(1) It is hereby declared, as a matter of legislative determination, that this chapter is enacted in the exercise of the power of this state for the purposes of protecting and furthering the public health and welfare. It is further declared that the cattle industry of this state is affected with a public interest in that, among other things:

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(a) The production, processing, manufacture and distribution of beef and beef products constitute a paramount industry of this state which not only provides substantial and required revenues for the state and its political subdivisions, and employment and a means of livelihood for many thousands of its population, but also furnishes essential foods that are vital to the public health and welfare.

(b) The stabilization, maintenance and expansion of the cattle industry of Oregon, and of the state, nationwide and foreign markets for its products, are necessary to assure the consuming public an adequate supply of foods which are indispensable in a proper human diet, to protect, for the state and its political subdivisions, a necessary source of tax revenue, to provide and maintain an adequate standard of living for a great segment of the population of this state, to maintain proper wage scales for those engaged in the cattle industry and to maintain existing employment.

(c) The essentiality of beef and beef products in a proper human nutrition and to the maintenance of a high level of public health is such as to require that the public be made thoroughly aware thereof, and be protected against misrepresentation and deception, by the dissemination of accurate and scientific information relative to the healthful qualities of beef and beef products, their various classifications and the food values and industrial and medicinal uses thereof, the methods, care and precautions necessary to their proper production, processing, manufacture and distribution, and the necessary costs and expenses thereof, and the necessity and desirability on the part of the public of using and consuming beef and beef products of the highest standards of quality.

(2) The purposes of this chapter are:

(a) To enable the cattle industry, with the aid of the state, to develop, maintain and expand the state, nationwide and foreign markets for beef and beef products produced, processed or manufactured in this state, and the use and consumption of such beef and beef products therein.

(b) In aid, but not in limitation, of the purpose in paragraph (a) of this subsection, to authorize and enable the Oregon Beef Council to formulate and effectuate, directly or in cooperation with other agencies and instrumentalities specified in this chapter, sales stimulation and consumer or other educational programs designed to increase the use and consumption of beef and beef products and to conduct research, education and information programs related to the cattle industry.

(c) To provide funds for the administration and enforcement of this chapter by voluntary contributions to be collected in the manner prescribed in this chapter. [1959 c.685 § 1; 1997 c.156 § 2]