(a) Congress finds that—

(1) dairy products are basic foods that are a valuable part of the human diet;

(2) the production of dairy products plays a significant role in the Nation’s economy, the milk from which dairy products are manufactured is produced by thousands of milk producers, and dairy products are consumed by millions of people throughout the United States;

(3) dairy products must be readily available and marketed efficiently to ensure that the people of the United States receive adequate nourishment;

(4) the maintenance and expansion of existing markets for dairy products are vital to the welfare of milk producers and those concerned with marketing, using, and producing dairy products, as well as to the general economy of the Nation; and

(5) dairy products move in interstate and foreign commerce, and dairy products that do not move in such channels of commerce directly burden or affect interstate commerce of dairy products.


Terms Used In 7 USC 4501

  • dairy products: means products manufactured for human consumption which are derived from the processing of milk, and includes fluid milk products. See 7 USC 4502
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
  • milk: means any class of cow's milk. See 7 USC 4502
  • person: means any individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or any other entity. See 7 USC 4502
  • promotion: means actions such as paid advertising, sales promotion, and publicity to advance the image and sales of and demand for dairy products. See 7 USC 4502
  • United States: when used in a geographical sense, means all of the States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 7 USC 4502

(b) It, therefore, is declared to be the policy of Congress that it is in the public interest to authorize the establishment, through the exercise of the powers provided herein, of an orderly procedure for financing (through assessments on all milk produced in the United States for commercial use and on imported dairy products) and carrying out a coordinated program of promotion designed to strengthen the dairy industry’s position in the marketplace and to maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets and uses for fluid milk and dairy products. Nothing in this subchapter may be construed to provide for the control of production or otherwise limit the right of individual milk producers to produce milk or the right of any person to import dairy products.