[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2248 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2248

To amend the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 to ensure that 
 all persons who benefit from the dairy promotion and research program 
     contribute to the cost of the program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2001

 Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. McHugh, Mr. Kind, Mr. Obey, Mr. Petri, 
Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Owens, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. 
Smith of Michigan, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Oberstar, Mrs. 
   Thurman, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Kleczka, and Mr. Barrett of Wisconsin) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 to ensure that 
 all persons who benefit from the dairy promotion and research program 
     contribute to the cost of the program, 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 Promotion Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. FUNDING OF DAIRY PROMOTION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    (a) Declaration of Policy.--Section 110(b) of the Dairy Production 
Stabilization Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4501(b)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by inserting after ``commercial use'' the 
                following: ``and on imported dairy products''; and
                    (B) by striking ``products produced in the United 
                States.'' and inserting ``products.''; and
            (2) in the second sentence, by inserting after ``produce 
        milk'' the following: ``or the right of any person to import 
        dairy products''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 111 of the Dairy Production Stabilization 
Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4502) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (k), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subsection (l), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(m) the term `imported dairy product' means any dairy 
        product that is imported into the United States, including 
        dairy products imported into the United States in the form of--
                    ``(1) milk, cream, and fresh and dried dairy 
                products;
                    ``(2) butter and butterfat mixtures;
                    ``(3) cheese; and
                    ``(4) casein and mixtures;
            ``(n) the term `importer' means a person that imports an 
        imported dairy product into the United States; and
            ``(o) the term `Customs' means the United States Customs 
        Service.''.
    (c) Representation of Importers on Board.--Section 113(b) of the 
Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4504(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``National Dairy Promotion and Research 
        Board.--'' after ``(b)'';
            (2) by designating the first through ninth sentences as 
        paragraphs (1) through (5) and paragraphs (7) through (10), 
        respectively, and indenting the paragraphs appropriately;
            (3) in paragraph (2) (as so designated), by striking 
        ``Members'' and inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph 
        (6), the members''; and
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so designated) the 
        following:
            ``(6) Importers.--
                    ``(A) Representation.--The Secretary shall appoint 
                not more than 2 members who represent importers of 
                dairy products and are subject to assessments under the 
                order, to reflect the proportion of domestic production 
                and imports supplying the United States market, which 
                shall be based on the Secretary's determination of the 
                average volume of domestic production of dairy products 
                proportionate to the average volume of imports of dairy 
                products in the United States over the previous three 
                years.
                    ``(B) Additional members; nominations.--The members 
                appointed under this paragraph--
                            ``(i) shall be in addition to the total 
                        number of members appointed under paragraph 
                        (2); and
                            ``(ii) shall be appointed from nominations 
                        submitted by importers under such procedures as 
                        the Secretary determines to be appropriate.''.
    (d) Importer Assessment.--Section 113(g) of the Dairy Production 
Stabilization Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4504(g)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``Assessments.--'' after ``(g)'';
            (2) by designating the first through fifth sentences as 
        paragraphs (1) through (5), respectively, and indenting 
        appropriately; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Importers.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The order shall provide that 
                each importer of imported dairy products shall pay an 
                assessment to the Board in the manner prescribed by the 
                order.
                    ``(B) Time for payment.--The assessment on imported 
                dairy products shall be paid by the importer to Customs 
                at the time of the entry of the products into the 
                United States and shall be remitted by Customs to the 
                Board. For purposes of this subparagraph, entry of the 
                products into the United States shall be deemed to have 
                occurred when the products are released from custody of 
                Customs and introduced into the stream of commerce 
                within the United States. Importers include persons who 
                hold title to foreign-produced dairy products 
                immediately upon release by Customs, as well as persons 
                who act on behalf of others, as agents, brokers, or 
                consignees, to secure the release of dairy products 
                from Customs and the introduction of the released dairy 
                products into the stream of commerce.
                    ``(C) Rate.--The rate of assessment on imported 
                dairy products shall be determined in the same manner 
                as the rate of assessment per hundredweight or the 
                equivalent of milk.
                    ``(D) Value of products.--For the purpose of 
                determining the assessment on imported dairy products 
                under subparagraph (C), the value to be placed on 
                imported dairy products shall be established by the 
                Secretary in a fair and equitable manner.
                    ``(E) Use of Assessments on Imported Dairy.--
                Assessments collected on imported dairy products shall 
                not be used for foreign market promotion.''.
    (e) Records.--Section 113(k) of the Dairy Production Stabilization 
Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4504(k)) is amended in the first sentence by 
striking ``person receiving'' and inserting ``importer of imported 
dairy products, each person receiving''.
    (f) Importer Eligibility to Vote in Referendum.--Section 116(b) of 
the Dairy Promotion Stabilization Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 4507(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by inserting after ``of producers'' the 
                following: ``and importers''; and
                    (B) by inserting after ``the producers'' the 
                following: ``and importers''; and
            (2) in the second sentence, by inserting after ``commercial 
        use'' the following: ``and importers voting in the referendum 
        (who have been engaged in the importation of dairy products 
        during the same representative period, as determined by the 
        Secretary).''.
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