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U.S. Code as of:
01/03/05
Section 2904. Required terms in orders
An order issued under section 2903(b) of this title shall contain
the following terms and conditions:
(1) The order shall provide for the establishment and selection
of a Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board. Members of
the Board shall be cattle producers and importers appointed by
the Secretary from (A) nominations submitted by eligible State
organizations certified under section 2905 of this title (or, if
the Secretary determines that there is no eligible State
organization in a State, the Secretary may provide for
nominations from such State to be made in a different manner),
and (B) nominations submitted by importers under such procedures
as the Secretary determines appropriate. In determining
geographic representation for cattle producers on the Board,
whole States shall be considered as a unit. Each State that has a
total cattle inventory greater than five hundred thousand head
shall be entitled to at least one representative on the Board. A
State that has a total inventory of fewer than 500,000 cattle
shall be grouped, as far as practicable, with other States each
of which has a combined total inventory of not less than 500,000
cattle, into geographically contiguous units in a manner
prescribed in the order. A unit may be represented on the Board
by more than one member. For each additional million head of
cattle within a unit, such unit shall be entitled to an
additional member on the Board. The Board may recommend a change
in the level of inventory per unit necessary for representation
on the Board and, on such recommendation, the Secretary may
change the level necessary for representation on the Board. The
number of members on the Board that represent importers shall be
determined by the Secretary on a proportional basis, by
converting the volume of imported beef and beef products into
live animal equivalencies.
(2) The order shall define the powers and duties of the Board,
which shall be exercised at an annual meeting, and shall include
only the following powers:
(A) To administer the order in accordance with its terms and
provisions.
(B) To make rules and regulations to effectuate the terms and
provisions of the order.
(C) To elect members of the Board to serve on the Committee.
(D) To approve or disapprove budgets submitted by the
Committee.
(E) To receive, investigate, and report to the Secretary
complaints of violations of the order.
(F) To recommend to the Secretary amendments to the order.
In addition, the order shall determine the circumstances under
which special meetings of the Board may be held.
(3) The order shall provide that the term of appointment to the
Board shall be three years with no member serving more than two
consecutive terms, except that initial appointments shall be
proportionately for one-year, two-year, and three-year terms; and
that Board members shall serve without compensation, but shall be
reimbursed for their reasonable expenses incurred in performing
their duties as members of the Board.
(4)(A) The order shall provide that the Board shall elect from
its membership ten members to serve on the Beef Promotion
Operating Committee, which shall be composed of ten members of
the Board and ten producers elected by a federation that includes
as members the qualified State beef councils. The producers
elected by the federation shall be certified by the Secretary as
producers that are directors of a qualified State beef council.
The Secretary also shall certify that such directors are duly
elected by the federation as representatives to the Committee.
(B) The Committee shall develop plans or projects of promotion
and advertising, research, consumer information, and industry
information, which shall be paid for with assessments collected
by the Board. In developing plans or projects, the Committee
shall -
(i) to the extent practicable, take into account similarities
and differences between certain beef, beef products, and veal;
and
(ii) ensure that segments of the beef industry that enjoy a
unique consumer identity receive equitable and fair treatment
under this chapter.
(C) The Committee shall be responsible for developing and
submitting to the Board, for its approval, budgets on a fiscal
year basis of its anticipated expenses and disbursements,
including probable costs of advertising and promotion, research,
consumer information, and industry information projects. The
Board shall approve or disapprove such budgets and, if approved,
shall submit such budget to the Secretary for the Secretary's
approval.
(D) The total costs of collection of assessments and
administrative staff incurred by the Board during any fiscal year
shall not exceed 5 per centum of the projected total assessments
to be collected by the Board for such fiscal year. The Board
shall use, to the extent possible, the resources, staffs, and
facilities of existing organizations.
(5) The order shall provide that terms of appointment to the
Committee shall be one year, and that no person may serve on the
Committee for more than six consecutive terms. Committee members
shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for
their reasonable expenses incurred in performing their duties as
members of the Committee. The Committee may utilize the
resources, staffs, and facilities of the Board and industry
organizations. An employee of an industry organization may not
receive compensation for work performed for the Committee, but
shall be reimbursed from assessments collected by the Board for
reasonable expenses incurred in performing such work.
