§ 7958 — Miscellaneous Provisions

(a) All peanuts marketed in the United States shall be officially inspected and graded by Federal or Federal-State inspectors. (b) The Peanut Administrative Committee established under Marketing Agreement No. 146 issued pursuant to the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, is terminated. (1) The Secretary shall establish a Peanut Standards Board for the purpose of advising the Secretary regarding the establishment of quality and handling standards for domestically produced and imported peanuts. (A) The Board shall consist of 18 members, with representation equally divided between peanut producers and peanut industry representatives. (B) The Secretary shall appoint— (i) 3 producers from the Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) peanut producing region; (ii) 3 producers from the Southwest (Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico) peanut producing region; and (iii) 3 producers from the Virginia/Carolina (Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) peanut producing region. (C) The Secretary shall appoint 3 peanut industry representatives from each of the 3 peanut producing regions in the United States. (A) A member of the Board shall serve a 3-year term. (B) In making the initial appointments to the Board, the Secretary shall stagger the terms of the members so that— (i) 1 producer member and peanut industry member from each peanut producing region serves a 1-year term; (ii) 1 producer member and peanut industry member from each peanut producing region serves a 2-year term; and (iii) 1 producer member and peanut industry member from each peanut producing region serves a 3-year term. (4) The Secretary shall consult with the Board in advance whenever the Secretary establishes or changes, or considers the establishment of or a change to, quality and handling standards for peanuts. (5) Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to the Board. (d) The Secretary shall make identifying and combating the presence of all quality concerns related to peanuts a priority in the development of quality and handling standards for peanuts and in the inspection of domestically produced and imported peanuts. The Secretary shall consult with appropriate Federal and State agencies to provide adequate safeguards against all quality concerns related to peanuts. (e) Imported peanuts shall be subject to the same quality and handling standards as apply to domestically produced peanuts. (1) In addition to other funds that are available to carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section. (2) The expenses of the Peanut Standards Board shall not be counted toward any general limitation on the expenses of advisory committees, panels, commissions, and task forces of the Department of Agriculture, whether enacted before, on, or after May 13, 2002, unless the limitation specifically refers to this paragraph and specifically includes the Peanut Standards Board within the general limitation. (1) Notwithstanding the appointment process specified in subsection (c) for the Peanut Standards Board, during the transition period, the Secretary may designate persons serving as members of the Peanut Administrative Committee on the day before May 13, 2002, to serve as members of the Peanut Standards Board for the purpose of carrying out the duties of the Board described in this section. (2) The Secretary may transfer any funds available to carry out the activities of the Peanut Administrative Committee to the Peanut Standards Board to carry out the duties of the Board described in this section. (3) In paragraph (1), the term “transition period” means the period beginning on May 13, 2002, and ending on the earlier of— (A) the date the Secretary appoints the members of the Peanut Standards Board pursuant to subsection (c); or (B) 180 days after May 13, 2002. (h) This section shall take effect with the 2002 crop of peanuts.