§ 3405. — Wheat Industry Council.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 7USC3405]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 65--WHEAT AND WHEAT FOODS RESEARCH AND NUTRITION EDUCATION
Sec. 3405. Wheat Industry Council
Any order issued pursuant to this chapter shall contain such terms
and conditions as to provide--
(a) Establishment; powers
for the establishment and appointment by the Secretary of a
Wheat Industry Council which shall consist of not more than twenty
members and alternates therefor, and for the definition of its
powers and duties which shall include only the powers enumerated in
this section, and shall specifically include the powers to (1)
administer such order in accordance with its terms and provisions,
(2) make rules and regulations to effectuate the terms and
provisions of such order, (3) receive, investigate, and report to
the Secretary complaints of violations of such order, and (4)
recommend to the Secretary amendments to such order. The term of an
appointment to the Council shall be for two years with no member
serving more than three consecutive terms, except that initial
appointments shall be proportionately for two-year and three-year
terms;
(b) Membership
that the Council and alternates therefor shall be composed of
wheat producers or representatives of wheat producers, processors or
representatives of processors, end product manufacturers or
representatives of end product manufacturers, and consumers or
representatives of consumers appointed by the Secretary from
nominations submitted by eligible organizations or associations
certified pursuant to section 3413 of this title, or, if the
Secretary determines that a substantial number of wheat producers,
processors, end product manufacturers, or consumers are not members
of, or their interests are not represented by any such eligible
organizations or associations then from nominations made by such
wheat producers, processors, end product manufacturers, and
consumers in the manner authorized by the Secretary, so that the
representation of wheat producers, processors, end product
manufacturers, and consumers on the Council shall be equal:
Provided, That in making such appointments, the Secretary shall take
into account, to the extent practicable, the geographical
distribution of wheat producers, processors, end product
manufacturers, and consumers throughout the United States;
(c) Research and nutrition education plans
that the Council shall, subject to the provisions of clause (g)
of this section, develop and submit to the Secretary for approval
any research plans or projects and nutrition education plans or
projects resulting from research, and that any such plan or project
must be approved by the Secretary before becoming effective;
(d) Budgets
that the Council shall, subject to the provisions of clause (g)
of this section, submit to the Secretary for approval budgets on a
fiscal period basis of its anticipated expenses and disbursements in
the administration of the order, including probable costs of
research and nutrition education projects;
(e) Processed wheat assessment; payment by end product
manufacturers
that, except as provided in sections 3404(d) and 3406 of this
title, each end product manufacturer shall pay to the Council,
pursuant to regulations issued under the order, an assessment based
on the number of hundredweights of processed wheat purchased,
including intra-company transfers of processed wheat, for use in the
manufacture of end products, from processors, distributors, or (in
the case of intra-company transfers) related companies or divisions
of the same company. Such assessment shall be used for such expenses
and expenditures defined above, including provisions for a
reasonable reserve, and any referendum and administrative costs
incurred by the Secretary and the Council under this chapter, as the
Secretary finds are reasonable and likely to be incurred under the
order during any period specified by the Secretary. The
circumstances under which such a purchase or intra-company transfer
will be deemed to have occurred will be prescribed by the Secretary
in the order. Such assessment shall be calculated and set aside on
the books and records of the end product manufacturer at the time of
each purchase or intra-company transfer of processed wheat, and
shall be remitted to the Council in the manner prescribed by the
order. In order to enable end product manufacturers to calculate the
amount of processed wheat they have purchased, persons selling or
transferring processed wheat in combination with other ingredients
to such end product manufacturers for use in the manufacture of end
products, shall disclose to such end product manufacturers, as
prescribed by the Secretary in the order, the amount or proportion
of processed wheat contained in such products. The rate of
assessment shall not exceed five cents per hundredweight of
processed wheat purchased or transferred. The Secretary may maintain
a suit against any person subject to such assessment for the
collection of such assessment, and the several district courts of
the United States are hereby vested with jurisdiction to entertain
such suits regardless of the amount in controversy;
(f) Maintenance of records
that the Council shall maintain such books and records, which
shall be available to the Secretary for inspection and audit, and
prepare and submit such reports from time to time, to the Secretary
as the Secretary may prescribe, and for appropriate accounting by
the Council, with respect to the receipt and disbursement of all
funds entrusted to it;
(g) Contracts
that the Council, with the approval of the Secretary, may enter
into contracts or agreements for the development and conduct of the
activities authorized under the order pursuant to terms and
conditions specified in clauses (a) and (b) of section of this title
and for the payment of the cost thereof with funds collected through
the assessments pursuant to the order. Any such contract or
agreement shall provide that the contractors shall develop and
submit to the Council a plan or project together with a budget or
budgets which shall show estimated costs to be incurred for such
plan or project, and that any such plan or project shall become
effective upon the approval of the Secretary, and further, shall
provide that the contracting party shall keep accurate records of
all of its transactions and make periodic reports to the Council of
activities conducted and an accounting for funds received and
expended, and such other reports as the Secretary may require;
(h) Investment of assessment funds
that the Council, with the approval of the Secretary, may
invest, pending disbursement pursuant to a plan or project, funds
collected through assessments authorized under this title in, and
only in, obligations of the United States or any agency thereof, in
general obligations of any State or any political subdivision
thereof, in any interest-bearing account or certificate of deposit
of a bank which is a member of the Federal Reserve System, or in
obligations fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the
United States;
(i) Lobbying restriction
that no funds collected by the Council under the order shall in
any manner be used for the purpose of influencing governmental
policy or action, except as provided by clause (a)(4) of this
section; and
(j) Reimbursement of expenses
that the Council members, and alternates therefor, shall serve
without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable
expenses incurred in performing their duties as members of the
Council.
(Pub. L. 95-113, title XVII, Sec. 1706, Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 1034.)
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 3402, 3404, 3413 of this
title.
