Collapse to view only § 1349. Export market acreage
- § 1341. Legislative findings
- § 1342. National marketing quota; proclamation; amount; date of proclamation
- § 1342a. National cotton production goal
- § 1343. Referendum
- § 1344. Apportionment of national acreage allotments
- § 1344a. Exclusion of 1949 acreage in computation of future allotments
- § 1344b. Sale, lease, or transfer of cotton acreage allotments
- § 1345. Farm marketing quotas; farm marketing excess
- § 1346. Penalties
- § 1347. Repealed.
- § 1348. Payments in kind to equalize cost of cotton to domestic and foreign users; rules and regulations; termination date; persons eligible; amount; terms and conditions; raw cotton in inventory
- § 1349. Export market acreage
- § 1350. National base acreage allotment
- § 1350a. Repealed.
American cotton is a basic source of clothing and industrial products used by every person in the United States and by substantial numbers of people in foreign countries. American cotton is sold on a world-wide market and moves from the places of production almost entirely in interstate and foreign commerce to processing establishments located throughout the world at places outside the State where the cotton is produced.
Fluctuations in supplies of cotton and the marketing of excessive supplies of cotton in interstate and foreign commerce disrupt the orderly marketing of cotton in such commerce with consequent injury to and destruction of such commerce. Excessive supplies of cotton directly and materially affect the volume of cotton moving in interstate and foreign commerce and cause disparity in prices of cotton and industrial products moving in interstate and foreign commerce with consequent diminution of the volume of such commerce in industrial products.
The conditions affecting the production and marketing of cotton are such that, without Federal assistance, farmers, individually or in cooperation, cannot effectively prevent the recurrence of excessive supplies of cotton and fluctuations in supplies, cannot prevent indiscriminate dumping of excessive supplies on the Nation-wide and foreign markets, cannot maintain normal carry-overs of cotton, and cannot provide for the orderly marketing of cotton in interstate and foreign commerce.
It is in the interest of the general welfare that interstate and foreign commerce in cotton be protected from the burdens caused by the marketing of excessive supplies of cotton in such commerce, that a supply of cotton be maintained which is adequate to meet domestic consumption and export requirements in years of drought, flood, and other adverse conditions as well as in years of plenty, and that the soil resources of the Nation be not wasted in the production of excessive supplies of cotton.
The provisions of this subpart affording a cooperative plan to cotton producers are necessary and appropriate to prevent the burdens on interstate and foreign commerce caused by the marketing in such commerce of excessive supplies, and to promote, foster, and maintain an orderly flow of an adequate supply of cotton in such commerce.
Whenever during any calendar year the Secretary determines that the total supply of cotton for the marketing year beginning in such calendar year will exceed the normal supply for such marketing year, the Secretary shall proclaim such fact and a national marketing quota shall be in effect for the crop of cotton produced in the next calendar year. The Secretary shall also determine and specify in such proclamation the amount of the national marketing quota in terms of the number of bales of cotton (standard bales of five hundred pounds gross weight) adequate, together with (1) the estimated carry-over at the beginning of the marketing year which begins in the next calendar year and (2) the estimated imports during such marketing year, to make available a normal supply of cotton: Provided, That beginning with the 1961 crop, the national marketing quota shall be not less than a number of bales equal to the estimated domestic consumption and estimated exports (less estimated imports) for the marketing year for which the quota is proclaimed, except that the Secretary shall make such adjustment in the amount of such quota as he determines necessary after taking into consideration the estimated stocks of cotton in the United States (including the qualities of such stocks) and stocks in foreign countries which would be available for the marketing year for which the quota is being proclaimed if no adjustment of such quota is made hereunder, to assure the maintenance of adequate but not excessive stocks in the United States to provide a continuous and stable supply of the different qualities of cotton needed in the United States and in foreign cotton consuming countries, and for purposes of national security; but the Secretary, in making such adjustments, may not reduce the national marketing quota for any year below (i) one million bales less than the estimated domestic consumption and estimated exports for the marketing year for which such quota is being proclaimed, or (ii) ten million bales, whichever is larger. Such proclamation shall be made not later than October 15 of the calendar year in which such determination is made. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the national marketing quota for cotton for 1957 and 1958 shall be not less than the number of bales required to provide a national acreage allotment for 1957 and 1958 equal to the national acreage allotment for 1956: Provided, That if the acreage allotment for any State for 1957 or 1958 is less than its allotment for the preceding year by more than 1 per centum, such State allotment shall be increased so that the reduction shall not exceed 1 per centum per annum, and the acreage required for such increase shall be in addition to the national acreage allotment for such year. Additional acreage apportioned to a State for 1957 or 1958 under the foregoing proviso shall not be taken into account in establishing future State allotments. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the national marketing quota for upland cotton for 1959 and subsequent years shall be not less than the number of bales required to provide a national acreage allotment for each such year of sixteen million acres.
The Secretary shall, not later than November 15, of the calendar years 1970 through 1976 proclaim a national cotton production goal for the 1971 and subsequent crops of upland cotton. The national cotton production goal for any year shall be the number of bales of upland cotton (standard bales of four hundred and eighty pounds net weight) equal to the estimated domestic consumption and estimated exports for the marketing year beginning in the calendar year for which such national cotton production goal is proclaimed, plus an allowance of not less than 5 per centum of such estimated consumption and estimated exports for market expansion except that the Secretary shall make such adjustments in the amount of such production goal as he determines necessary after taking into consideration the estimated stocks of upland cotton in the United States (including the qualities of such stocks) and stocks in foreign countries, which would be available for the marketing year, to assure the maintenance of adequate but not excessive carryover stocks in the United States (not less than 50 per centum of the average offtake for the three preceding marketing years) to provide a continuous and stable supply of the different qualities of upland cotton needed in the United States and in foreign cotton consuming countries and, in addition, to provide an adequate reserve for purposes of national security.
