§4613 Implementation of Amendments Made by Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998

Summary

The Secretary must make a new honey order that matches the changes made by section 605 of the 1998 Act (except subsection (m)). Within 90 days after June 23, 1998, the Secretary must publish a proposed order and ask the public for comments. Within 240 days after that proposal is published, the Secretary must issue a final order that uses those comments and follows the 1998 changes. When the final order is issued, the Secretary must hold a vote (referendum) so people affected can decide if the amended order will take effect. The vote covers the whole amended order, not individual parts. People who were producers, producer-packers, importers, or handlers during the two calendar years before the vote may vote. Votes are counted using the amounts of honey each voter handled or imported, and producer-packers and importers vote as if the new assessments had applied during that two-year period (the exact counting rules are set in section 4611). The amended order only becomes effective if it meets the approval rules in section 4611. If voters reject the amended order, the old order in force on June 23, 1998 stays in effect. The Secretary may still change the order later, but any change that needs a referendum must be approved under section 4611. If the amended order is approved, no routine referendum under section 4612(c) may be held sooner than five years after this referendum.