Title 7
SECTION 1280.402
1280.402 Assessments.
§ 1280.402 Assessments.(a) Sharing proceeds of sale. If more than one producer, feeder, or seedstock producer shares the proceeds received for the lamb or lamb products sold, each such producer, feeder, or seedstock producer is obligated to pay that portion of the assessments that is equivalent to that producer's, feeder's, or seedstock producer's proportionate share of the proceeds.
(b) Market agencies. A person who is a market agency; i.e., commission merchant, auction market, or livestock market in the business of receiving lambs or lamb products for sale on commission for or on behalf of a producer, feeder, or seedstock producer, will be required to collect an assessment from the producer, feeder, or seedstock producer and pass the collected assessment on to the subsequent purchaser(s) until remitted by a first handler or exporter responsible for submitting assessments under this part.
(c) Failure to collect. Failure of a person to collect the assessment on lambs purchased from a producer, feeder, or seedstock producer shall not relieve the producer, feeder, or seedstock producer of their obligation to pay the assessment and to remit the assessment to the Secretary.
(d) Death, bankruptcy, receivership or incapacity to act. In the event of a producer's, feeder's, seedstock producer's, or exporter's death, bankruptcy, receivership or incapacity to act, the representative of such producer's, feeder's, seedstock producer's, or exporter's estate, the person acting on behalf of creditors or other person acting in such person's stead, shall be considered the producer, feeder, or seedstock producer and shall be required to pay an assessment or collect an assessment.
(e) Remittance of assessments. (1) Assessments shall be remitted to the Lamb Promotion, Research, and Information Program, c/o the Secretary at USDA, 23029 Network Place, Chicago, Illinois 60673-1230, with a “Monthly Remittance Report” form LS-81 not later than the 15th day of the following month in which lambs or lamb products were purchased for slaughter or export, or marketed, if a first handler markets lambs or lamb products directly to consumers, in order to avoid late payment charges.
(2) In cases where a producer or feeder sells lambs as part of a custom slaughter operation, the producer or feeder shall be responsible for remitting the assessments pursuant to § 1280.219.
(3) Each person processing or causing to be processed lamb or lamb products of that person's own production and marketing such lamb or lamb products shall be responsible for remitting the assessments pursuant to § 1280.217(c).
(4) Late payment charges. Any unpaid assessments due to the Board pursuant to § 1280.217 shall be increased 2 percent each month beginning with the day following the date such assessments were due. Any remaining amount due, which shall include any unpaid charges previously made pursuant to this paragraph, shall be increased at the same rate on the corresponding day of each month thereafter until paid. Any assessment received at a date later than the date prescribed by this part, because of a persons failure to submit a timely report to the Secretary, shall be considered to have been payable by the date it would have been due if the report had been filed in a timely manner. The timeliness of a payment to the Secretary shall be based on the applicable postmark date or the date actually received by the Secretary, whichever is earlier.
(5) Weekends and holidays. If the 15th day of the month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a federally recognized holiday then the required reports and assessment will be due the next business day in order to avoid late payment charges.
(f) Non-producer status for certain transactions. (1) Each person seeking non-producer status pursuant to § 1280.217 shall provide the person remitting the assessment a Statement of Certification of Non-Producer Status form (LS-78).
(2) A copy of the Statement of Certification of Non-Producer Status shall be forwarded by the person collecting the assessment to the Secretary.