I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2502

To amend various commodity research and promotion laws to make

participation in such programs voluntary.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 18, 1995

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. ZIMMER) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend various commodity research and promotion laws

to make participation in such programs voluntary.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN THE BEEF

4 PROMOTION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.

5 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

6 OF POLICY.—Section 2(b) of the Beef Research and Infor7 mation Act (7 U.S.C. 2901(b)) is amended by striking

8 ‘‘through assessments on all cattle’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘through voluntary assessments on cattle’’.
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1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of such Act (7 U.S.C.

2 2902) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (8)—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(8)’’; and

5 (B) by adding at the end the following new

6 subparagraph:

7 ‘‘(B) the term ‘participating importer’ means

8 an importer who voluntarily chooses to participate in

9 the order and has paid all assessments as provided

10 in section 5(8);’’; and

11 (2) in paragraph (12)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(12)’’; and

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new

14 subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘participating producer’ means a

16 producer who voluntarily chooses to participate in

17 the order and has paid all assessments as provided

18 in section 5(8);’’.

19 (c) REQUIRED TERMS IN ORDERS.—Section 5 of

20 such Act (7 U.S.C. 2904) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (1)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘Members of the Board

23 shall be cattle producers and importers’’ and in24 serting ‘‘Members of the Board shall be partici25 pating producers and participating importers’’;
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘nominations submitted by

2 importers’’ and inserting ‘‘nominations submit3 ted by participating importers’’;

4 (C) by striking ‘‘Each State that has a

5 total cattle’’ and inserting ‘‘Each State whose

6 participating producers have a total cattle’’;

7 (D) by striking ‘‘A State that has a total

8 inventory of fewer than’’ and inserting ‘‘A State

9 whose participating producers have a total in10 ventory of fewer than’’; and

11 (E) by striking ‘‘The number of members

12 on the Board that represent importers’’ and in13 serting ‘‘The number of members on the Board

14 that represent participating importers’’;

15 (2) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘and ten

16 producers elected’’ and inserting ‘‘and ten partici17 pating producers elected’’;

18 (3) in paragraph (8)(A), by striking ‘‘payment

19 to a producer for cattle purchased from the pro20 ducer’’ and inserting ‘‘payment to a participating

21 producer for cattle purchased from the participating

22 producer’’; and

23 (4) in paragraph (8)(C)—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘shall provide that each

25 importer of cattle, beef, or beef products shall
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1 pay an assessment’’ and inserting ‘‘shall pro2 vide that each participating importer may pay

3 a voluntary assessment’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘from cattle of the person’s

5 own production shall’’ and inserting ‘‘from cat6 tle of the person’s own production may’’; and

7 (5) in paragraph (11), by striking the first sen8 tence and inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall establish

9 appropriate accounting and bookkeeping require10 ments in the order to effectuate the policy of this

11 Act.’’.

12 (d) CERTIFICATION OF ORGANIZATIONS TO NOMI13 NATE.—Section 6 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2905) is amend14 ed—

15 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The eligi16 bility of any State organization to represent produc17 ers’’ and inserting ‘‘The eligibility of any State orga18 nization to represent participating producers’’; and

19 (2) in subsection (b)—

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘cattle

21 producers or the association or organization’s

22 total paid membership represents at least a ma23 jority of the cattle producers’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘participating cattle producers or the associa25 tion or organization’s total paid membership
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1 represents at least a majority of the participat2 ing cattle producers’’; and

3 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘rep4 resents a substantial number of producers’’ and

5 inserting ‘‘represents a substantial number of

6 participating producers’’.

7 (e) REQUIREMENTS OF REFERENDUM.—Section 7 of

8 such Act (7 U.S.C. 2906) is amended by striking sub9 section (b) and redesignating subsection (c) as subsection

10 (b).

11 (f) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 9 of such Act (7 U.S.C.

12 2908) is amended by adding at the end the following new

13 subsection:

14 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall permit the Sec15 retary to require or enforce the collection of assessments

16 from producers that are not participating producers and

17 importers that are not participating importers.’’.

18 (g) INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 10 of such Act (7

19 U.S.C. 2909) is amended by adding at the end the follow20 ing new sentence: Nothing in this section shall permit the

21 Secretary to require or enforce the collection of assess22 ments from producers that are not participating producers

23 and importers that are not participating importers.’’.
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1 SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN THE PORK PRO2 MOTION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.

