The eligibility of each cotton producer organization to represent cotton producers of a cotton producing State to request the issuance of an order under section 2103 of this title, and to participate in the making of nominations under section 2106(b) of this title shall be certified by the Secretary and shall be based in addition to other available information upon a factual report submitted by the organization which shall contain information deemed relevant and specified by the Secretary for the making of such determination, including the following:

(a) Geographic territory within the State covered by the organization’s active membership;

(b) Nature and size of the organization’s active membership in the State, proportion of total of such active membership accounted for by farmers, a map showing the cotton-producing counties in such State in which the organization has members, the volume of cotton produced in each such county, the number of cotton producers in each such county, and the size of the organization’s active cotton producer membership in each such county;

(c) The extent to which the cotton producer membership of such organization is represented in setting the organization’s policies;

(d) Evidence of stability and permanency of the organization;

(e) Sources from which the organization’s operating funds are derived;

(f) Functions of the organization; and

(g) The organization’s ability and willingness to further the aims and objectives of this chapter:


Provided, however, That the primary consideration in determining the eligibility of an organization shall be whether its cotton farmer membership consists of a sufficiently large number of the cotton producers who produce a relatively significant volume of cotton to reasonably warrant its participation in the nomination of members for the Cotton Board. The Secretary shall certify any cotton producer organization which he finds to be eligible under this section, and his determination as to eligibility shall be final.

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Terms Used In 7 USC 2113

  • 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
  • county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • 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