Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110

§7411 Findings and Purpose

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

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to set up and run a national, coordinated program paid for by producers and others in the industry to promote, research, and share information about agricultural products. Congress found that farm goods are important to the U.S. economy, must be high quality and well marketed, and that industry-wide promotion and research can grow demand, help small producers who cannot afford big ads, support branded advertising, and provide conservation benefits. The programs should be coordinated and checked for effectiveness and they affect trade between states and with other countries. The program’s goals are to strengthen commodity industries, keep and grow domestic and foreign markets, find new uses for products, and help producers meet conservation goals. The program does not control how much anyone may produce, handle, or import.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §7411

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Findings

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)Purpose

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)Rule of construction

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

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110