§ 1445-3. Purchase of inventory stock
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in order to reduce or eliminate the excessive inventories of Flue-cured and Burley tobacco held by associations from the 1976 through 1984 crops, and in order to provide for the orderly disposition of such excessive inventories of tobacco in a manner that will not disrupt the orderly marketing of new tobacco crops and will minimize any losses to the Federal Government:
(a)
Sale of inventory stock
(1)
The producer-owned cooperative marketing association that has entered into a loan agreement with the Commodity Credit Corporation to make price support available to producers of Flue-cured tobacco shall offer to sell the stocks of Flue-cured tobacco of the association from the 1976 through 1984 crops as provided in this section.
(2)
Each producer-owned cooperative marketing association that has entered into a loan agreement with the Commodity Credit Corporation to make price support available to producers of Burley tobacco shall offer to sell its stocks of Burley tobacco from the 1982 and 1984 crops as provided in this section.
(3)
(A)
(B)
If the Commodity Credit Corporation has not sold all of the stocks of the 1983 crop of Burley tobacco within 2 years from the date the Corporation calls the loans on such tobacco, the Corporation may offer to sell to domestic manufacturers of cigarettes the remaining stocks of such tobacco as provided in this section.
(b)
Sale prices
(1)
(2)
(A)
The stocks of Burley tobacco from the 1982 crop shall be offered for sale at the listed base price in effect as of July 1, 1985.
(B)
The stocks of Burley tobacco from the 1984 crop shall be offered for sale at the costs of the association for such tobacco as of April 7, 1986.
(3)
(A)
After the 2-year period specified in subsection (a)(3)(B) of this section has expired, if the Commodity Credit Corporation offers to sell the stocks of the Corporation of Burley tobacco from the 1983 crop to domestic manufacturers of cigarettes, such stocks shall be offered for sale at the costs of the association, including carrying charges, as of the date on which the Corporation calls the loans on such tobacco, reduced by 90 percent.
(c)
Terms of agreements
(1)
(A)
Each domestic manufacturer of cigarettes may enter into agreements to purchase inventory stocks of Flue-cured and Burley tobacco, in accordance with this section.
(B)
To be eligible for the reductions in price specified in this section, such manufacturer shall enter into such agreements as soon as practicable, but not later than 90 days after April 7, 1986, except that, with respect to the 1983 crop of Burley tobacco, if the Corporation offers to sell the stocks of such tobacco pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A) of this section, such agreements shall be entered into as soon as practicable, but not later than 90 days after the end of the 2-year period referred to in subsection (a)(3)(B) of this section.
(C)
(i)
Such agreements shall provide that, over a period of time, each participating domestic manufacturer of cigarettes shall purchase a percentage of the stocks of Flue-cured and Burley tobacco held—
(2)
(A)
(i)
The percentage to be purchased by each participating manufacturer shall be at least equal to the respective percentage of the participating manufacturer of the total quantity of net cigarettes manufactured for use as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture under this paragraph on the basis of the monthly reports (“Manufacturer of Tobacco Products—Monthly Reports”) submitted by manufacturers of tobacco products to the Tax and Trade Bureau of the Department of the Treasury.
(B)
“Net cigarettes manufactured for use” shall be computed by subtracting—
(C)
(ii)
Such percentage shall be determined by dividing—
(D)
(i)
The quantity of tobacco to be purchased by each participating manufacturer shall be determined annually.
(ii)
Such quantity shall be based on—
(iii)
The appropriate annual quantity to be withdrawn from inventories shall be—
(I)
121/2 percent of the inventories of Flue-cured tobacco from the 1976 through 1984 crops on hand on April 7, 1986;
(E)
Any purchases by a manufacturer from the inventories of the associations or from the Commodity Credit Corporation for a crop covered by this section in any year of the buy-out period that exceed the quantity of the purchases of the manufacturer required under the agreement, as determined under this section, shall be applied against future purchases required of such manufacturer.
(3)
In carrying out this section, manufacturers may confer with one another and, separately or collectively, with associations, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Commodity Credit Corporation, as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out this section and the purposes of this subtitle.[1]
(d)
Approval of agreements
(1)
(A)
Each agreement entered into under this section shall be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for review and approval.
(e)
Disclosure
The limitations on disclosure set forth in subsections (c) and (d) of section
1314g [1] of this title shall apply to information submitted by domestic manufacturers of cigarettes under this section with respect to net cigarettes manufactured for use, including information provided on ATF Form
3068. Any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture who violates such limitations on disclosure shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section
1314g
(c)(4) [1] of this title.
[1] See References in Text note below.