3 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

4 OF PURPOSE.—Section 1612(b)(1) of the Pork Pro5 motion, Research, and Consumer Information Act of 1985

6 (7 U.S.C. 4801(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘through

7 adequate assessments’’ and insert ‘‘through voluntary as8 sessments’’.

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1613 of such Act (7

10 U.S.C. 4802)—

11 (1) in paragraph (5)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after (5)’’; and

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new

14 subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating importer’ means

16 an importer who voluntarily chooses to participate in

17 the pork promotion and research order issued under

18 section 1614 and has paid all assessments as pro19 vided in section 1620.’’; and

20 (2) in paragraph (11)—

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after (11)’’; and

22 (B) by adding at the end the following new

23 subparagraph:

24 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating producer’ means a

25 producer who chooses to participate in the pork pro26 motion and research order issued under section 1614
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1 and has paid all assessments as provided in section

2 1620.’’.

3 (c) PORK AND PORK PRODUCT ORDERS.—Section

4 1614(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4803(a)) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘persons engaged in—’’ and in6 serting ‘‘all participating producers and participat7 ing importers.’’; and

8 (2) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2).

9 (d) NATIONAL PORK PRODUCERS DELEGATE

10 BODY.—Section 1617 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4806) is

11 amended—

12 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

13 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘pro14 ducers’’ and inserting ‘‘participating produc15 ers’’; and

16 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘im17 porters’’ and inserting ‘‘participating import18 ers’’;

19 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘mar20 keted from such State’’ and inserting ‘‘marketed by

21 participating producers from such State’’; and

22 (3) in subsection (b)(3)(A)(ii), by striking

23 ‘‘from importers’’ and inserting ‘‘from participating

24 importers’’.
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1 (e) SELECTION OF DELEGATE BODY.—Section

2 1618(c)(3) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4807(c)(3)) is amended

3 by striking ‘‘must—’’ and all that follows through the end

4 of subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘must be a participat5 ing producer who is a resident of such State.’’.

6 (f) NATIONAL PORK BOARD.—Section 1619 (a) of

7 such Act (7 U.S.C. 4808(a)) is amended—

8 (1) in the first paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘con9 sist of producers representing at least 12 States and

10 importers’’ and inserting ‘‘consist of participating

11 producers representing at least 12 States and par12 ticipating importers’’; and

13 (2) by striking the second paragraph (2).

14 (g) ASSESSMENTS.—Section 1620 of such Act (7

15 U.S.C. 4809) is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (3)

17 and inserting the following new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(3) Effective January 1, 1996, assessments

19 shall be paid by participating producers and partici20 pating importers on a voluntary basis and nothing in

21 this section shall permit the Secretary to require the

22 collection of assessments from producers that are

23 not participating producers and importers that are

24 not participating importers.’’;

25 (2) in subsection (b)(4)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(4)’’;

2 (B) by striking ‘‘shall be assessed’’ and in3 serting ‘‘may be assessed’’; and

4 (C) by striking subparagraph (B); and

5 (3) in subsection (c)(1)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘by

6 persons described in subsection (a)(1) (A) and (B)’’

7 through the end of the clause and inserting in lieu

8 thereof ‘‘by participating producers; and’’.

9 (h) PERMISSIVE PROVISIONS.—Section 1621 of such

10 Act (7 U.S.C. 4810) is amended—

11 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting in

12 lieu thereof the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall establish appropriate ac14 counting and bookkeeping requirements by order to effec15 tuate the policy of this subtitle.’’;

16 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subsection

17 (a)(1)’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘sub18 section (a)’’; and

19 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection

20 (a)(1) or (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’.

21 (i) REFERENDUM.—Section 1622(e) of such Act (7

22 U.S.C. 4811(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘pursuant to this

23 section’’ and inserting ‘‘among all participating producers

24 and participating importers’’.
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1 (j) SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION OF ORDERS.—

2 Section 1623 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4812) is amended by

3 striking subsection (b) and redesignating subsection (c) as

4 subsection (b).

5 (k) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 1626 of such Act (7

6 U.S.C. 4815) is amended by adding at the end the follow7 ing new subsection:

8 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall permit the Sec9 retary to require or enforce the collection of assessments

10 from producers that are not participating producers and

11 importers that are not participating importers.’’.

