Public Law 106-532 - Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting

PUBLIC LAW 106–532—NOV. 22, 2000

114 STAT. 2541

Public Law 106–532
106th Congress
An Act
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to enhance dairy markets through
dairy product mandatory reporting, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dairy Market Enhancement
Act of 2000’’.

Nov. 22, 2000
[S. 2773]
Dairy Market
Enhancement
Act of 2000.
7 USC 1621 note.

SEC. 2. DAIRY PRODUCT MANDATORY REPORTING.

The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘Subtitle C—Dairy Product Mandatory
Reporting
‘‘SEC. 271. PURPOSE.

7 USC 1637.

‘‘The purpose of this subtitle is to establish a program of
information regarding the marketing of dairy products that—
‘‘(1) provides information that can be readily understood
by producers and other market participants, including information with respect to prices, quantities sold, and inventories
of dairy products;
‘‘(2) improves the price and supply reporting services of
the Department of Agriculture; and
‘‘(3) encourages competition in the marketplace for dairy
products.
‘‘SEC. 272. DEFINITIONS.

7 USC 1637a.

‘‘In this subtitle:
‘‘(1) DAIRY PRODUCTS.—The term ‘dairy products’ means
manufactured dairy products that are used by the Secretary
to establish minimum prices for Class III and Class IV milk
under a Federal milk marketing order issued under section
8c of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), reenacted
with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement
Act of 1937.
‘‘(2) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘manufacturer’ means any
person engaged in the business of buying milk in commerce
for the purpose of manufacturing dairy products.
‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary
of Agriculture.

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114 STAT. 2542
7 USC 1637b.

Regulations.

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PUBLIC LAW 106–532—NOV. 22, 2000

‘‘SEC. 273. MANDATORY REPORTING FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS.

‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish a program
of mandatory dairy product information reporting that will—
‘‘(1) provide timely, accurate, and reliable market information;
‘‘(2) facilitate more informed marketing decisions; and
‘‘(3) promote competition in the dairy product manufacturing industry.
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing the program, the Secretary shall only—
‘‘(A)(i) subject to the conditions described in paragraph
(2), require each manufacturer to report to the Secretary
information concerning the price, quantity, and moisture
content of dairy products sold by the manufacturer; and
‘‘(ii) modify the format used to provide the information
on the day before the date of enactment of this subtitle
to ensure that the information can be readily understood
by market participants; and
‘‘(B) require each manufacturer and other person
storing dairy products to report to the Secretary, at a
periodic interval determined by the Secretary, information
on the quantity of dairy products stored.
‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to in paragraph
(1)(A)(i) are that—
‘‘(A) the information referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i)
is required only with respect to those package sizes actually
used to establish minimum prices for Class III or Class
IV milk under a Federal milk marketing order;
‘‘(B) the information referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i)
is required only to the extent that the information is actually used to establish minimum prices for Class III or
Class IV milk under a Federal milk marketing order;
‘‘(C) the frequency of the required reporting under
paragraph (1)(A)(i) does not exceed the frequency used
to establish minimum prices for Class III or Class IV
milk under a Federal milk marketing order; and
‘‘(D) the Secretary may exempt from all reporting
requirements any manufacturer that processes and markets less than 1,000,000 pounds of dairy products per year.
‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall promulgate such
regulations as are necessary to ensure compliance with, and
otherwise carry out, this subtitle.
‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise directed by the
Secretary or the Attorney General for enforcement purposes, no officer, employee, or agent of the United States
shall make available to the public information, statistics,
or documents obtained from or submitted by any person
under this subtitle other than in a manner that ensures
that confidentiality is preserved regarding the identity of
persons, including parties to a contract, and proprietary
business information.
‘‘(B) RELATION TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no facts or information

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PUBLIC LAW 106–532—NOV. 22, 2000

114 STAT. 2543

obtained under this subtitle shall be disclosed in accordance
with section 552 of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(3) VERIFICATION.—The Secretary shall take such actions
as the Secretary considers necessary to verify the accuracy
of the information submitted or reported under this subtitle.
‘‘(4) ENFORCEMENT.—
‘‘(A) UNLAWFUL ACT.—It shall be unlawful and a violation of this subtitle for any person subject to this subtitle
to willfully fail or refuse to provide, or delay the timely
reporting of, accurate information to the Secretary in
accordance with this subtitle.
‘‘(B) ORDER.—After providing notice and an opportunity
for a hearing to affected persons, the Secretary may issue
an order against any person to cease and desist from continuing any violation of this subtitle.
‘‘(C) APPEAL.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The order of the Secretary under
subparagraph (B) shall be final and conclusive unless
an affected person files an appeal of the order of the
Secretary in United States district court not later than
30 days after the date of the issuance of the order.
‘‘(ii) FINDINGS.—A finding of the Secretary under
this paragraph shall be set aside only if the finding
is found to be unsupported by substantial evidence.
‘‘(D) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ORDER.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a person subject to this subtitle fails to obey an order issued under this paragraph
after the order has become final and unappealable,
or after the appropriate United States district court
has entered a final judgment in favor of the Secretary,
the United States may apply to the appropriate United
States district court for enforcement of the order.
‘‘(ii) ENFORCEMENT.—If the court determines that
the order was lawfully made and duly served and
that the person violated the order, the court shall
enforce the order.
‘‘(iii) CIVIL PENALTY.—If the court finds that the
person violated the order, the person shall be subject
to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each
offense.
‘‘(5) FEES.—The Secretary shall not charge or assess a
user fee, transaction fee, service charge, assessment, reimbursement fee, or any other fee under this subtitle for—
‘‘(A) the submission or reporting of information;
‘‘(B) the receipt or availability of, or access to, published
reports or information; or
‘‘(C) any other activity required under this subtitle.

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114 STAT. 2544

PUBLIC LAW 106–532—NOV. 22, 2000

‘‘(6) RECORDKEEPING.—Each person required to report
information to the Secretary under this subtitle shall maintain,
and make available to the Secretary, on request, original contracts, agreements, receipts, and other records associated with
the sale or storage of any dairy products during the 2-year
period beginning on the date of the creation of the records.
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this
section.’’.
Approved November 22, 2000.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2773:
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000):
Oct. 25, considered and passed Senate and House.

Æ

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