United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-09-28 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-274 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274 P0b002ee18039c60a f:rc00274 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274 RCED-00-274 Swine Advertising costs Surveys Livestock products Marketing USDA Pork Promotion Program Letter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) efforts to validate a petition on whether to continue the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Pork Promotion Program, focusing on: (1) the problems AMS encountered in its process to validate the pork petition and AMS' plans to improve the validation process; (2) factors that led to the USDA Secretary's decision to order the referendum; and (3) whether the USDA Secretary has the authority to order a referendum and whether USDA can use appropriated funds to pay its cost.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) AMS' process to validate the pork petition was flawed in three key areas, according to GAO's analysis; (2) problems in any one of these areas would have raised questions about the integrity of the validation process; (3) AMS did not accurately estimate the population of pork producers; (4) it did not develop a reliable database of petitioner information as a basis for verifying petitioners' eligibility to sign a petition; (5) it employed a flawed survey methodology to verify the eligibility of the petitioners; (6) as a result, AMS could not determine with certainty whether 15 percent of eligible pork producers had signed the petition, which would require the USDA Secretary to hold a referendum on whether to continue the program; (7) although AMS has recognized that its validation process was flawed, it has not taken substantial actions to improve its process; (8) two primary factors led the Secretary of Agriculture to order a referendum; (9) he concluded that AMS' validation process was flawed; (10) consequently, the Secretary determined that it was impossible to ascertain the number of valid petitioners and that efforts to revalidate the petition would not result in any greater certainty; (11) second, the Secretary based his decision on his belief that check-off programs, including pork, should be subject to periodic referendums; (12) he strongly believed that pork producers should have the opportunity to vote on whether to continue the check-off program because the program is a mandatory assessment and the industry has changed dramatically since the last vote in 1988; (13) in GAO's view, the Secretary has the authority to order a pork referendum, but referendum expenses must be reimbursed from pork check-off funds, and appropriated funds may not be used to pay referendum expenses; (14) the Secretary interprets the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act of 1985 as granting him authority to conduct a referendum as a tool in deciding whether to terminate the pork check-off program; (15) GAO finds this interpretation to be a reasonable one; and (16) however, the Secretary may not pay for a referendum with appropriated funds because the act specifically states that AMS must be reimbursed for referendum expenses from pork check-off funds. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274.pdf GAO/RCED-00-274 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-274 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-274; Pork Promotion Program: Petition Validation Process Needs; Swine Advertising costs Surveys Livestock products Marketing USDA Pork Promotion Program Title 7 Section 2108(b) Title 7 Section 2624 Title 7 Section 2709 Title 7 Section 4801-4819 Title 7 Section 4801(b)(1) Title 7 Section 4801(b)(2) Title 7 Section 4809 Title 7 Section 4811(a) Title 7 Section 4811(c) Title 7 Section 4812(a) Title 7 Section 4812(b) Title 7 Section 4819 Title 7 Section 4913 Title 7 Section 602 Title 7 Section 6101-6112 Title 7 Section 612c Title 7 Section 6301-6311 Title 7 Section 7481-7491 7 U.S.C. 2108(b) 7 U.S.C. 2624 7 U.S.C. 2709 7 U.S.C. 4801-4819 7 U.S.C. 4801(b)(1) 7 U.S.C. 4801(b)(2) 7 U.S.C. 4809 7 U.S.C. 4811(a) 7 U.S.C. 4811(c) 7 U.S.C. 4812(a) 7 U.S.C. 4812(b) 7 U.S.C. 4819 7 U.S.C. 4913 7 U.S.C. 602 7 U.S.C. 6101-6112 7 U.S.C. 612c 7 U.S.C. 6301-6311 7 U.S.C. 7481-7491 Volume 99 Page 1354 99 Stat. 1354 Volume 113 Page 1135 113 Stat. 1135 Public Law 99-198 Public Law 106-78