II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 345 

To reform the Federal sugar program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

PORTMAN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. CORKER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. 

AYOTTE, and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

Forestry 

A BILL 

To reform the Federal sugar 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 ‘‘Sugar Reform Act of 

5 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUGAR PROGRAM. 

7 (a) SUGARCANE.—Section 156(a) of the Federal Ag8 riculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 

9 7272(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

2 the semicolon at the end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(6) 18 cents per pound for raw cane sugar for 

7 each of the 2013 through 2017 crop years.’’. 

8 (b) SUGAR BEETS.—Section 156(b)(2) of the Federal 

9 Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 

10 U.S.C. 7272(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘2012’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘2017’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—Section 156(i) of the Fed13 eral Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 

14 U.S.C. 7272(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘2012’’ and in15 serting ‘‘2017’’. 

16 SEC. 3. FLEXIBLE MARKETING ALLOTMENTS FOR SUGAR. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 359b of the Agricultural 

18 Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359bb) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

20 (A) in the matter before subparagraph (A), 

21 by striking ‘‘2012’’ and inserting ‘‘2017’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘at 

23 reasonable prices’’ after ‘‘stocks’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘but’’ 

2 after the semicolon at the end and inserting 

3 ‘‘and’’; and 

4 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in5 serting the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) appropriate to maintain adequate do7 mestic supplies at reasonable prices, taking into 

8 account all sources of domestic supply, includ9 ing imports.’’. 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FLEXIBLE MARKETING AL11 LOTMENTS.—Section 359c of the Agricultural Adjustment 

12 Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359cc) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘but’’ after the semicolon at the end and 

17 inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 

19 inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) appropriate to maintain adequate 

21 supplies at reasonable prices, taking into ac22 count all sources of domestic supply, including 

23 imports.’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘at 

25 reasonable prices’’ after ‘‘market’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (g)(1)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘ADJUSTMENTS.—’’ and 

3 all that follows through ‘‘Subject to subpara4 graph (B), the’’ and inserting ‘‘ADJUST5 MENTS.—The’’; and 

6 (B) by striking subparagraph (B). 

7 (c) SUSPENSION OR MODIFICATION OF PROVI8 SIONS.—Section 359j of the Agricultural Adjustment Act 

9 of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359jj) is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘(c) SUSPENSION OR MODIFICATION OF PROVI12 SIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, 

13 the Secretary may suspend or modify, in whole or in part, 

14 the application of any provision of this part if the Sec15 retary determines that the action is appropriate, taking 

16 into account— 

17 ‘‘(1) the interests of consumers, workers in the 

18 food industry, businesses (including small busi19 nesses), and agricultural producers; and 

20 ‘‘(2) the relative competitiveness of domestically 

21 produced and imported foods containing sugar.’’. 

22 (d) ADMINISTRATION OF TARIFF RATE QUOTAS.— 

23 Section 359k of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 

24 (7 U.S.C. 1359kk) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 359k. ADMINISTRATION OF TARIFF RATE QUOTAS. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Notwithstanding any other 

3 provision of law, at the beginning of the quota year, the 

4 Secretary shall establish the tariff-rate quotas for raw 

5 cane sugar and refined sugar at no less than the minimum 

6 level necessary to comply with obligations under inter7 national trade agreements that have been approved by 

8 Congress. 

9 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (a), 

11 the Secretary shall adjust the tariff-rate quotas for 

12 raw cane sugar and refined sugar to provide ade13 quate supplies of sugar at reasonable prices in the 

14 domestic market. 

15 ‘‘(2) ENDING STOCKS.—Subject to paragraphs 

16 (1) and (3), the Secretary shall establish and adjust 

17 tariff-rate quotas in such a manner that the ratio of 

18 sugar stocks to total sugar use at the end of the 

19 quota year will be approximately 15.5 percent. 

20 ‘‘(3) MAINTENANCE OF REASONABLE PRICES

21 AND AVOIDANCE OF FORFEITURES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may es23 tablish a different target for the ratio of ending 

24 stocks to total use if, in the judgment of the 

25 Secretary, the different target is necessary to 

26 prevent— 


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1 ‘‘(i) unreasonably high prices; or 

2 ‘‘(ii) forfeitures of sugar pledged as 

3 collateral for a loan under section 156 of 

4 the Federal Agriculture Improvement and 

5 Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7272). 

6 ‘‘(B) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Secretary 

7 shall publicly announce any establishment of a 

8 target under this paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing tariff10 rate quotas under subsection (a) and making adjust11 ments under this subsection, the Secretary shall con12 sider the impact of the quotas on consumers, work13 ers, businesses (including small businesses), and ag14 ricultural producers. 

15 ‘‘(c) TEMPORARY TRANSFER OF QUOTAS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To promote full use of the 

17 tariff-rate quotas for raw cane sugar and refined 

18 sugar, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

19 the Secretary shall promulgate regulations that pro20 vide that any country that has been allocated a 

21 share of the quotas may temporarily transfer all or 

22 part of the share to any other country that has also 

23 been allocated a share of the quotas. 

24 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS VOLUNTARY.—Any transfer 

25 under this subsection shall be valid only on volVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:28 Feb 27, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S345.IS S345

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1 untary agreement between the transferor and the 

2 transferee, consistent with procedures established by 

3 the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(3) TRANSFERS TEMPORARY.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any transfer under 

6 this subsection shall be valid only for the dura7 tion of the quota year during which the transfer 

8 is made. 

9 ‘‘(B) FOLLOWING QUOTA YEAR.—No 

10 transfer under this subsection shall affect the 

11 share of the quota allocated to the transferor or 

12 transferee for the following quota year.’’. 

13 (e) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—Section 359l(a) of the Ag14 ricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359ll(a)) 

15 is amended by striking ‘‘2012’’ and inserting ‘‘2017’’. 

16 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF FEEDSTOCK FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM 

17 FOR BIOENERGY PRODUCERS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9010 of the Farm Secu19 rity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8110) 

20 is repealed. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) Section 359a(3)(B) of the Agricultural Ad23 justment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359aa(3)(B)) is 

24 amended— 


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1 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and’’ after 

2 the semicolon at the end; 

3 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at 

4 the end and inserting a period; and 

5 (C) by striking clause (iii). 

6 (2) Section 359b(c)(2)(C) of the Agricultural 

7 Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359bb(c)(2)(C)) 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘, except for’’ and all that 

9 follows through ‘‘ of 2002’’. 

Æ 


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