[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2773 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2773

   To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to enhance dairy 
   markets through dairy product mandatory reporting, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 20000

  Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Craig, and Mr. Kohl) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to enhance dairy 
   markets through dairy product mandatory reporting, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dairy Market Enhancement Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. DAIRY PRODUCT MANDATORY REPORTING.

    The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

            ``Subtitle C--Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting

``SEC. 271. PURPOSE.

    ``The purpose of this subtitle is to establish a program of 
information regarding the marketing of dairy products that--
            ``(1) provides information that can be readily understood 
        by producers and other market participants, including 
        information with respect to prices, quantities sold, and 
        inventories of dairy products;
            ``(2) improves the price and supply reporting services of 
        the Department of Agriculture; and
            ``(3) encourages competition in the marketplace for dairy 
        products.

``SEC. 272. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subtitle:
            ``(1) Dairy products.--The term `dairy products' means 
        manufactured dairy products that are used by the Secretary to 
        establish minimum prices for Class III and Class IV milk under 
        a Federal milk marketing order issued under section 8c of the 
        Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), reenacted with 
        amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937.
            ``(2) Manufacturer.--The term `manufacturer' means any 
        person engaged in the business of buying milk in commerce for 
        the purpose of manufacturing dairy products.
            ``(3) Producer.--The term `producer' means any person 
        engaged in the production of milk for commercial use.
            ``(4) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            ``(5) United states.--The term `United States' means 
        collectively the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the territories and possessions 
        of the United States.

``SEC. 273. MANDATORY REPORTING FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program of 
mandatory dairy product information reporting that will--
            ``(1) provide timely, accurate, and reliable market 
        information;
            ``(2) facilitate more informed marketing decisions; and
            ``(3) promote competition in the dairy product 
        manufacturing industry.
    ``(b) Requirements.--In establishing the program, the Secretary 
shall require--
            ``(1) each manufacturer to report to the Secretary, weekly, 
        any information that the Secretary determines to be necessary 
        to establish minimum prices for Class III and Class IV milk 
        under a Federal milk marketing order issued under section 8c of 
        the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), reenacted with 
        amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, 
        including information concerning the price and quantity of 
        dairy products sold by the manufacturer; and
            ``(2) each manufacturer and other person storing dairy 
        products to report to the Secretary, at a periodic interval 
        determined by the Secretary, information on the quantity of 
        dairy products stored.
    ``(c) Administration.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall promulgate such 
        regulations as are necessary to ensure compliance with, and 
        otherwise carry out, this subtitle.
            ``(2) Applicability of other requirements.--The 
        requirements of chapter 5 of subtitle B shall apply to this 
        subtitle, except to the extent the Secretary determines the 
        application of a provision is impracticable or needs to be 
        modified.''.

SEC. 3. STUDY OF REPORTING MEASURES FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS.

    As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission shall conduct a study, and submit 
to Congress a report on, the reporting measures for dairy products at 
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, including the types, quality, and 
applicability of the reporting measures.
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