(a) Acquire information regarding world competition and demand for agricultural products and the production, marketing, and distributing of said products in foreign countries and disseminate the same through agricultural extension agencies and by such other means as may be deemed advisable. (b) Investigate abroad farm management and any other economic phases of the agricultural industry and, insofar as is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter conduct abroad any activities, including the demonstration of standards for cotton, wheat, and other American agricultural products, in which the Department of Agriculture is now authorized or in the future may be authorized to engage. Nothing contained in sections 541545 of this title shall be construed as prohibiting the Department of Agriculture from conducting abroad any activity for which authority for thus conducting it may exist. (June 5, 1930, ch. 399, § 1, 46 Stat. 497; Reorg. Plan No. 11, § 1 (a), (b), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 Fed. Reg. 2731, 53 Stat. 1431.) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Foreign Agricultural Service and its functions transferred to Department of State, see note preceding this section. § 542. Foreign Agricultural Service-(a) Establishment; personnel; relation to diplomatic mission or consulate. The representatives of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the Department of Agriculture on June 5, 1930, stationed abroad shall be officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States, and the Secretary of State may appoint other officers in said service from time to time in accordance with civil-service procedure. All such officers shall constitute the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States, and shall be known as agricultural attaches, assistant agricultural attaches, or by such other titles as may be deemed appropriate by the Secretary of State. Any officer in said service, when designated by the Secretary of State, shall, through the Department of State, be regularly and officially attached to the diplomatic mission of the United States in the country in which he is to be stationed, or to the consulate of the United States, as the Secretary of State shall designate. If any such officer is to be stationed in a country where there is no diplomatic mission or consulate of the United States, appropriate recognition and standing, with full facilities for discharging his official duties, shall be arranged by the Department of State. The Secretary of State may reject the name of any such officer if, in his judgment, the attachment of such officer to the diplomatic mission or consulate at the post designated would be prejudicial to the public policy of the United States. (b) Apointment of officers; grades; salaries.-The Secretary of State shall appoint the officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service to such grades as he may establish, with salaries in those grades comparable to those paid other officers of the Government for analogous foreign service. (c) Promotions and demotions of officers; increase and decrease of salaries; separations from services.-The Secretary of State is authorized to promote or demote in grade or class, to increase or decrease within the salary range fixed for the class the compensation of, and to separate from the service, officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service, but in so doing the Secretary shall take into consideration records of efficiency. (d) Officers as having character of public minister.-No officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service shall be considered as having the character of a public minister. (e) Assignment of officers to duties in United States.-Any officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service may be assigned for duty in the United States for a period of not more than three years without change in grade, class, or salary, or with such change as the Secretary of State may direct. (f) Expenses of transportation and subsistence of officers and families in going to and from posts; leaves of absence; requiring service from officers on leave.-The Secretary of State is authorized to pay the expenses of transportation and subsistence of officers in the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States and their immediate families in going to and returning from their posts under orders from the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is further authorized, whenever he deems it in the public interest, to order to the United States on his official leave of obsence any Foreign Agricultural Service officer who has performed three years or more of continuous service abroad: Provided, That the expenses of transportation and subsistence of such officers and their immediate families in traveling to their homes in the United States and return shall be paid under the same rules and regulations applicable in the case of officers going to and returning from their posts under orders of the Secretary of State when not on leave: Provided further, That while in the United States the services of such officers shall be available for such duties in the Department of Agriculture and elsewhere in the United States as the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe. Any officer in the Foreign Agricultural Service, in the discretion of the Secretary of State, may be given leave of absence with pay for not to exceed thirty days for any one year, which may be taken in the United States or elsewhere, accumulative for three years, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of State shall prescribe. (June 5, 1930, ch. 399, § 2, 46 Stat. 498; Reorg. Plan No. II, § 1, (a), (b), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 Fed. 2731, 53 Stat. 1431.) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Foreign Agricultural Service and its functions transferred to Department of State, see note preceding section 541 of this title. § 543. Same; clerks and assistants to officers-(a) Appointment; compensation; promotion and demotion; separation from service. Subject to the requirements of the civil service laws, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, the Secretary of State is authorized to appoint, fix the compensation of, promote, demote, and separate from the service such clerks and other assistants for officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service as he may deem necessary. (b) Employment of American citizens in foreign countries by Service officers.-When authorized by the Secretary of State, officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service may employ American citizens in a foreign country from time to time, fix the compensation of, and separate from the service such clerical and other assistants as may be necessary. (June 5, 1930, ch. 399, § 3, 46 Stat. 499; Reorg. Plan No. II, § 1 (a), (b), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 Fed. Reg. 2731, 53 Stat. 1431.) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Transfer of Foreign Agricultural Service and functions to Department of State, see note preceding section 541 of this title. § 544 Same; expenses for travel and subsistence-(a) Officers and employees of Department of Agriculture on duty outside continental limits of United States. Any officer, assistant, clerk, or employee of the Department of Agriculture, while on duty outside of the continental limits of the United States and away from the post to which he is assigned, shall be entitled to receive his necessary traveling expenses and his actual expenses for subsistence, or a per diem in lieu of subsistence, equal to that paid to other officers of the Government when engaged in analogous foreign service. (b) Clerical and other assistants employed by officer of Foreign Agricultural Service; allowance for subsistence while outside continental limits.