§1359bb Flexible marketing allotments for sugar

Summary

The Secretary must, by August 1 before each crop year from 2008 through 2031, estimate how much sugar will be eaten in the United States, how much should be kept as a reasonable reserve, how much leftover stock will be available at the start of the year, how much will come from domestic processing, and how much sugar, syrups, or molasses will be imported (including under or outside tariff-rate quotas). Those estimates do not cover sugar used to make polyhydric alcohol or sugar that is refined and then sent back out of the country. The Secretary must update these estimates as needed, but at least by the start of each of the second, third, and fourth quarters of the crop year. By the start of each crop year the Secretary must set marketing allotments for processors of cane, beet, or in-process beet sugar. The allotments must be large enough to keep prices above forfeiture levels so no sugar is forfeited under the loan program, and they must be at least 85 percent of the estimated domestic human consumption. The allotments can include sugar products mostly made of sucrose. Allotments apply whether the beets or in-process sugar are domestic or imported. Sales for export, sales to let another processor meet its allocation, and sales for non-food uses (with a special rule for ethanol/bioenergy under section 8110) are not subject to the allotments. Transfers to another processor must be done before May 1 and reported. A processor may not market more than its allocation unless transferring to help another processor or exporting. Knowingly breaking this rule means paying a penalty equal to three times the U.S. market value of the extra sugar at the time of the violation.