Regulation of the Day 21: Potato Research and Promotion
The Agricultural Marketing Service ($1.3 billion 2008 budget, 5,500 employees) has a potato research and marketing plan, pursuant to the Potato Research and Marketing Act. Administering the plan is not free; potato handlers and importers are charged 2.5 cents per hundredweight of potatoes for the service.
A new proposed rule on pages 36,952-36,955 of the 2009 Federal Register would raise the levy to 3 cents per hundredweight.