|
U.S. Code as of:
01/03/05
Section 453. Authority and duties of division
(a) The division shall render service to associations of
producers of agricultural products, and federations and
subsidiaries thereof, engaged in the cooperative marketing of
agricultural products, including processing, warehousing,
manufacturing, storage, the cooperative purchasing of farm
supplies, credit, financing, insurance, and other cooperative
activities.
(b) The division is authorized -
(1) To acquire, analyze, and disseminate economic, statistical,
and historical information regarding the progress, organization,
and business methods of cooperative associations in the United
States and foreign countries.
(2) To conduct studies of the economic, legal, financial,
social, and other phases of cooperation, and publish the results
thereof. Such studies shall include the analyses of the
organization, operation, financial and merchandising problems of
cooperative associations.
(3) To make surveys and analyses if deemed advisable of the
accounts and business practices of representative cooperative
associations upon their request; to report to the association so
surveyed the results thereof; and with the consent of the
association so surveyed to publish summaries of the results of
such surveys, together with similar facts, for the guidance of
cooperative associations and for the purpose of assisting
cooperative associations in developing methods of business and
market analysis.
(4) To confer and advise with committees or groups of
producers, if deemed advisable, that may be desirous of forming a
cooperative association and to make an economic survey and
analysis of the facts surrounding the production and marketing of
the agricultural product or products which the association, if
formed, would handle or market.
(5) To acquire from all available sources information
concerning crop prospects, supply, demand, current receipts,
exports, imports, and prices of the agricultural products handled
or marketed by cooperative associations, and to employ qualified
commodity marketing specialists to summarize and analyze this
information and disseminate the same among cooperative
associations and others.
(6) To promote the knowledge of cooperative principles and
practices and to cooperate, in promoting such knowledge, with
educational and marketing agencies, cooperative associations, and
others.
(7) To make such special studies, in the United States and
foreign countries, and to acquire and disseminate such
information and findings as may be useful in the development and
practice of cooperation.
|
|