Policies & Procedures for 

Dairy Product 

Mandatory Reporting Program

Agricultural Marketing Service Dairy Programs Market Information Branch

P&P-DPMRP-002 February 28, 2018

Reporting plants will be notified of any changes to the Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program

(DPMRP) policies and procedures as well as provided with a copy of the updated guidelines.

Weekly Reporting

• Report all qualified sales for the previous week starting from Sunday (12:01am) and ending Saturday

(midnight) in the Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting System (DPMRS). Categorize the weekly sales 

information using the week ending Saturday’s date.

• Report sales transactions meeting the criteria outlined in the Mandatory Price Reporting Final Rule and any

clarification to those criteria listed in in the Reporting Specifications Question and Answers.

• Report week ending date, total pounds sold, dollars received, price per pound, moisture content (where 

applicable), and answer a statement of acknowledgement referencing the participant’s understanding for the 

program. Optional comments provide additional information that will minimize the need for additional AMS

verification.

• Maintain current contact, username, and password information within the DPMRS.

• The due dates for submitting weekly DPMRP reports to AMS are generally Tuesday, noon local time (if a

Federal holiday falls on Monday or Tuesday the reporting deadline is Wednesday, noon local time). Due to the

importance of the DPMRP, timely reporting is essential to ensure sufficient time to analyze the data and 

publish the National Dairy Products Sales Report. Late submissions hinder the publication process and may

result in inaccuracies impacting selected dairy commodity markets and/or the dairy industry in general.

o If reports are not received by the announced due date and time, AMS will send a notification letter to

reporters reminding them of their obligation for timely reporting, on the first and second occurrences. 

On the third occurrence, the firm will be notified that enforcement action will be initiated should

subsequent submissions not be made in a timely fashion. 

o If a report is not submitted in time for use in the current release, the company will be notified of the

missing data in writing. Upon the second occurrence, enforcement action will be initiated.
Policies & Procedures

for

Dairy Products Mandatory Reporting Program 

February 28, 2018

P&P-DPMRP-002 Page 2

o Due dates, release calendars, and noncompliance flowchart chart can be found at: 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/mmr/dmr

• Sales reports are open for revisions for the four weeks following the initial submission of the product reports. 

Firms should submit revised sales reports for any change or deviation from the first report within the four

week revision period. The company should revise all sales reports affected and provide an explanation of the 

changes. Common changes include:

o Discovery of an inadvertent error; the company should revise affected sales reports.

o New information becomes available that requires an adjustment to sales data (i.e. product returns or 

price disputes); the company should revise affected sales reports.

o Submission of previous week’s information is missing; the company should revise the missing week’s

sales reports.

Annual Validation

• Participate in the annual validation interview and complete the Annual Validation Worksheet documenting 

the company’s status in the mandatory program.

• Maintain current contact information.

Audit

• All weekly sales reports are subject to audit for up to two years from the time of submission.

• The AMS audit staff periodically audit a company’s sales records to ensure accurate sales reports.

• Auditors conduct exit interviews at the end of each audit, informing plant officials of the results of the audit. 

If potential discrepancies are discovered, auditors discuss the results and potential solutions to the errors. 

After final review of an audit report, AMS formally notifies companies in writing of discrepancies within 10

business days of receipt of the preliminary audit results.

• Discrepancies fall into two categories either clerical or procedural.

o If reports contain clerical errors, AMS will send a notification letter for the first through the fifth

occurrences to companies reminding them of their obligation for accurate reporting. On the sixth

occurrence, the company will be notified with a warning letter for inaccurate reporting due to clerical

errors. Upon the next occurrence, enforcement action will be initiated.

o If reports contain procedural errors, AMS will send a notification letter for the first and second

occurrences to companies reminding them of their obligation for accurate reporting. On the third

occurrence, the company will be notified with a warning letter explaining the discrepancies found and 

the program specifications required for accurate reporting. Upon the next occurrence, enforcement 

action will be initiated. All procedural discrepancies result in an additional audit within 60 days of

AMS’s formal notification, to ensure procedural errors are addressed. 
Policies & Procedures

for

Dairy Products Mandatory Reporting Program 

February 28, 2018

P&P-DPMRP-002 Page 3

o Web forms and the Annual Validation Worksheet (both including product specifications), Reporting 

Specifications Questions and Answers, and the noncompliance flowchart chart can be found at: 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/mmr/dmr.

Reporting Specification Changes

• Reporting specifications contained in the final rule can be found on each web form and on the Annual 

Validation Worksheet. Any entity submitting reports should direct questions concerning the reporting

specifications to AMS–Dairy Program at (202) 690-4392 or DPP@ams.usda.gov. Through this interaction, 

AMS can more accurately maintain the Reporting Specifications Question & Answers document. Any major 

reporting specifications changes can be addressed through the rulemaking process.