I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2324

To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act to terminate Federal milk marketing orders and to replace such orders with a program to verify

receipts of milk.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 23, 1999

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

on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act to terminate

Federal milk marketing orders and to replace such orders

with a program to verify receipts of milk.

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

3 SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF MILK MARKETING ORDERS.

4 (a) TERMINATION.—Section 8c of the Agricultural

5 Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), reenacted with amend6 ments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of

7 1937, is amended by striking paragraphs (5) and (18) re8 lating to milk and its products.
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1 (b) PROHIBITION ON SUBSEQUENT ORDERS RE2 GARDING MILK.—Paragraph (2) of such section is

3 amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘Milk, fruits’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘Fruits’’; and

6 (2) by inserting ‘‘milk,’’ after ‘‘honey,’’ in sub7 paragraph (B).

8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 2(3) of

9 such Act (7 U.S.C. 602(3) is amended by striking ‘‘, other

10 than milk and its products,’’.

11 (2) Section 8c of such Act (7 U.S.C. 608c) is

12 amended—

13 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘, other than

14 milk and its products,’’;

15 (B) in paragraph (7)(B), by striking ‘‘(except

16 for milk and cream to be sold for consumption in

17 fluid form)’’;

18 (C) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘Except

19 in the case of milk and its products, orders’’ and in20 serting ‘‘Orders’’;

21 (D) in paragraph (13)(A), by striking ‘‘, except

22 to a retailer in his capacity as a retailer of milk and

23 its products’’; and

24 (E) in paragraph (17), by striking the second

25 proviso, which relates to milk orders.
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1 (3) Section 8d(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 608d(2)) is

2 amended by striking the second sentence, which relates to

3 information from milk handlers.

4 (4) Section 10(b)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 610(b))

5 is amended—

6 (A) by striking clause (i);

7 (B) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as

8 clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; and

9 (C) in clause (i) (as so redesignated), by strik10 ing ‘‘other commodity’’ in the first sentence and in11 serting ‘‘commodity’’.

12 (5) Section 11 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 611) is amended

13 by striking ‘‘and milk, and its products,’’.

14 (6) Section 715 of the Agriculture, Rural Develop15 ment, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agen16 cies Appropriations Act, 1994 (Public Law 103–111; 107

17 Stat. 1079; 7 U.S.C. 608d note), is amended by striking

18 the third proviso, which relates to information from milk

19 handlers.

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

21 this section shall take effect on llllllll.

22 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO VERIFY RECEIPTS OF MILK.

23 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Agri24 culture shall establish a program through which the

25 verification of receipts of all cow’s milk marketed in the
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1 48 contiguous States and the auditing of marketing agree2 ments with respect to receipts of such milk may be accom3 plished.

4 (b) MARKET SERVICES.—The program shall provide

5 a means by which (1) market statistics and information

6 are collected and provided to producers, handlers, and con7 sumers, (2) the weighing, sampling, and testing of milk

8 purchased from producers is accomplished and verified,

9 (3) authorized deductions from payments to producers, in10 cluding assessments for research and promotion programs,

11 are collected, (4) assurance of proper payment by handlers

12 for milk purchased is achieved, and (5) the reports,

13 records, and facilities of handlers are reviewed and in14 spected to assure their accuracy. However, this subsection

15 shall not apply to producers for whom such market serv16 ices are being rendered by a cooperative marketing asso17 ciation qualified under the provisions of the Act of Feb18 ruary 18, 1922 (7 U.S.C. 291–292; commonly known as

19 the Co-operative Marketing Associations Act).

20 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The program shall

21 provide for the filing of reports by handlers of milk and

22 milk products, and the publication of statistics by the Sec23 retary, with respect to receipts of milk, prices paid for

24 milk, and the purposes for which milk was used by han25 dlers.
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1 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The program

2 shall provide for an assessment on handlers, based on rel3 ative volume of receipts of milk, for expenses related to

4 the administration of the program, and for a deduction

5 from producer payments by handlers, based on relative

6 marketings of milk, for expenses related to market services

7 provided under the program by the Secretary or a coopera8 tive marketing association. The total revenue from such

9 assessments and deductions shall not exceed the total cost

10 of providing those services.

11 (e) MARKETING AGREEMENTS.—Producers or asso12 ciations of producers, including cooperative marketing as13 sociations qualified under the provisions of the Act of Feb14 ruary 18, 1922 (7 U.S.C. 291–292; commonly known as

15 the Co-operative Marketing Associations Act), may nego16 tiate and enter into marketing agreements or other private

17 contracts with handlers for the marketing and receipt of

18 milk. Upon the request of either or both of the parties,

19 the Secretary may perform an audit of the agreement or

20 contract to assure compliance with its terms, except that

21 the Secretary shall be reimbursed for any costs associated

22 with the audit in the manner provided in the agreement

23 or contract. If there is no provision for the reimbursement

24 of the Secretary in the agreement or contract, the party
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1 or parties requesting the audit shall provide such reim2 bursement.

3 (f) PROHIBITION ON MARKETING LIMITATIONS.—No

4 marketing agreement or Government order or regulation

5 applicable to milk and its products in any marketing area

6 or jurisdiction shall prohibit or in any manner limit the

7 marketing in that area of any milk or product of milk pro8 duced in any production area in the United States.

9 (g) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than

10 llllll, the Secretary shall issue final regulations

11 to establish the verification program required by this sec12 tion. The regulations shall take effect on that date.

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