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Title 7 — Agriculture

Chapter 56 — Unfair Trade Practices Affecting Producers of Agricultural Products

§ 2301. Congressional findings and declaration of policy

Statutory text

Agricultural products are produced in the United States by many individual farmers and ranchers scattered throughout the various States of the Nation. Such products in fresh or processed form move in large part in the channels of interstate and foreign commerce, and such products which do not move in these channels directly burden or affect interstate commerce. The efficient production and marketing of agricultural products by farmers and ranchers is of vital concern to their welfare and to the general economy of the Nation. Because agricultural products are produced by numerous individual farmers, the marketing and bargaining position of individual farmers will be adversely affected unless they are free to join together voluntarily in cooperative organizations as authorized by law. Interference with this right is contrary to the public interest and adversely affects the free and orderly flow of goods in interstate and foreign commerce.

It is, therefore, declared to be the policy of Congress and the purpose of this chapter to establish standards of fair practices required of handlers in their dealings in agricultural products.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 90–288 § 2 · 82 Stat. 93

    Enacted · 7 U.S.C. § 2301

    (Pub. L. 90–288, § 2, Apr. 16, 1968, 82 Stat. 93.)

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    (Pub. L. 90–288, § 2, Apr. 16, 1968, 82 Stat. 93.)

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    Sec. 2. legislative findings and declaration of policy Agricultural products are produced in the United States by many individual farmers and ranchers scattered throughout the various States of the Nation. Such products in fresh or processed form move in large part in the channels of interstate and foreign commerce, and such products which do not move in these channels directly burden or affect interstate commerce. The efficient production and marketing of agricultural products by farmers and ranchers is of vital concern to their welfare and to the general economy of the Nation. Because agricultural products are produced by numerous individual farmers, the marketing and bargaining position of individual farmers will be adversely affected unless they are free to join together voluntarily in cooperative organizations as authorized by law. Interference with this right is contrary to the public interest and adversely affects the free and orderly flow of goods in interstate and foreign commerce. It is, therefore, declared to be the policy of Congress and the purpose of this Act to establish standards of fair practices required of handlers in their dealings in agricultural products.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 90–288, § 1, , 82 Stat. 93, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] shall be known as the Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967.”

Credits

(Pub. L. 90–288, § 2, , 82 Stat. 93.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc07.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-09-09

USLM identifier /us/usc/t7/s2301