12 (l) INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 1627 of such Act (7

13 U.S.C. 4816) is amended by adding at the end the follow14 ing new subsection:

15 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall permit the Sec16 retary to require or enforce the collection of assessments

17 from producers that are not participating producers and

18 importers that are not participating importers.’’.

19 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN DAIRY RESEARCH

20 AND PROMOTION PROGRAM.

21 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

22 OF POLICY.—Section 110(b) of the Dairy Production Sta23 bilization Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4501(b)) is amended by

24 striking ‘‘through assessments on all milk’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘through voluntary assessments on milk’’.
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1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 111 of such Act (7

2 U.S.C. 4502) is amended—

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after (h)’’; and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new

5 paragraph:

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘participating producer’ means

7 any producer who voluntarily chooses to participate

8 in the dairy research and promotion order issued

9 under section 112 and has paid all assessments as

10 provided in section 113(g);’’.

11 (c) REQUIRED TERMS IN ORDERS.—Section 113 of

12 such Act (7 U.S.C. 4504) is amended—

13 (1) in subsection (b)—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘Members of the Board

15 shall be milk producers’’ and inserting ‘‘Mem16 bers of the Board shall be participating produc17 ers;

18 (B) by striking ‘‘if the Secretary deter19 mines that a substantial number of milk pro20 ducers are not members’’ and inserting ‘‘if the

21 Secretary determines that a substantial number

22 of participating producers are not members’’;

23 (C) by striking ‘‘the geographical distribu24 tion of milk production volume throughout the

25 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘the geographical
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1 distribution of milk production volume by all

2 participating producers in the United States’’;

3 and

4 (D) by striking ‘‘shall equally reflect each

5 of the different regions in the United States in

6 which milk is produced’’ and inserting ‘‘shall

7 equally reflect each of the different regions in

8 which milk is produced by participating produc9 ers’’;

10 (2) in section (g)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘The order shall provide

12 that each person making payment to a producer

13 for milk produced in the United States and

14 purchased from the producer’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘The order shall provide that each person mak16 ing payment to a participating producer and

17 purchased from the participating producer’’;

18 and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘Any person marketing

20 milk of that person’s own production directly to

21 consumers shall remit’’ and inserting ‘‘Any per22 son marketing milk of that person’s own pro23 duction directly to consumers may remit’’; and

24 (3) in subsection (k), by striking the first sen25 tence and inserting the following: ‘‘The Secretary
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1 shall establish appropriate accounting and book2 keeping requirements in the order to effectuate the

3 policy of this title.’’.

4 (d) CERTIFICATION OF ORGANIZATIONS.—Section

5 114 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4505) is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘to represent

7 milk producers’’ and inserting ‘‘to represent partici8 pating producers’’;

9 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ‘‘who are

10 participating producers after ‘‘active milk produc11 ers’’; and

12 (3) in the matter following paragraph (6) of

13 subsection (b), by striking ‘‘shall be whether its

14 membership consists primarily of milk producers’’

15 and inserting ‘‘shall be whether its membership con16 sists primarily of participating producers’’.

17 (e) SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION OF ORDERS.—

18 Section 116 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4507) is amended by

19 striking subsection (b) and by redesignating subsection (c)

20 as subsection (b).

21 (f) COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATION.—

22 Section 117 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4508) is repealed.

23 (g) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 119 of such Act (7

24 U.S.C. 4510) is amended by adding at the end the follow25 ing new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall permit the Sec2 retary to require or enforce the collection of assessments

3 from producers that are not participating producers.’’.

4 (h) INVESTIGATIONS; POWER TO SUBPOENA.—Sec5 tion 120 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4511) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Nothing in

7 this section shall permit the Secretary to require or en8 force the collection of assessments from producers that are

9 not participating producers.’’.

10 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN THE EGG RE11 SEARCH AND PROMOTION PROGRAM.

12 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

13 OF POLICY.—The third paragraph of section 2 of the Egg

14 Research and Consumer Information Act (7 U.S.C. 2701)

15 is amended by striking ‘‘financing through an adequate

16 assessment’’ and inserting ‘‘financing through a voluntary

17 assessment’’.

18 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3(e) of such Act (7

19 U.S.C. 2702(e)) is amended—

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after (e)’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new

22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(2) The term ‘participating egg producer’ means an

24 egg producer who voluntarily chooses to participate in the

25 egg research and consumer information order issued under
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1 section 4 and has paid all assessments as provided in sec2 tion 8(e).’’.

