MARKETING AGREEMENTS JUNE 2, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. COOLEY, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1089] The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1089) to amend section 8 (c) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, relating to marketing agreements and orders, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to issue orders under such section with respect to filberts, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 1, line 5, after the word "filberts" add "almonds," STATEMENT This bill amends the Agricultural Marketing Agreements Act to include filberts and almonds. Marketing agreements and orders are available only to those commodities named specifically in the act and it has been the policy of Congress and of the Department of Agriculture generally to favor inclusion of any commodity on which there was substantial agreement in the industry affected to seek the authority for marketing agreements and orders. There appears to be substantial agreement in the filbert industry and the almond industry to seek authority for and set up marketing agreements for the respective industries. There appears to be no reason why such authority should not be extended. As passed by the Senate, the bill applied only to filberts but it is the understanding of the committee that another bill extending the act to almonds is pending in the Senate. Representatives of the almond industry have urgently requested the authority for marketing agreements and orders and, in order to simplify procedure, the committee has amended the bill to include both almonds and filberts in S. 1089. which is herewith reported. DEPARTMENT REPORT The Secretary of Agriculture recommended favorable action on the bill as introduced in the Senate and Department representatives who appeared at the hearing conducted by this committee said that the Department had no objection to the inclusion of almonds. Following is the text of the Secretary's report on S. 1089: Hon. ELMER THOMAS, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, United States Senate. APRIL 18, 1949. DEAR SENATOR THOMAS: This is in reply to your letter of March 3, in which you requested a report on S. 1089, a bill to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act relating to marketing agreements and orders. A similar proposal has been before the Congress on previous occasions, and the Department has reported favorably thereon. The Agricultural Adjustment Act, as reenacted and amende 1 by the Agricul tural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, was a part of a program to aid agriculture. It was declared to be the policy of the Congress to establish and maintain such orderly marketing conditions for agricultural commodities as would establish prices to farmers at the parity level. The act authorizes the Secretary to enter into marketing agreements with handlers, processors, and others, and to issue marketing orders to effectuate the purposes of the act. The issuance of marketing orders is conditioned upon the approval by two-thirds of the producers covered by the order The statute is permissive in character and provides only the basic authority. Any specific marketing program can be made effective only after industry consultation and public hearings. Under the present legislation, marketing orders can be issued only for a specified list of agricultural commodities or products. The list has been changed from time to time, pursuant to the request of the industries concerned. It is now proposed to increase the list of commodities for which orders may be made applicable to include filberts. At the present time the act covers most fresh fruits and vegetables, including walnuts and pecans, but it does not include filberts or other edible tree nuts. The Department favors this proposal, and it is our opinion that any agricultural industry that is in position to take advantage of this statute should be afforded an opportunity to do so. Filberts are grown principally in the States of Oregon and Washington, and constitute one of the four major types of edible tree nuts. During the past 2 or 3 years, producers have encountered serious marketing difficulties, and in 1948 it was necessary for the Department to purchase a quantity of filberts for distribution under the school-lunch program. The industry has shown an inclination to attempt to solve its own marketing difficulties, and we think the Department should lend encouragement. The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act provides a means whereby an industry can help itself. It authorizes marketing orders under which the Department is in a position to assist an industry in the operation of an industry-wide and producer-approved program. We believe that the filbert industry should be permitted to take advantage of this mechanism. The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the program of the President, there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, CHARLES F. BRANNAN, Secretary. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes made by the bill are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets; new matter is printed in italics; existing law in which no change is made is shown in roman): TITLE VII-UNITED STATES CODE CHAPTER 26. AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT COMMODITY BENEFITS SEC. 608e. ORDERS REGULATING HANDLING OF COMMODITY SECRETARY (1) ISSUANCE BY The Secretary of Agriculture shall, subject to the provisions of this section, issue, and from time to time amend, orders applicable to processors, associations of producers, and others engaged in the handling of any agricultural commodity or product thereof specified in subsection (2) of this section. Such persons are referred to in sections 601-608, 608a, 608b, 608c, 608d-612, 613, 614-619, 620, 623, 624 of this title as "handlers." Such orders shall regulate, in the manner hereinafter in this section provided, only such handling of such agricultural commodity, or product thereof, as is in the current of interstate or foreign commerce, or which directly burdens, obstructs, or affects interstate or foreign commerce in such commodity or product thereof. (2) COMMODITIES TO WHICH APPLICABLE Orders issued pursuant to this section shall be applicable only to the following agricultural commodities and the products thereof (except products of naval stores and the products of honeybees), or to any regional, or market classification of any such commodity or product: Milk, fruits (including filberts, almonds, pecans, and walnuts but not including apples, other than apples produced in the States of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and not including fruits, other than olives, for canning), tobacco, vegetables (not including vegetables, other than asparagus, for canning), soybeans, hops, honeybees, and naval stores as included in sections 91-99 of this title and standards established thereunder (including refined or partially refined oleoresin). (6) OTHER COMMODITIES; TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF Orders In the case of fruits (including filberts, almonds, pecans, and walnuts but not including apples, other than apples pro luced in the States of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and not including fruits, other than olives, for canning) and their products, tobacco and its products, vegetables (not including vegetables, other than asparagus, for canning) and their products, soybeans and their products, hops and their products, honeybees, and naval stores as included in sections 9199 of this title and standards established thereunder (including refined or partially refined oleoresin), orders issued pursuant to this section shall contain one or more of the following terms and conditions, and (except as provided in subsection (7)) no others: * |