
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC4307]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
          CHAPTER 74--FLORAL RESEARCH AND CONSUMER INFORMATION
 
Sec. 4307. Permissive terms in orders

    Orders issued pursuant to this chapter may contain one or more of 
the following terms and conditions:
    (1) Providing for the establishment, issuance, effectuation, and 
administration of appropriate plans or projects for advertising, sales 
promotion, urban beautification, and consumer education with respect to 
the use of flowers and plants, and for the disbursement of necessary 
funds for such purposes: Provided, That any such plan or project shall 
be directed toward increasing the general demand for flowers and plants 
and shall make no reference to a private brand or trade name: Provided 
further, That no such advertising, consumer education, urban 
beautification, or sales promotion program shall make use of unfair or 
deceptive acts or practices with respect to the quality, value, or use 
of any competing product.
    (2) Providing for establishing and carrying on research, marketing, 
and development projects, and studies with respect to the sale, 
distribution, marketing, or utilization of flowers and plants, to the 
end that the marketing and utilization of flowers and plants may be 
encouraged, expanded, improved, or made more acceptable, for the 
dissemination of the data collected by such activities and for the 
disbursement of necessary funds for such purposes.
    (3) Providing that producers, wholesalers, retailers, and importers 
of flowers and plants maintain and make available for inspection such 
books and records as are specified in the order and that such persons 
file reports at the time, in the manner, and having the content 
prescribed by the order, to the end that information and data shall be 
made available to the Floraboard and to the Secretary which is 
appropriate or necessary to the effectuation, administration, or 
enforcement of this chapter, or any order or regulation issued pursuant 
to this chapter: Provided, That all information so obtained shall be 
kept confidential by employees of the Department of Agriculture and the 
Floraboard, and only such information as the Secretary deems relevant 
shall be disclosed by them, and then only in a suit or administrative 
hearing brought at the direction, or upon the request, of the Secretary, 
or in a suit or administrative hearing to which the Secretary or any 
officer of the United States is a party, and involving the order with 
reference to which the information to be disclosed was furnished or 
acquired. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit (A) the 
issuance of general statements based upon the reports of the number of 
persons subject to an order, or statistical data collected therefrom, 
which statements do not identify the information furnished by any 
person, (B) the publication by the Floraboard of general statements 
relating to refunds made by the Floraboard during any specific period, 
including regional information on refunds, (C) the publication by the 
Floraboard of information on the amount of assessments collected from 
each commodity group and the rate of refund in each commodity group, or 
(D) the publication by direction of the Secretary of the name of any 
person violating any order, together with a statement of the particular 
provisions of the order violated by such persons. No information 
obtained pursuant to the authority of this chapter may be made available 
to any agency or officer of the Federal Government for any purpose other 
than the implementation of this chapter and any investigatory or 
enforcement actions necessary for the implementation of this chapter. 
Any person violating the provisions of this paragraph shall, upon 
conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to 
imprisonment for not more than one year, or to both, and, if an officer 
or employee of the Floraboard or the Department of Agriculture, shall be 
removed from office.
    (4) Terms and conditions incidental to and not inconsistent with the 
terms and conditions specified in this chapter and necessary to 
effectuate the other provisions of such order.

(Pub. L. 97-98, title XVII, Sec. 1708, Dec. 22, 1981, 95 Stat. 1352.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 4306 of this title.