3 (c) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS.—Section 4 of such Act

4 (7 U.S.C. 2703) is amended by striking ‘‘persons engaged

5 in the hatching and/or sale of egg-type baby chicks’’ and

6 all that follows through the end of the section and insert7 ing ‘‘participating egg producers’’.

8 (d) PERMISSIVE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN OR9 DERS.—Section 7(c) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2706(c)) is

10 amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘Providing that hatchery’’ and

12 all that follows through ‘‘pursuant to this chapter:’’

13 and inserting ‘‘Providing for the establishment of

14 appropriate accounting and bookkeeping require15 ments to effectuate the policy of this Act:’’; and

16 (2) by inserting at the end the following new

17 sentence: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall permit the

18 Secretary to require or enforce the collection of as19 sessments from egg producers that are not partici20 pating egg producers.’’.

21 (e) REQUIRED TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN OR22 DERS.—Section 8 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2708) is amend23 ed—

24 (1) in subsection (b)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘shall be composed of egg

2 producers or representatives of egg producers’’

3 and inserting ‘‘shall be composed of participat4 ing egg producers or representatives of partici5 pating egg producers’’;

6 (B) by striking ‘‘if the Secretary deter7 mines that a substantial number of egg produc8 ers’’ and inserting ‘‘if the Secretary determines

9 that a substantial number of participating egg

10 producers’’; and

11 (C) by striking ‘‘the proportion of eggs

12 produced in each geographic area’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘the proportion of eggs produced by partici14 pating egg producers in each geographic area’’;

15 (2) in subsection (e)(1)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘each egg producer’’ and

17 inserting ‘‘each participating egg producer’’;

18 and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘an assessment’’ and in20 serting ‘‘a voluntary assessment’’; and

21 (3) in subsection (e)(3), insert at the end the

22 following new sentence: ‘‘Nothing in this section

23 shall permit the Secretary to require or enforce the

24 collection of assessments egg producers that are not

25 participating egg producers.’’.
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1 (f) REFERENDUM AMONG EGG PRODUCERS.—Sec2 tion 9 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2708) is amended—

3 (1) in subsection (a)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall con5 duct a referendum among egg producers not ex6 empt hereunder’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary

7 shall conduct a referendum among participating

8 egg producers’’; and

9 (B) in the last sentence, by inserting ‘‘by

10 all participating egg producers’’ after ‘‘commer11 cial eggs produced’’;

12 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘egg producers not exempt

14 from this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘participating egg

15 producers’’; and

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘participating egg’’ after

17 ‘‘ascertaining whether the’’;

18 (3) in subsection (b)(4), by striking ‘‘is ap19 proved by producers in a referendum conducted

20 under this subsection, the Secretary shall amend the

21 order to reflect the vote of the producers’’ and insert

22 in lieu thereof ‘‘is approved by participating egg pro23 ducers in a referendum conducted under this sub24 section, the Secretary shall amend the order to re-
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1 flect the vote of the participating egg producers’’;

2 and

3 (4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘egg produc4 ers’’ and inserting ‘‘participating egg producers’’.

5 (g) TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF ORDERS.—

6 Section 10 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2709) is amended—

7 (1) by striking subsection (b); and

8 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub9 section (b).

10 (h) EXEMPTED EGG PRODUCERS AND BREEDING

11 HEN FLOCKS; CONDITIONS AND PROCEDURES.—Section

12 12 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2711) is repealed.

13 (i) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS.—Section 15

14 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2714) by adding at the end the

15 following new subsection:

16 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section shall permit the Sec17 retary to require or enforce the collection of assessments

18 from egg producers that are not participating egg produc19 ers.’’.

20 (j) INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 18 of such Act (7

21 U.S.C. 2717) is amended by adding at the end the follow22 ing new sentence: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall permit

23 the Secretary to require or enforce the collection of assess24 ments from egg producers that are not participating egg

25 producers.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN THE SHEEP AND

2 SHEEP PRODUCTS PROMOTION AND RE3 SEARCH PROGRAM.

4 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

5 OF POLICY.—Section 2(b) of the Sheep Promotion, Re6 search, and Information Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7101(b))

7 is amended by striking ‘‘through adequate assessments’’

8 and inserting ‘‘through voluntary assessments’’.

