regulated products or as a distributor, who fails to register within the grace period shall pay to the commissioner a penalty fee as established by legislative rule in addition to the registration fee. The commissioner may issue an embargo order on any regulated product until the registration is issued.

(h) Exemptions for horticultural growing medium:

(1) Distribution of horticultural growing media planted with live plant material is exempt from the labeling and registration requirements of this article.

(2) Distribution of custom media is exempt from the registration requirements of this article, if it is prepared for a single end user.

(3) Distribution of horticultural growing media containing plant nutrients of three percent or less are exempt from the requirements of this article.