§ 6801. — Findings and declaration of policy.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC6801]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 97--FRESH CUT FLOWERS AND FRESH CUT GREENS PROMOTION AND
INFORMATION
Sec. 6801. Findings and declaration of policy
(a) Findings
Congress finds that--
(1) fresh cut flowers and fresh cut greens are an integral part
of life in the United States, are enjoyed by millions of persons
every year for a multitude of special purposes (especially important
personal events), and contribute a natural and beautiful element to
the human environment;
(2)(A) cut flowers and cut greens are produced by many
individual producers throughout the United States as well as in
other countries, and are handled and marketed by thousands of small-
sized and medium-sized businesses; and
(B) the production, handling, and marketing of cut flowers and
cut greens constitute a key segment of the United States
horticultural industry and thus a significant part of the overall
agricultural economy of the United States;
(3) handlers play a vital role in the marketing of cut flowers
and cut greens in that handlers--
(A) purchase most of the cut flowers and cut greens marketed
by producers;
(B) prepare the cut flowers and cut greens for retail
consumption;
(C) serve as an intermediary between the source of the
product and the retailer;
(D) otherwise facilitate the entry of cut flowers and cut
greens into the current of domestic commerce; and
(E) add efficiencies to the market process that ensure the
availability of a much greater variety of the product to
retailers and consumers;
(4) it is widely recognized that it is in the public interest
and important to the agricultural economy of the United States to
provide an adequate, steady supply of cut flowers and cut greens at
reasonable prices to the consumers of the United States;
(5)(A) cut flowers and cut greens move in interstate and foreign
commerce; and
(B) cut flowers and cut greens that do not move in interstate or
foreign channels of commerce but only in intrastate commerce
directly affect interstate commerce in cut flowers and cut greens;
(6) the maintenance and expansion of markets in existence on
December 14, 1993, and the development of new or improved markets or
uses for cut flowers and cut greens, are needed to preserve and
strengthen the economic viability of the domestic cut flowers and
cut greens industry for the benefit of producers, handlers,
retailers, and the entire floral industry;
(7) generic programs of promotion and consumer information can
be effective in maintaining and developing markets for cut flowers
and cut greens, and have the advantage of equally enhancing the
market position for all cut flowers and cut greens;
(8) because cut flowers and cut greens producers are primarily
agriculture-oriented rather than promotion-oriented, and because the
floral marketing industry within the United States is comprised
mainly of small-sized and medium-sized businesses, the development
and implementation of an adequate and coordinated national program
of generic promotion and consumer information necessary for the
maintenance of markets in existence on December 14, 1993, and the
development of new markets for cut flowers and cut greens have been
prevented;
(9) there exist established State and commodity-specific
producer-funded programs of promotion and research that are valuable
efforts to expand markets for domestic producers of cut flowers and
cut greens and that will benefit from the promotion and consumer
information program authorized by this chapter in that the program
will enhance the market development efforts of the programs for
domestic producers;
(10) an effective and coordinated method for ensuring
cooperative and collective action in providing for and financing a
nationwide program of generic promotion and consumer information is
needed to ensure that the cut flowers and cut greens industry will
be able to provide, obtain, and implement programs of promotion and
consumer information necessary to maintain, expand, and develop
markets for cut flowers and cut greens; and
(11) the most efficient method of financing such a nationwide
program is to assess cut flowers and cut greens at the point at
which the flowers and greens are sold by handlers into the retail
market.
(b) Policy and purpose
It is the policy of Congress that it is in the public interest, and
it is the purpose of this chapter, to authorize the establishment,
through the exercise of the powers provided in this chapter, of an
orderly procedure for the development and financing (through an adequate
assessment on cut flowers and cut greens sold by handlers to retailers
and related entities in the United States) of an effective and
coordinated program of generic promotion, consumer information, and
related research designed to strengthen the position of the cut flowers
and cut greens industry in the marketplace and to maintain, develop, and
expand markets for cut flowers and cut greens.
(Pub. L. 103-190, Sec. 2, Dec. 14, 1993, 107 Stat. 2266.)
Short Title
Section 1(a) of Pub. L. 103-190 provided that: ``This Act [enacting
this chapter] may be cited as the `Fresh Cut Flowers and Fresh Cut
Greens Promotion and Information Act of 1993'.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 6803, 6811 of this title.