(6) The order shall provide that, to ensure coordination and
efficient use of funds, the Committee shall enter into contracts
or agreements for implementing and carrying out the activities
authorized by this chapter with established national nonprofit
industry-governed organizations, including the federation
referred to in paragraph (4), to implement programs of promotion,
research, consumer information, and industry information. Any
such contract or agreement shall provide that -
(A) the person entering the contract or agreement shall
develop and submit to the Committee a plan or project together
with a budget or budgets that shows estimated costs to be
incurred for the plan or project;
(B) the plan or project shall become effective on the
approval of the Secretary; and
(C) the person entering the contract or agreement shall keep
accurate records of all of its transactions, account for funds
received and expended, and make periodic reports to the
Committee of activities conducted, and such other reports as
the Secretary, the Board, or the Committee may require.
(7) The order shall require the Board and the Committee to -
(A) maintain such books and records, which shall be available
to the Secretary for inspection and audit, as the Secretary may
prescribe;
(B) prepare and submit to the Secretary, from time to time,
such reports as the Secretary may prescribe; and
(C) account for the receipt and disbursement of all funds
entrusted to them.
(8)(A) The order shall provide that each person making payment
to a producer for cattle purchased from the producer shall, in
the manner prescribed by the order, collect an assessment and
remit the assessment to the Board. The Board shall use qualified
State beef councils to collect such assessments.
(B) If an appropriate qualified State beef council does not
exist to collect an assessment in accordance with paragraph (1),
such assessment shall be collected by the Board.
(C) The order also shall provide that each importer of cattle,
beef, or beef products shall pay an assessment, in the manner
prescribed by the order, to the Board. The assessments shall be
used for payment of the costs of plans and projects, as provided
for in paragraph (4), and expenses in administering the order,
including more administrative costs incurred by the Secretary
after the order has been promulgated under this chapter, and to
establish a reasonable reserve. The rate of assessment prescribed
by the order shall be one dollar per head of cattle, or the
equivalent thereof in the case of imported beef and beef
products. A producer who can establish that the producer is
participating in a program of an established qualified State beef
council shall receive credit, in determining the assessment due
from such producer, for contributions to such program of up to 50
cents per head of cattle or the equivalent thereof. There shall
be only one qualified State beef council in each State. Any
person marketing from (!1) beef from cattle of the person's own
production shall remit the assessment to the Board in the manner
prescribed by the order.
(9) The order shall provide that the Board, with the approval
of the Secretary, may invest, pending disbursement, funds
collected through assessments only in obligations of the United
States or any agency thereof, in general obligations of any State
or any political subdivision thereof, in any interest-bearing
account or certificate of deposit of a bank that is a member of
the Federal Reserve System, or in obligations fully guaranteed as
to principal and interest by the United States.
(10) The order shall prohibit any funds collected by the Board
under the order from being used in any manner for the purpose of
influencing governmental action or policy, with the exception of
recommending amendments to the order.
(11) The order shall require that each person making payment to
a producer, any person marketing beef from cattle of the person's
own production directly to consumers, and any importer of cattle,
beef, or beef products maintain and make available for inspection
such books and records as may be required by the order and file
reports at the time, in the manner, and having the content
prescribed by the order. Such information shall be made available
to the Secretary as is appropriate to the administration or
enforcement of this chapter, the order, or any regulation issued
under this chapter. In addition, the Secretary shall authorize
the use of information regarding persons paying producers that is
accumulated under a law or regulation other than this chapter or
regulations under this chapter.
All information so obtained shall be kept confidential by all
officers and employees of the Department, and only such
information so obtained as the Secretary deems relevant may be
disclosed by them and then only in a suit or administrative
hearing brought at the request of the Secretary, or to which the
Secretary or any officer of the United States is a party, and
involving the order. Nothing in this paragraph may be deemed to
prohibit -
(A) the issuance of general statements, based on the reports,
of the number of persons subject to the order or statistical
data collected therefrom, which statements do not identify the
information furnished by any person; or
(B) the publication, by direction of the Secretary, of the
name of any person violating the order, together with a
statement of the particular provisions of the order violated by
the person.
No information obtained under the authority of this chapter may
be made available to any agency or officer of the United States
for any purpose other than the implementation of this chapter and
any investigatory or enforcement act necessary for the
implementation of this chapter. Any person violating the
provisions of this paragraph shall be subject to a fine of not
more than $1,000, or to imprisonment for not more than one year,
or both, and if an officer or employee of the Board or the
Department, shall be removed from office.
(12) The order shall contain terms and conditions, not
inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, as necessary to
effectuate the provisions of the order.
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