§7416 Assessments

Summary

When an order applies to an agricultural commodity, fees called assessments must be paid by first handlers who market that commodity in the United States and by importers who bring it into the United States when the order covers imports. Assessments must be sent to the board the order creates, at the times and in the ways the order requires. A first handler or importer can be charged no more than 1 assessment for the same commodity. The board recommends 1 or more assessment rates to the Secretary, and approved rates take effect. An order may require a referendum before any rate increase. The Secretary may set late-payment and interest charges for unpaid assessments. While waiting to spend the money under a Secretary-approved budget, the board may invest collected assessments in safe places such as U.S. government or agency bonds, state or local bonds, interest-bearing accounts or CDs at banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System, or obligations fully guaranteed by the United States. From the order’s start until the Secretary announces the referendum results, the board must keep an escrow account in an interest-bearing Federal Reserve member bank for refunds and must deposit 10 percent of the assessments collected during that period into it. If the order is not approved in the referendum, people whose assessments were paid on their behalf can ask for refunds in the form and time the order sets, and the board must pay after getting proof of payment. If the escrow funds are not enough to pay all refunds, the board must prorate payments. If the order is approved, the escrow is closed and the funds become available for the board to use under the order.