AMS No. 020-12

Sam Jones-Ellard (202) 617-7212

Samuel.Jones@ams.usda.gov

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2012 – The U. S. Department of Agriculture has issued a final rule amending the Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program as required by law.

The Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010 amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to provide for the establishment of an electronic reporting system for manufacturers to report dairy product sales information for specific dairy products. The amendment further states that the Secretary shall publish the information obtained for the preceding week not later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday of each week.

“This market reporting program benefits dairy producers, processors, retailers, and consumers,” said Robert Keeney, acting administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service. “This change will provide dairy farmers with more timely information and streamline our process for reporting dairy product sales information.”

This final rule includes regulatory changes for implementing the provisions of the Act. It transfers applicable data collection responsibilities from the National Agricultural Statistics Service to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

Manufacturers that process and market less than one million pounds of the specific dairy products per year are exempt from the reporting requirements. USDA uses the sales data reported to determine minimum class prices for milk marketed through the Federal Milk Marketing Order Program.

For additional information on the Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program, including the schedule of reports, please visit www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/DairyProductMandatoryReporting.

The final rule will appear in the Feb. 15, 2012 Federal Register.

For additional information about the final rule, contact Joe Gaynor; Market Information Branch Chief, Dairy Programs, AMS, USDA, STOP-0232 Room 2977, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-0232; phone (202) 720-9351; or e-mail at Joseph.Gaynor@ams.usda.gov.

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