I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3410

To amend the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 to ensure that

all persons who benefit from the dairy promotion and research program

contribute to the cost of the program, to terminate the program on

December 31, 1996, and to prohibit bloc voting by cooperative associations of milk producers in connection with the program, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 28, 1993

Mr. OBEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983

to ensure that all persons who benefit from the dairy

promotion and research program contribute to the cost

of the program, to terminate the program on December

31, 1996, and to prohibit bloc voting by cooperative

associations of milk producers in connection with the

program, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dairy Promotion Pro5 gram Improvement Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FUNDING OF DAIRY PROMOTION AND RESEARCH

2 PROGRAM.

3 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—The first sentence of

4 section 110(b) of the Dairy Production Stabilization Act

5 of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4501(b)) is amended—

6 (1) by inserting after ‘‘commercial use’’ the fol7 lowing: ‘‘and on imported dairy products’’; and

8 (2) by striking ‘‘products produced in’’ and in9 serting ‘‘products produced in or imported into’’.

10 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 111 of such Act (7

11 U.S.C. 4502) is amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subsection

13 (k);

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub15 section (l) and inserting a semicolon; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub17 sections:

18 ‘‘(m) the term ‘imported dairy product’

19 means—

20 ‘‘(1) any dairy product, including milk and

21 cream and fresh and dried dairy products;

22 ‘‘(2) butter and butterfat mixtures;

23 ‘‘(3) cheese;

24 ‘‘(4) casein and mixtures; and

25 ‘‘(5) other dairy products,

26 that are imported into the United States; and
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1 ‘‘(n) the term ‘importer’ means a person that

2 imports an imported dairy product into the United

3 States.’’.

4 (c) FUNDING.—

5 (1) REPRESENTATION ON BOARD.—Section

6 113(b) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 4504(b)) is amended—

7 (A) by designating the first through ninth

8 sentences as paragraphs (1) through (5) and

9 paragraphs (7) through (10), respectively;

10 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by

11 striking ‘‘thirty-six’’ and inserting ‘‘38’’;

12 (C) in paragraph (2) (as so designated), by

13 striking ‘‘Members’’ and inserting ‘‘Of the

14 members of the Board, 36 members’’; and

15 (D) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so

16 designated) the following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(6) Of the members of the Board, 2 members shall

18 be representatives of importers of imported dairy prod19 ucts. The importer representatives shall be appointed by

20 the Secretary from nominations submitted by importers

21 under such procedures as the Secretary determines to be

22 appropriate.’’.

23 (2) ASSESSMENT.—Section 113(g) of such Act

24 is amended—
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1 (A) by designating the first through fifth

2 sentences as paragraphs (1) through (5), re3 spectively; and

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

5 paragraph:

6 ‘‘(6)(A) The order shall provide that each importer

7 of imported dairy products shall pay an assessment to the

8 Board in the manner prescribed by the order.

9 ‘‘(B) The rate of assessment on imported dairy prod10 ucts shall be determined in the same manner as the rate

11 of assessment per hundredweight or the equivalent of

12 milk.

13 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of determining the assessment

14 on imports under subparagraph (B), the value to be placed

15 on imported dairy products shall be established by the Sec16 retary in a fair and equitable manner.’’.

17 (3) RECORDS.—The first sentence of section

18 113(k) of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘person

19 receiving’’ and inserting ‘‘importer of imported dairy

20 products, each person’’.

21 (4) REFERENDUM.—Section 116 of such Act (7

22 U.S.C. 4507) is amended by adding at the end the

23 following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(d)(1) On the request of a representative group com2 prising 10 percent or more of the number of producers

3 subject to the order, the Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(A) conduct a referendum to determine wheth5 er the producers favor suspension of the application

6 of the amendments made by section 2 of the Dairy

7 Promotion Program Improvement Act of 1993; and

8 ‘‘(B) suspend the application of the amend9 ments until the results of the referendum are known.

10 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall continue the suspension of

11 the application of the amendments made by section 2 only

12 if the Secretary determines that suspension of the applica13 tion of the amendments is favored by a majority of the

14 producers voting in the referendum who, during a rep15 resentative period (as determined by the Secretary), have

16 been engaged in the production of milk for commercial

17 use.’’.

18 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF DAIRY PROMOTION AND RE19 SEARCH PROGRAM.

20 Section 116 of the Dairy Production Stabilization Act

21 of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4507) (as amended by section 2(c)(4))

22 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

23 subsection:
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1 ‘‘(e)(1) On December 31, 1996, the Secretary shall

2 terminate the order issued under this Act (including the

3 collection of assessments under the order).

4 ‘‘(2) As soon as practicable after the date referred

5 to in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall terminate activi6 ties under the order in an orderly manner.’’.

7 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON BLOC VOTING.

8 Section 117 of the Dairy Production Stabilization Act

9 of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4508) is amended—

10 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Secretary

11 shall’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary shall not’’; and

12 (2) by striking the second through fifth sen13 tences.

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