S. 2902 (108th): Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004

Introduced:
Oct 06, 2004 (108th Congress, 2003–2004)
Sponsor:
Sen. Larry Craig [R-ID]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:

H.R. 3242 (same title)
Signed by the President — Dec 21, 2004

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on October 6, 2004, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Oct 06, 2004
Referred to Committee Oct 06, 2004
Cosponsors
4 cosponsors (4D) (show)
Committees

Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to ensure an abundant and affordable supply of highly nutritious fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops for American consumers and international markets by enhancing the competitiveness of United States-grown specialty crops.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Oct 06, 2004.
28 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

10/6/2004--Introduced.
Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 - Defines "specialty crop" as each U.S. agricultural crop other than wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, and tobacco.
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act to provide for marketing order specialty crop food safety programs.
Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to:
(1) increase assistance for the tree assistance program;
(2) provide for increased fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop purchases; and
(3) increase and extend specialty crop technical assistance.
Authorizes appropriations for maintenance of the Agricultural Marketing Service inspection training center in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Makes grants to enhance specialty crop competitiveness.
Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to obligate funds for specialty crop operating loans.
Provides for:
(1) the study of the extent to which U.S. specialty crops have or have not benefited from any reductions of foreign trade barriers; and
(2) a foreign market access strategy plan based on such study.
Establishes a division in the Department of Agriculture to process petitions for reducing sanitary and phytosanitary export barriers and an office to develop and protect intellectual property rights in plants and plant materials.
Amends Federal patent law to define "essentially derived plant." Provides for specified additional research initiatives.
Establishes a fund to support emergency eradication and research activities.
Provides for independent scientific advice and peer review with regard to specialty crop import and export requests.
Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to remove the income limitation from the environmental quality incentives program.
Addresses the development of voluntary sustainable practices guidelines for producers and processors of specialty crops.

House Republican Conference Summary

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House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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