-The Secretary of State may authorize any officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service to fix, in an amount not exceeding the allowance fixed for such officer, an allowance for actual subsistence, or a per diem allowance in lieu thereof, for any clerical or other assistant employed by such officer, under subdivision (b) of section 543 of this title when such clerical or other assistant is engaged in travel outside the continental limits of the United States and away from the post to which he is assigned. (c) Officers and employees of Foreign Agricultural Service on duty within continental limits of United States; expenses for travel and subsistence.-Any officer, assistant, clerk, or employee of the Foreign Agricultural Service, while on duty within the continental limits of the United States, shall be entitled to receive the traveling expenses and actual expenses incurred for subsistence, or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, authorized by law. (June 5, 1930, ch. 399, § 4, 46 Stat. 499; Reorg. Plan, No. II, § 1 (a), (b), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 Fed. Reg. 2731, 53 Stat. 1431.) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Transfer of Foreign Agricultural Service and functions to Department of State, see note preceding section 541 of this title. § 545. Authority of Secretary of Agriculture as to regulations, cooperation with various departments and agencies, and expenditures for rent, supplies, and so forth.-The Secretary of State may make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 541-545 of this title and may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government, State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, cooperative and other farm organizations, or any person, and shall have power to make such expenditures for rent outside the District of Columbia for printing, telegrams, telephones, law books, books of reference, maps, publications, furniture, stationery, office equipment, travel and subsistence allowances and other supplies and expenses as shall be necessary to the administration of sections 541-545 of this title in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. With the approval of the Secretary of State, an officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service may enter into leases for office quarters, and may pay rent, telephone, subscriptions to publications, and other charges incident to the conduct of his office and the discharge of his duties, in advance in any foreign country where custom or practice requires payment in advance. (June 5, 1930, ch. 399, § 5, 46 Stat. 499; Reorg. Plan No. II, § 1 (a), (b), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 Fed. Reg. 2731, 53 Stat. 1431.) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Transfer of Foreign Agricultural Service and functions to Department of State, see note preceding section 541 of this title. Chapter 24. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ACT §§ 551-568. Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Sections 551-568 have become sections 499a-499r of this title. Chapter 25.-EXPORT STANDARDS FOR APPLES AND PEARS § 581. Standards of export; establishment; shipping without certificate forbidden; hearings.-It shall be unlawful for any person to ship or offer for shipment or for any carrier, or any steamship company, or any person to transport or receive for transportation to any foreign destination, except as provided in this chapter, any apples and/or pears in packages which are not accompanied by a certificate issued under authority of the Secretary of Agriculture showing that such apples or pears are of a Federal or State grade which meets the minimum of quality established by the Secretary for shipment in export. The Secretary is authorized to prescribe, by regulations, the requirements, other than those of grade, which the fruit must meet before certificates are issued. The Secretary shall provide opportunity, by public hearing or otherwise, for interested persons to examine and make recommendation with respect to any standard of export proposed to be established or designated, or regulation prescribed, by the Secretary for the purposes of this chapter. (June 10, 1933, ch. 59, § 1, 48 Stat. 123.) § 582. Notice of establishment of standards; shipments under contracts made before adoption of standards.-The Secretary shall give reasonable notice through one or more trade papers of the effective date of standards of export established or designated by him under this chapter: Provided, That any apples or pears may be certified and shipped for export in fulfillment of any contract made within six months prior to the date of such shipment if the terms of such contract were in accordance with the grades and regulations of the Secretary in effect at the time the contract was made. (June 10, 1933, ch. 59, § 2, 48 Stat. 123.) § 583. Foreign standards; certication of compliance.-Where the government of the country to which the shipment is to be made has standards or requirements as to condition of apples or pears, the Secretary may in addition to inspection and certification for compliance with the standards established or designated hereunder inspect and certify for determination as to compliance with the standards or requirements of such foreign government and may provide for special certificates in such cases. (June 10, 1933, ch. 59, § 3, 48 Stat. 124.) § 584. Shipments of less than carload lots; exemptions.-Apples or pears in less than carload lots as defined by the Secretary may, in his discretion, be shipped to any foreign country without complying with the provisions of this chapter. (June 10, 1933, ch. 59, § 4, 48 Stat. 124.) § 585. Fees for inspection and certification; certificates as prima facie evidence. For inspecting and certifying the grade, quality, and/or condition of apples and/or pears, the Secretary shall cause to be collected a reasonable fee which shall as nearly as may be cover the cost of the service rendered: Provided, That when cooperative arrangements satisfactory to the Secretary, or his designated representative, for carrying out the purposes of this chapter cannot be made the fees collected hereunder in such cases shall be available until expended to defray the cost of the service rendered, and in such cases the limitations on the amounts expended for the purchase and maintenance of motorpropelled passenger-carrying vehicles shall not be applicable: Provided further, That certificates issued by the authorized agents of the United States Department of Agriculture shall be received in all courts of the United States as prima facie evidence of the truth of the statements therein contained. (June 10, 1933, ch. 59, § 5, 48 Stat. 124.) § 586. Refusal of certificates for violations of laws; penalties for violations.-After opportunity for hearing the Secretary is authorized to refuse the issuance of certificates under this chapter for periods not exceeding ninety days to any person who ships or offers for shipment any apples and/or pears in foreign commerce in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter. Any person or any common carrier or any transportation agency knowingly violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $10,000 by a court of competent jurisdiction. (June 10, 1933, ch. 59, § 6, 48 Stat. 124.) § 587. Rules and regulations; cooperation with other agencies; compensation of officers and employees; effect on other laws relating to same subject matter. The Secretary may make such rules, regulations, and orders as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, and may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government, any State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or any person, whether operating in one or more jurisdictions; and shall have the power to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of such officers and employees not on conflict with existing law, and make such expenditures for rent outside the District of Columbia, printing, binding, telegrams, telephones, law books, books of reference, publications, furniture, stationery, |