Title 7 — AgricultureRelease 119-73

§7415 Permissive terms in orders

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 101— - AGRICULTURAL PROMOTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - ISSUANCE OF ORDERS FOR PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND INFORMATION ACTIVITIES REGARDING AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES › § 7415

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Orders can let the Secretary or the board do several things to run a commodity program. They can let very small amounts of the commodity be exempt from the order, if the Secretary approves and the board requires safeguards to stop misuse. The board can set different payment and reporting schedules for different areas. The board can run research, promotion, and information programs at home and abroad, using the same approval rules that apply to similar activities. The order can keep a reserve of assessment funds for low-collection years, but the reserve cannot be bigger than the largest two-year total of planned disbursements in Secretary-approved budgets. The order can give credit for contributions to similar state or local programs and can let farmer cooperatives deduct branded-marketing costs from producer assessments (cooperatives may waive that). The board can assess imported products at rates like domestic rates. Finally, orders may include other actions needed to run the program so long as they do not conflict with the subchapter’s purpose, existing terms, or rules.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §7415

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An order issued under this subchapter may contain—

(1)authority for the Secretary to exempt from the order any de minimis quantity of an agricultural commodity otherwise covered by the order; and

(2)authority for the board established under the order to require satisfactory safeguards against improper use of the exemption.

(b)An order issued under this subchapter may contain authority for the board established under the order to designate different payment and reporting schedules to recognize differences in agricultural commodity industry marketing practices and procedures used in different production and importing areas.

(c)An order issued under this subchapter may contain authority to develop and carry out research, promotion, and information activities designed to expand, improve, or make more efficient the marketing or use of the agricultural commodity covered by the order in domestic and foreign markets. section 7414(e) of this title shall apply with respect to activities authorized under this subsection.

(d)An order issued under this subchapter may contain authority to reserve funds from assessments collected under section 7416 of this title to permit an effective and continuous coordinated program of research, promotion, and information in years when the yield from assessments may be reduced, except that the amount of funds reserved may not exceed the greatest aggregate amount of the anticipated disbursements specified in budgets approved under section 7414(e) of this title by the Secretary for any 2 fiscal years.

(e)(1)An order issued under this subchapter may contain authority to provide credits of assessments for those individuals who contribute to other similar generic research, promotion, and information programs at the State, regional, or local level.

(2)(A)The Secretary may permit a farmer cooperative that engages in branded activities relating to the marketing of the products of members of the cooperative to receive an annual credit for the activities and related expenditures in the form of a deduction of the total cost of the activities and related expenditures from the amount of any assessment that would otherwise be required to be paid by the producer members of the cooperative under an order issued under this subchapter.

(B)A farmer cooperative may elect to voluntarily waive the application of subparagraph (A) to the cooperative.

(f)An order issued under this subchapter may contain authority for the board established under the order to assess under section 7416 of this title an imported agricultural commodity, or products of such an agricultural commodity, at a rate comparable to the rate determined by the appropriate board for the domestic agricultural commodity covered by the order.

(g)An order issued under this subchapter may contain authority to take any other action that—

(1)is not inconsistent with the purpose of this subchapter, any term or condition specified in section 7414 of this title, or any rule issued to carry out this subchapter; and

(2)is necessary to administer the order.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 7415

Title 7 — Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73