7 U.S.C. § 1636 — General provisions

Page 936 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 1635m PART D—LAMB REPORTING § 1635m. Mandatory reporting for lambs (a) Establishment The Secretary may establish a program of mandatory lamb price information reporting that will— (1) provide timely, accurate, and reliable market information; (2) facilitate more informed marketing deci- sions; and (3) promote competition in the lamb slaugh- tering industry. (b) Notice and comment If the Secretary establishes a mandatory price reporting program under subsection (a), the Sec- retary shall provide an opportunity for com- ment on proposed regulations to establish the program during the 30-day period beginning on the date of the publication of the proposed regu- lations. (Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, § 241, as added Pub. L. 106–78, title IX, § 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1200.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries LAMB REPORTING Pub. L. 114–54, title I, § 103, Sept. 30, 2015, 129 Stat. 514, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 30, 2015], the Secretary of Agriculture shall revise section 59.300 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, so that— ‘‘(1) the definition of the term ‘importer’— ‘‘(A) includes only those importers that imported an average of 1,000 metric tons of lamb meat prod- ucts per year during the immediately preceding 4 calendar years; and ‘‘(B) may include any person that does not meet the requirement referred to in subparagraph (A), if the Secretary determines that the person should be considered an importer based on their volume of lamb imports; and ‘‘(2) the definition of the term ‘packer’— ‘‘(A) applies to any entity with 50 percent or more ownership in a facility; ‘‘(B) includes a federally inspected lamb proc- essing plant which slaughtered or processed the equivalent of an average of 35,000 head of lambs per year during the immediately preceding 5 calendar years; and ‘‘(C) may include any other lamb processing plant that does not meet the requirement referred to in subparagraph (B), if the Secretary determines that the processing plant should be considered a packer after considering the capacity of the processing plant.’’ PART E—ADMINISTRATION § 1636. General provisions (a) Confidentiality The Secretary shall make available to the public information, statistics, and documents obtained from, or submitted by, packers, retail entities, and other persons under this sub- chapter in a manner that ensures that confiden- tiality is preserved regarding— (1) the identity of persons, including parties to a contract; and (2) proprietary business information. (b) Disclosure by Federal Government employees (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2), no officer, em- ployee, or agent of the United States shall, without the consent of the packer or other person concerned, divulge or make known in any manner, any facts or information regard- ing the business of the packer or other person that was acquired through reporting required under this subchapter. (2) Exceptions Information obtained by the Secretary under this subchapter may be disclosed— (A) to agents or employees of the Depart- ment of Agriculture in the course of their of- ficial duties under this subchapter; (B) as directed by the Secretary or the At- torney General, for enforcement purposes; or (C) by a court of competent jurisdiction. (3) Disclosure under Freedom of Information Act Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no facts or information obtained under this subchapter shall be disclosed in accordance with section 552 of title 5. (c) Reporting by packers A packer shall report all information required under this subchapter on an individual lot basis. (d) Regional reporting and aggregation The Secretary shall make information ob- tained under this subchapter available to the public only in a manner that— (1) ensures that the information is published on a national and a regional or statewide basis as the Secretary determines to be appropriate; (2) ensures that the identity of a reporting person is not disclosed; and (3) conforms to aggregation guidelines estab- lished by the Secretary. (e) Adjustments Prior to the publication of any information re- quired under this subchapter, the Secretary may make reasonable adjustments in information re- ported by packers to reflect price aberrations or other unusual or unique occurrences that the Secretary determines would distort the pub- lished information to the detriment of pro- ducers, packers, or other market participants. (f) Verification The Secretary shall take such actions as the Secretary considers necessary to verify the ac- curacy of the information submitted or reported under part B, C, or D of this subchapter. (g) Electronic reporting and publishing (1) In general The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, provide for the reporting and pub- lishing of the information required under this subchapter by electronic means. (2) Improvements and education (A) Enhanced electronic publishing The Secretary shall develop and imple- ment an enhanced system of electronic pub- lishing to disseminate information collected Page 937 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 1636a pursuant to this subchapter. Such system shall— (i) present information in a format that can be readily understood by producers, packers, and