
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC1624]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
     CHAPTER 38--DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 1624. Cooperation with Government and State agencies, 
        private research organizations, etc.; rules and regulations
        
    (a) In carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the Secretary of 
Agriculture may cooperate with other branches of the Government, State 
agencies, private research organizations, purchasing and consuming 
organizations, boards of trade, chambers of commerce, other associations 
of business or trade organizations, transportation and storage agencies 
and organizations, or other persons or corporations engaged in the 
production, transportation, storing, processing, marketing, and 
distribution of agricultural products whether operating in one or more 
jurisdictions. The Secretary of Agriculture shall have authority to 
enter into contracts and agreements under the terms of regulations 
promulgated by him with States and agencies of States, private firms, 
institutions, and individuals for the purpose of conducting research and 
service work, making and compiling reports and surveys, and carrying out 
other functions relating thereto when in his judgment the services or 
functions to be performed will be carried out more effectively, more 
rapidly, or at less cost than if performed by the Department of 
Agriculture. Contracts under this section may be made for work to be 
performed within a period not more than four years from the date of any 
such contract, and advance, progress, or other payments may be made. The 
provisions of section 3324(a) and (b) of title 31 and section 5 of title 
41 shall not be applicable to contracts or agreements made under the 
authority of this section. Any unexpended balances of appropriations 
obligated by contracts as authorized by this section may, 
notwithstanding the provisions of section 5 of the Act of June 20, 1874, 
as amended (31 U.S.C., sec. 713), remain upon the books of the Treasury 
for not more than five fiscal years before being carried to the surplus 
fund and covered into the Treasury. Any contract made pursuant to this 
section shall contain requirements making the result of such research 
and investigations available to the public by such means as the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall determine.
    (b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate such orders, 
rules, and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the provisions 
of this chapter.

(Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, Sec. 205, 60 Stat. 1090; Aug. 30, 
1954, ch. 1076, Sec. 1(7), 68 Stat. 966.)

                       References in Text

    Section 5 of the Act of June 20, 1874, as amended (31 U.S.C. sec. 
713), referred to in subsec. (a), was repealed by act July 6, 1949, ch. 
299, Sec. 3, 63 Stat. 407.

                          Codification

    In subsec. (a), ``section 3324(a) and (b) of title 31'' substituted 
for reference to section 3648 (31 U.S.C., sec. 529) of the Revised 
Statutes on authority of Pub. L. 97-258, Sec. 4(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 
Stat. 1067, the first section of which enacted Title 31, Money and 
Finance.


                               Amendments

    1954--Subsec. (b). Act Aug. 30, 1954, repealed second sentence 
requiring Secretary of Agriculture to include in his annual report to 
Congress a complete statement of research work being performed under 
contracts or cooperative agreements under this chapter.


                   Distribution of Surplus Commodities

    Pub. L. 97-253, title I, Sec. 191, Sept. 8, 1982, 96 Stat. 787, 
provided that:
    ``(a) The Congress finds that--
        ``(1) for an increasing number of people in the United States, 
    these are times of great suffering and deprivation;
        ``(2) rising unemployment, decreasing appropriations for social 
    services, and increasingly adverse economic conditions have all 
    contributed to produce hunger and want on a scale not experienced 
    since the time of the Great Depression;
        ``(3) the demand for every conceivable form of assistance for 
    the hungry and needy people of the United States grows more critical 
    daily, while the availability of goods and services to meet the 
    needs of such people is rapidly diminishing;
        ``(4) soup kitchens, food banks, and other organizations which 
    provide food to the hungry report an astronomical increase in the 
    number of persons seeking the assistance of such organizations;
        ``(5) according to a study completed by the General Accounting 
    Office in 1977, one hundred and thirty-seven million tons of food, 
    or more than 20 per centum of this country's total annual food 
    production, is wasted or discarded in the United States each year;
        ``(6) at wholesale and retail food distributors, shipping 
    terminals, and other establishments all across the country, enormous 
    quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables and dated dairy and bakery 
    products are discarded each day, while growing numbers of Americans 
    go to bed hungry and undernourished each night;
        ``(7) in these times of budget constraints and appeals for 
    reductions in Federal spending, the use of private resources to meet 
    the basic food requirements of our citizens should be encouraged; 
    and
        ``(8) many States and local governments have not enacted laws 
    which limit the liability of food donors, such as so-called Good 
    Samaritan Acts and donor liability laws, and thus have discouraged 
    donation of food to the needy by private persons.
    ``(b) It is the sense of the Congress that--
        ``(1) departments and agencies of the Federal Government should 
    take such steps as may be necessary to distribute to hungry people 
    of the United States surplus food or food which would otherwise be 
    discarded;
        ``(2) State and local governments which have not yet enacted so-
    called Good Samaritan or donor liability laws to encourage private 
    cooperative efforts to provide food for hungry people within their 
    respective jurisdictions should do so as quickly as possible; and
        ``(3) wholesale and retail food distributors, shipping 
    terminals, and other establishments should work more closely with 
    religious, community, and other charitable organizations to make 
    wholesome food which is currently being wasted or discarded by such 
    establishments available for immediate distribution to hungry people 
    of the United States.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 35 section 210; title 42 
section 418.
