Title 7 — AgricultureRelease 119-73

§7411 Findings and purpose

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 101— - AGRICULTURAL PROMOTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - ISSUANCE OF ORDERS FOR PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND INFORMATION ACTIVITIES REGARDING AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES › § 7411

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates a national program, run by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, to plan, pay for, and carry out broad (non‑branded) promotion, research, and information about agricultural products. It says farm products are important to the economy and must be high quality, available, and well marketed. These promotion and research efforts help keep and grow current markets, find new ones, help consumers and producers, and especially help small farmers who cannot afford brand advertising. The work is paid for by the industry that benefits, should be coordinated and checked for effectiveness, can support conservation, and applies to goods that move in interstate or foreign trade. The program’s goals are to strengthen farm industries, keep and expand domestic and foreign markets, develop new uses and markets, and help producers meet conservation goals. It does not control how much anyone may produce, handle, or import.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §7411

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Congress finds the following:

(1)The production of agricultural commodities plays a significant role in the economy of the United States. Thousands of producers in the United States are involved in the production of agricultural commodities, and such commodities are consumed by millions of people throughout the United States and foreign countries.

(2)Agricultural commodities must be of high quality, readily available, handled properly, and marketed efficiently to ensure that consumers have an adequate supply.

(3)The maintenance and expansion of existing markets and the development of new markets for agricultural commodities through generic commodity promotion, research, and information programs are vital to the welfare of persons engaged in the production, marketing, and consumption of such commodities, as well as to the general economy of the United States.

(4)Generic promotion, research, and information activities for agricultural commodities play a unique role in advancing the demand for such commodities, since such activities increase the total market for a product to the benefit of consumers and all producers. These generic activities complement branded advertising initiatives, which are aimed at increasing the market share of individual competitors, and are of particular benefit to small producers who lack the resources or market power to advertise on their own. These generic activities do not impede the branded advertising efforts of individual firms, but instead increase general market demand for an agricultural commodity using methods that individual companies do not have the incentive to employ.

(5)Generic promotion, research, and information activities for agricultural commodities, paid by the producers and others in the industry who reap the benefits of such activities, provide a unique opportunity for producers to inform consumers about a particular agricultural commodity.

(6)It is important to ensure that generic promotion, research, and information activities for agricultural commodities be carried out in an effective and coordinated manner designed to strengthen the position of the commodities in the marketplace and to maintain and expand their markets and uses. Independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the generic promotion activities of these programs will assist the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress in ensuring that these objectives are met.

(7)The cooperative development, financing, and implementation of a coordinated national program of research, promotion, and information regarding agricultural commodities are necessary to maintain and expand existing markets and to develop new markets for these commodities.

(8)Agricultural commodities move in interstate and foreign commerce, and agricultural commodities and their products that do not move in such channels of commerce directly burden or affect interstate commerce in agricultural commodities and their products.

(9)Commodity promotion programs have the ability to provide significant conservation benefits to producers and the public.

(b)The purpose of this subchapter is to authorize the establishment, through the exercise by the Secretary of Agriculture of the authority provided in this subchapter, of an orderly program for developing, financing, and carrying out an effective, continuous, and coordinated program of generic promotion, research, and information regarding agricultural commodities designed to—

(1)strengthen the position of agricultural commodity industries in the marketplace;

(2)maintain and expand existing domestic and foreign markets and uses for agricultural commodities;

(3)develop new markets and uses for agricultural commodities; or

(4)assist producers in meeting their conservation objectives.

(c)Nothing in this subchapter provides for the control of production or otherwise limits the right of any person to produce, handle, or import an agricultural commodity.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 7411

Title 7 — Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73