Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110

§4505 Certification of Organizations

Title 7 › CHAPTER 76 — DAIRY RESEARCH AND PROMOTION › SUBCHAPTER I — DAIRY PROMOTION PROGRAM › § 4505

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must decide which groups can officially represent milk producers and help make nominations. The Secretary will certify any group that meets the eligibility rules the Secretary sets, and that decision is final. Certification is based on a factual report from the group. The report must cover six things, such as the area and size of active membership, how stable the group is, where its money comes from, what it does, and whether it will work toward the program’s goals. The main tests are that most members are milk producers who make a substantial volume of milk and that the group’s main interest is in producing or processing fluid milk and dairy products and promoting their nutritional value.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §4505

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The eligibility of any organization to represent milk producers, and to participate in the making of nominations under section 4504 of this title shall be certified by the Secretary. The Secretary shall certify any organization that the Secretary determines meets the eligibility criteria established by the Secretary under this section and the Secretary’s determination as to eligibility shall be final.

(b)Certification shall be based, in addition to other available information, on a factual report submitted by the organization, which shall contain information deemed relevant and specified by the Secretary, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1)geographic territory covered by the organization’s active membership;

(2)nature and size of the organization’s active membership including the proportion of the total number of active milk producers represented by the organization;

(3)evidence of stability and permanency of the organization;

(4)sources from which the organization’s operating funds are derived;

(5)functions of the organization; and

(6)the organization’s ability and willingness to further the aims and objectives of this subchapter.

The primary considerations in determining the eligibility of an organization shall be whether its membership consists primarily of milk producers who produce a substantial volume of milk and whether the primary or overriding interest of the organization is in the production or processing of fluid milk and dairy products and promotion of the nutritional attributes of fluid milk and dairy products.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 4505

Title 7, Agriculture

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110