7 U.S.C. § 1635m — Mandatory reporting for lambs

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