Browse Arkansas Code titles and sections
7 U.S.C. § 4912 — Requirement of referendum
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a)** The Secretary shall conduct a referendum among producers, handlers, and importers not exempt under sections 4902(5) and 4907(b) of this title who, during a representative period determined by the Secretary, have been engaged in the production, handling, or importing of watermelons, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the issuance of a plan is approved or favored by producers, handlers, and importers. The ballots and other information or reports that reveal or tend to reveal the vote of any producer, handler, or importer or the person’s volume of watermelons produced, handled, or imported shall be held strictly confidential and shall not be disclosed. Any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture violating the provisions hereof shall be subject to the penalties provided in [section 4908(c) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title7-section4908/c&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(b)** A plan issued under this chapter shall not take effect unless the Secretary determines that the issuance of the plan is approved or favored by a majority of the producers and handlers (and importers who are subject to the plan) voting in the referendum.
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 7 U.S.C. § 4912
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
Original supplied file — preserved unchanged
Download original Markdown file
File SHA-256: 38e2fc838665c3b3d2adea887ca32217deb60aebf2963ef91b0f89bbb89719b5. The original may include catalog metadata, neighboring provisions, or embedded records outside this collection's scope. Search shows only the selected federal record. Historical editions and unverified snapshots are not a statement of current law.
Authority boundary: historical or unconfirmed source not current law verified.
Open the recorded source website ↗
Record provenance
Stable record: federal_law:legal_authorities:record_usc_96b7e088c3df7673fdecc88d
Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-7/section-4912-requirement-of-referendum--ae078a4235.md
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: e563ad86d7f7bf13911a7e69fb8620235f2fc5580c96a2c022f4f1fce9c13e15
Source location: Title 7, Chapter 80, § 4912; chapter-080-watermelon-research-and-promotion.md
Stored source content
**(a)** The Secretary shall conduct a referendum among producers, handlers, and importers not exempt under sections 4902(5) and 4907(b) of this title who, during a representative period determined by the Secretary, have been engaged in the production, handling, or importing of watermelons, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the issuance of a plan is approved or favored by producers, handlers, and importers. The ballots and other information or reports that reveal or tend to reveal the vote of any producer, handler, or importer or the person’s volume of watermelons produced, handled, or imported shall be held strictly confidential and shall not be disclosed. Any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture violating the provisions hereof shall be subject to the penalties provided in [section 4908(c) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title7-section4908/c&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(b)** A plan issued under this chapter shall not take effect unless the Secretary determines that the issuance of the plan is approved or favored by a majority of the producers and handlers (and importers who are subject to the plan) voting in the referendum.
Cross-references
Connections may be documented source relationships, shared citations or nearby passages. Each explains its basis; a connection alone does not establish applicability to your situation.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) In general** Before a plan issued by the Secretary under this chapter may be amended, the Secretary shall publish the proposed amendments for public comment and conduct a referendum in accordance with [section 4912 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title7-section4912&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(b) Separate consideration of amendments**
(1) **In general** — The amendments described in paragraph (2) that are required to be made by the Secretary to a plan as a result of the amendments made by the Watermelon Research and Promotion Improvement Act of 1993 shall be subject to separate line item voting and approval in a referendum conducted pursuant to [section 4912 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title7-section4912&num=0&edition=prelim) before the Secretary alters the plan as in effect on the day before December 14, 1993.
(2) **Amendments** — The amendments referred to in paragraph (1) are the amendments to a plan required under—
(A) section 7 of the Watermelon Research and Promotion Improvement Act of 1993 relating to the elimination of the assessment refund; and
(B) section 8 of such Act relating to subjecting importers to the terms and conditions of the plan.
(3) **Importers** — When conducting the referendum relating to subjecting importers to the terms and conditions of a plan, the Secretary shall include as eligible voters in the referendum producers, handlers, and importers who would be subject to the plan if the amendments to a plan were approved.
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 7 U.S.C. § 4914
Stored review status: release_metadata_unconfirmed. Incoming connection: Explicit cross-reference supplied in source Markdown; currentness and applicability require review.
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
Page 1736
TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE
§ 4912
mony touching the matter under investigation.
Any failure to obey such order of the court may
be punished by the court as contempt thereof.
All process in any such case may be served in
the judicial district in which the person is an in-
habitant or wherever the person may be found.
The site of any hearing held under this sub-
section shall be within the judicial district in
which the person is an inhabitant or in which
the person’s principal place of business is lo-
cated.
(b) No person shall be excused from attending
and testifying or from producing books, papers,
and documents before the Secretary, or in obedi-
ence to the subpoena of the Secretary, or in any
cause or proceeding, criminal or otherwise,
based on, or growing out of, any alleged viola-
tion of this chapter, or of any plan or regulation
issued thereunder, on the grounds that the testi-
mony or evidence, documentary or otherwise,
required of the person may tend to incriminate
the person or subject the person to a penalty or
forfeiture. However, no person shall be pros-
ecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture
on account of any transaction, matter, or thing
concerning which the person is compelled, after
having claimed the person’s privilege against
self-incrimination, to testify or produce evi-
dence, documentary or otherwise, except that
any individual so testifying shall not be exempt
from prosecution and punishment for perjury
committed in so testifying.
(Pub. L. 99–198, title XVI, § 1652, Dec. 23, 1985, 99
Stat. 1628; Pub. L. 103–189, § 8(h), Dec. 14, 1993, 107
Stat. 2262.)
Editorial Notes
AMENDMENTS
1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–189, in first sentence,
substituted ‘‘a person’’ for ‘‘a handler or any other per-
son’’, in fourth
Source: Supplied 2024 U.S. Code historical extraction · 7 U.S.C. § 4912
Stored review status: historical_2024_not_currentness_verified. Same stored citation; legal effect and authority still require review.