As used in this chapter:

Terms Used In 7 USC 2116

  • association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • cotton: means (1) all upland cotton harvested in the United States, and, except as used in section 2106(e) of this title, includes cottonseed of such cotton and the products derived from such cotton and its seed and (2) imports of upland cotton including the upland cotton content of the products derived from upland cotton (other than industrial products as defined by the Secretary). See 7 USC 2116
  • importer: means any person who enters, or withdraws from warehouse, cotton for consumption in the customs territory of the United States. See 7 USC 2116
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or any other entity. See 7 USC 2116
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture. See 7 USC 2116
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
  • United States: means the 50 States of the United States of America. See 7 USC 2116

(a) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Agriculture.

(b) The term “person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or any other entity.

(c) The term “cotton” means (1) all upland cotton harvested in the United States, and, except as used in section 2106(e) of this title, includes cottonseed of such cotton and the products derived from such cotton and its seed and (2) imports of upland cotton including the upland cotton content of the products derived from upland cotton (other than industrial products as defined by the Secretary). The term “cotton” shall not, however, include any entry of imported cotton by an importer that has a value or weight less than any de minimis figure as established in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary. Any de minimis figure as established under this paragraph shall be such as to minimize the burden in administering the assessment provision but still provide for the maximum participation of imports of cotton in the assessment provisions of this chapter.

(d) The term “handler” means any person who handles cotton or cottonseed or, for the purposes of sections 2102, 2105(c), and 2112 of this title, any person who imports cotton, including de minimis amounts of cotton described in subsection (c), in the manner specified in the order or in the rules and regulations issued thereunder.

(e) The term “United States” means the 50 States of the United States of America.

(f) Cotton-producing State.—

(1) In general.—The term “cotton-producing State” means any State in which the average annual production of cotton during the five years 1960-1964 was twenty thousand bales or more, except that any State producing cotton whose production during such period was less than such amount shall under regulations prescribed by the Secretary be combined with another State or States producing cotton in such manner that such average annual production of such combination of States totaled twenty thousand bales or more.

(2) Inclusions.—The term “cotton-producing State” includes—

(A) any combination of States described in paragraph (1); and

(B) effective beginning with the 2008 crop of cotton, the States of Kansas, Virginia, and Florida.


(g) The term “marketing” includes the sale of cotton or the pledging of cotton to the Commodity Credit Corporation as collateral for a price support loan.

(h)(1) The term “importer” means any person who enters, or withdraws from warehouse, cotton for consumption in the customs territory of the United States.

(2) The term “import” means any such entry.