Not later than December 15 following the issuance of the marketing quota proclamation provided for in section 1342 of this title, the Secretary shall conduct a referendum, by secret ballot, of farmers engaged in the production of cotton in the calendar year in which the referendum is held, to determine whether such farmers are in favor of or opposed to the quota so proclaimed. If more than one-third of the farmers voting in the referendum oppose the national marketing quota, such quota shall become ineffective upon proclamation of the results of the referendum. The Secretary shall proclaim the results of any referendum held hereunder within thirty days after the date of such referendum. Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, the referendum with respect to the national marketing quota for cotton for the marketing year beginning August 1, 1986, may be conducted not later than thirty-one days after adjournment sine die of the first session of the Ninety-ninth Congress.
Notwithstanding the provisions of title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended [7 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.], or of any other law, State, county, and farm acreage allotments and yields for cotton for any year after 1949 shall be computed without regard to yields or to the acreage planted to cotton in 1949.
The farm marketing quota for any crop of cotton shall be the actual production of the acreage planted to cotton on the farm less the farm marketing excess. The farm marketing excess shall be the normal production of that acreage planted to cotton on the farm which is in excess of the farm acreage allotment: Provided, That such farm marketing excess shall not be larger than the amount by which the actual production of cotton on the farm exceeds the normal production of the farm acreage allotment, if the producer establishes such actual production to the satisfaction of the Secretary.
For the 1966 crop the national export market acreage reserve shall be 250,000 acres. For each subsequent crop—
If the carryover at the end of the marketing year for the preceding crop is estimated to be less than the carryover at the beginning of such marketing year by— | The national export market acreage reserve shall be— |
At least 1,000,000 bales | 250,000 acres. |
At least 750,000 bales, but not as much as 1,000,000 bales | 187,500 acres. |
At least 500,000 bales, but not as much as 750,000 bales | 125,000 acres. |
At least 250,000 bales, but not as much as 500,000 bales | 62,500 acres. |
Less than 250,000 bales | None. |
The national export market acreage reserve shall be apportioned to farms by the Secretary on the basis of the applications therefor. No application shall be accepted for a greater acreage than is available on the farm for the production of upland cotton. After apportionments are thus made to farms, the Secretary shall provide farm operators a reasonable time in which to cancel their applications (and agreements to forgo price support) and surrender to the Secretary through the county committee the export market acreage assigned to the farm. Acreage so surrendered shall be available for reassignment by the Secretary to other eligible farms to which export market acreage has been apportioned on the basis of the applications remaining outstanding. The operator of any farm who elects to forgo price support for any such crop under this subsection shall not be eligible for price support on cotton of such crop produced on any other farm in which he has a controlling or substantial interest as determined by the Secretary. Acreage planted to cotton in excess of the farm acreage allotment established under section 1344 of this title shall not be taken into account in establishing future State, county, and farm acreage allotments. The operator of any farm to which export market acreage is apportioned, or the purchasers of cotton produced on such farm, shall, under regulations issued by the Secretary, furnish a bond or other undertaking prescribed by the Secretary providing for the exportation, without benefit of any Government cotton export subsidy and within such time as the Secretary may specify, of all cotton produced on such farm for such year. The bond or other undertaking given pursuant to this subsection shall provide that, upon failure to comply with the terms and conditions thereof, the person furnishing such bond or other undertaking shall be liable for liquidated damages in an amount which the Secretary determines and specifies in such undertaking will approximate the amount payable on excess cotton under subsection (a). The Secretary may, in lieu of the furnishing of a bond or other undertaking, provide for the payment of an amount equal to that which would be payable as liquidated damages under such bond or other undertaking. If such bond or other undertaking is not furnished, or if payment in lieu thereof is not made as provided herein, at such time and in the manner required by regulations of the Secretary, or if the acreage planted to cotton on the farm exceeds the sum of the farm acreage allotment established under section 1344 of this title and the acreage apportioned to the farm from the national export market acreage reserve, the acreage planted to cotton in excess of the farm acreage allotment established under section 1344 of this title shall be regarded as excess acreage for purposes of this section and section 1345 of this title. Amounts collected by the Secretary under this subsection shall be remitted to the Commodity Credit Corporation.
In order to maintain and expand domestic consumption of upland cotton produced in the United States and to prevent discrimination against the domestic users of such cotton, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commodity Credit Corporation, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, is authorized and directed for the period beginning with April 11, 1964 and ending July 31, 1966, to make payments through the issuance of payment-in-kind certificates to persons other than producers in such amounts and subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines will eliminate inequities due to differences in the cost of raw cotton between domestic and foreign users of such cotton, including such payments as may be necessary to make raw cotton in inventory on April 11, 1964 available for consumption at prices consistent with the purposes of this section: Provided, That for the period beginning August 1 of the marketing year for the first crop for which price support is made available under section 1444(b) of this title, and ending July 31, 1966, such payments shall be made in an amount which will make upland cotton produced in the United States available for domestic use at a price which is not in excess of the price at which such cotton is made available for export. The Secretary may extend the period for performance of obligations incurred in connection with payments made for the period ending July 31, 1966, or may make payments on raw cotton in inventory on July 31, 1966, at the rate in effect on such date. No payments shall be made hereunder with respect to 1966 crop cotton.