Title 7 › Chapter 21C— TOBACCO REFORM › Subchapter I— TRANSITIONAL PAYMENTS TO TOBACCO QUOTA HOLDERS AND PRODUCERS OF TOBACCO › § 518a
The Secretary must offer a contract to every tobacco quota holder to end tobacco marketing quotas and related price supports, and pay them for giving up those quotas. A person who wants the payment must apply and prove they are a quota holder, using the form and timeline the Secretary requires. The base quota used to calculate a payment is the quota tied to the farm for the 2002 marketing year, or for acreage-based quotas it is the 2002 farm quota multiplied by the county average yield for 2001–2003. If a farm sale agreement existed as of October 22, 2004 and the buyer and seller cannot agree who gets the payments, the Secretary will divide the payments fairly and assign quota pounds accordingly. If a permanent transfer was agreed but not finished by the day before October 22, 2004, the owner on that day is treated as the quota holder. The total payment for each kind of tobacco equals $7.00 per pound times the base quota. Payments are paid over fiscal years 2005 through 2014, with each year paying one-tenth (1/10) of the total for that tobacco. If a quota holder dies and is survived by a spouse or dependents, the right to future payments goes to the surviving spouse or, if none, to the estate.
Full Legal Text
Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
7 U.S.C. § 518a
Title 7 — Agriculture
Last Updated
Apr 3, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60