other market participants; (ii) adhere to the publication deadlines in this subchapter; (iii) present information in charts and graphs, as appropriate; (iv) present comparative information for prior reporting periods, as the Secretary considers appropriate; and (v) be updated as soon as practicable after information is reported to the Sec- retary. (B) Education The Secretary shall carry out a market news education program to educate the pub- lic and persons in the livestock and meat in- dustries about— (i) usage of the system developed under subparagraph (A); and (ii) interpreting and understanding infor- mation collected and disseminated through such system. (h) Reporting of activities on weekends and holi- days (1) In general Livestock committed to a packer, or pur- chased, sold, or slaughtered by a packer, on a weekend day or holiday shall be reported by the packer to the Secretary (to the extent re- quired under this subchapter), and reported by the Secretary, on the immediately following reporting day. (2) Limitation on reporting by packers A packer shall not be required to report ac- tions under paragraph (1) more than once on the immediately following reporting day. (i) Effect on other laws Nothing in this subchapter, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999, or amend- ments made by that Act restricts or modifies the authority of the Secretary to— (1) administer or enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); (2) administer, enforce, or collect voluntary reports under this chapter or any other law; or (3) access documentary evidence as provided under sections 49 and 50 of title 15. (Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, § 251, as added Pub. L. 106–78, title IX, § 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1200; amended Pub. L. 110–234, title XI, § 11001(a)(1), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1350; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XI, § 11001(a)(1), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2112.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999, re- ferred to in subsec. (i), is title IX of Pub. L. 106–78, Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1188, which is set out as a note under section 1635 of this title. The Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, referred to in subsec. (i)(1), is act Aug. 15, 1921, ch. 64, 42 Stat. 159, which is classified generally to chapter 9 (§ 181 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 181 of this title and Tables. CODIFICATION Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246. AMENDMENTS 2008—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 110–246, § 11001(a)(1), amend- ed subsec. (g) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘The Secretary shall, to the maximum ex- tent practicable, provide for the reporting and pub- lishing of the information required under this sub- chapter by electronic means.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2008 AMENDMENT Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of this title. IMPLEMENTATION OF ENHANCED ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING Pub. L. 110–234, title XI, § 11001(a)(2), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1351, and Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XI, § 11001(a)(2), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2112, provided that: ‘‘(A) ENHANCED REPORTING.—The Secretary of Agri- culture shall develop and implement the system re- quired under paragraph (2)(A) of section 251(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1636(g)), as amended by paragraph (1), not later than one year after the date on which the Secretary determines sufficient funds have been appropriated pursuant to subsection (c) [122 Stat. 2113]. ‘‘(B) CURRENT SYSTEM.—Notwithstanding the amend- ment made by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con- tinue to use the information format for disseminating information under subtitle B [7 U.S.C. 1635 et seq.] of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [June 18, 2008] at least until the date that is two years after the date on which the Secretary makes the deter- mination referred to in subparagraph (A).’’ [Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 enacted identical provisions. Pub. L. 110–234 was repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 8701 of this title.] § 1636a. Unlawful acts It shall be unlawful and a violation of this subchapter for any packer or other person sub- ject to this subchapter (in the submission of in- formation required under part B, C, or D of this subchapter, as determined by the Secretary) to willfully— (1) fail or refuse to provide, or delay the timely reporting of, accurate information to the Secretary (including estimated informa- tion); (2) solicit or request that a packer, the buyer or seller of livestock or livestock products, or any other person fail to provide, as a condition of any transaction, accurate or timely infor- mation required under this subchapter; (3) fail or refuse to comply with this sub- chapter; or (4) report estimated information in any re- port required under this subchapter in a man- ner that demonstrates a pattern of significant variance in accuracy when compared to the actual information that is reported for the same reporting period, or as determined by any audit, oversight, or other verification pro- cedures of the Secretary.