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of such Act (7 U.S.C.

10 7102) is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (9)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(9)’’; and

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new

14 subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating exporter’ means

16 an exporter who voluntarily chooses to participate in

17 the order and has paid all assessments as provided

18 in section 5(i).’’;

19 (2) in paragraph (10)—

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(10)’’; and

21 (B) by adding at the end the following new

22 subparagraph:

23 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating feeder’ means a

24 feeder who voluntarily chooses to participate in the

25 order and has paid all assessments as provided in

26 section 5(i).’’;
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1 (3) in paragraph (12)—

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(12)’’; and

3 (B) by adding at the end the following new

4 subparagraph:

5 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating handler’ means a

6 handler who voluntarily chooses to participate in the

7 order and has paid all assessments as provided in

8 section 5(i).’’;

9 (4) in paragraph (13)—

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(13)’’; and

11 (B) by adding at the end the following new

12 subparagraph:

13 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating importer’ means

14 an importer who voluntarily chooses to participate in

15 the order and has paid all assessments as provided

16 in section 5(i).’’; and

17 (5) in paragraph (18)—

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(18)’’; and

19 (B) by adding at the end the following new

20 subparagraph:

21 ‘‘(B) The term ‘participating producer’ means a

22 producer who voluntarily chooses to participate in

23 the order and has paid all assessments as provided

24 in section 5(i).’’.
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1 (c) REQUIRED TERMS IN ORDERS.—Section 5 of

2 such Act (7 U.S.C. 7104) is amended—

3 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Pro5 ducers’’ and inserting ‘‘Participating produc6 ers’’;

7 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting

8 ‘‘who are participating feeders’’ before the pe9 riod; and

10 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘Im11 porters’’ and inserting ‘‘Participating import12 ers’’;

13 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(i), by striking ‘‘feeders

14 or importers’’ and inserting ‘‘participating feeders or

15 participating importers’’;

16 (3) in subsection (c)(3)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘pro17 ducers’’ and inserting ‘‘participating producers’’;

18 (4) in subsection (c)(3)(C)(i), by striking ‘‘pro19 ducers’’ and inserting ‘‘participating producers’’;

20 (5) in subsection (e)(12), by striking ‘‘produc21 ers, feeders, and importers’’ and inserting ‘‘partici22 pating producers, participating feeders, and partici23 pating importers’’;

24 (6) in subsection (g)(2)(A)—
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1 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘producers’’

2 and inserting ‘‘participating producers’’;

3 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘feeders’’

4 and inserting ‘‘participating feeders’’; and

5 (C) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘importers’’

6 and inserting ‘‘participating importers’’;

7 (7) in subsection (m)(1), by adding at the end

8 the following new sentence: ‘‘This paragraph shall

9 apply only to participating producers, participating

10 feeders, participating handlers, participating import11 ers, participating exporters, and other persons who

12 voluntarily participate in the order.’’.

13 (d) ASSESSMENTS.—Subsection (i) of section 5 of

14 such Act (7 U.S.C. 7104) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘producer

16 or feeder’’ and inserting ‘‘participating producer or

17 participating feeder’’;

18 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘seller’’

19 and inserting ‘‘seller (if the seller is participating in

20 the order)’’;

21 (3) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘producer,

22 feeder, or handler’’ and inserting ‘‘participating pro23 ducer, participating feeder, or participating han24 dler’’;
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1 (4) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘any person’’

2 and inserting ‘‘any person voluntarily participating

3 in the order who is’’;

4 (5) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘person ex5 porting’’ and inserting ‘‘any participating exporter

6 who exports’’; and

7 (6) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘any person’’

8 both places it appears and inserting ‘‘any importer

9 who is’’.

10 (e) REQUIREMENTS OF REFERENDUM.—Section 6 of

11 such Act (7 U.S.C. 7105) is amended by striking sub12 section (b) and redesignating subsection (c) as subsection

13 (b).

14 (f) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 8 of such Act (7 U.S.C.

15 7107) is amended by adding at the end the following new

16 subsection:

17 ‘‘(h) CLARIFICATION OF VOLUNTARY NATURE OF

18 ORDER.—Nothing in this section shall permit the Sec19 retary to require or enforce the collection of assessments

20 under section 5(i) from persons who are not voluntarily

21 participating in the order.’’.

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