7 U.S.C. § 6801 : US Code - Section 6801: Findings and declaration of policy

Search 7 U.S.C. § 6801 : US Code - Section 6801: Findings and declaration of policy

(a) Findings
Congress finds that - 
(1) fresh cut flowers and fresh cut greens are an integral part
of life in the United States, are enjoyed by millions of persons
every year for a multitude of special purposes (especially
important personal events), and contribute a natural and
beautiful element to the human environment;
(2)(A) cut flowers and cut greens are produced by many
individual producers throughout the United States as well as in
other countries, and are handled and marketed by thousands of
small-sized and medium-sized businesses; and
(B) the production, handling, and marketing of cut flowers and
cut greens constitute a key segment of the United States
horticultural industry and thus a significant part of the overall
agricultural economy of the United States;
(3) handlers play a vital role in the marketing of cut flowers
and cut greens in that handlers - 
(A) purchase most of the cut flowers and cut greens marketed
by producers;
(B) prepare the cut flowers and cut greens for retail
consumption;
(C) serve as an intermediary between the source of the
product and the retailer;
(D) otherwise facilitate the entry of cut flowers and cut
greens into the current of domestic commerce; and
(E) add efficiencies to the market process that ensure the
availability of a much greater variety of the product to
retailers and consumers;
(4) it is widely recognized that it is in the public interest
and important to the agricultural economy of the United States to
provide an adequate, steady supply of cut flowers and cut greens
at reasonable prices to the consumers of the United States;
(5)(A) cut flowers and cut greens move in interstate and
foreign commerce; and
(B) cut flowers and cut greens that do not move in interstate
or foreign channels of commerce but only in intrastate commerce
directly affect interstate commerce in cut flowers and cut
greens;
(6) the maintenance and expansion of markets in existence on
December 14, 1993, and the development of new or improved markets
or uses for cut flowers and cut greens, are needed to preserve
and strengthen the economic viability of the domestic cut flowers
and cut greens industry for the benefit of producers, handlers,
retailers, and the entire floral industry;
(7) generic programs of promotion and consumer information can
be effective in maintaining and developing markets for cut
flowers and cut greens, and have the advantage of equally
enhancing the market position for all cut flowers and cut greens;
(8) because cut flowers and cut greens producers are primarily
agriculture-oriented rather than promotion-oriented, and because
the floral marketing industry within the United States is
comprised mainly of small-sized and medium-sized businesses, the
development and implementation of an adequate and coordinated
national program of generic promotion and consumer information
necessary for the maintenance of markets in existence on December
14, 1993, and the development of new markets for cut flowers and
cut greens have been prevented;
(9) there exist established State and commodity-specific
producer-funded programs of promotion and research that are
valuable efforts to expand markets for domestic producers of cut
flowers and cut greens and that will benefit from the promotion
and consumer information program authorized by this chapter in
that the program will enhance the market development efforts of
the programs for domestic producers;
(10) an effective and coordinated method for ensuring
cooperative and collective action in providing for and financing
a nationwide program of generic promotion and consumer
information is needed to ensure that the cut flowers and cut
greens industry will be able to provide, obtain, and implement
programs of promotion and consumer information necessary to
maintain, expand, and develop markets for cut flowers and cut
greens; and
(11) the most efficient method of financing such a nationwide
program is to assess cut flowers and cut greens at the point at
which the flowers and greens are sold by handlers into the retail
market.
(b) Policy and purpose
It is the policy of Congress that it is in the public interest,
and it is the purpose of this chapter, to authorize the
establishment, through the exercise of the powers provided in this
chapter, of an orderly procedure for the development and financing
(through an adequate assessment on cut flowers and cut greens sold
by handlers to retailers and related entities in the United States)
of an effective and coordinated program of generic promotion,
consumer information, and related research designed to strengthen
the position of the cut flowers and cut greens industry in the
marketplace and to maintain, develop, and expand markets for cut
flowers and cut greens.