Sec. 251. GENERAL PROVISIONS
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## SEC. 251 GENERAL PROVISIONS **[**[7 U.S.C. 1636](/us/usc/t7/s1636)**]** ###
(a)Confidentiality The Secretary shall make available to the public information, statistics, and documents obtained from, or submitted by, packers, retail entities, and other persons under this subtitle in a manner that ensures that confidentiality is preserved regarding— ####
(1)the identity of persons, including parties to a contract; and ####
(2)proprietary business information. ###
(b)Disclosure by Federal Government Employees ####
(1)In general Subject to paragraph (2), no officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall, without the consent of the packer or other person concerned, divulge or make known in any manner, any facts or information regarding the business of the packer or other person that was acquired through reporting required under this subtitle. ####
(2)Exceptions Information obtained by the Secretary under this subtitle may be disclosed— #####
(A)to agents or employees of the Department of Agriculture in the course of their official duties under this subtitle; #####
(B)as directed by the Secretary or the Attorney General, for enforcement purposes; or #####
(C)by a court of competent jurisdiction. ####
(3)Disclosure under freedom of information act Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no facts or information obtained under this subtitle shall be disclosed in accordance with section 552 of title 5, United States Code. ###
(c)Reporting by Packers A packer shall report all information required under this subtitle on an individual lot basis. ###
(d)Regional Reporting and Aggregation The Secretary shall make information obtained under this subtitle available to the public only in a manner that— ####
(1)ensures that the information is published on a national and a regional or statewide basis as the Secretary determines to be appropriate; ####
(2)ensures that the identity of a reporting person is not disclosed; and ####
(3)conforms to aggregation guidelines established by the Secretary. ###
(e)Adjustments Prior to the publication of any information required under this subtitle, the Secretary may make reasonable adjustments in information reported by packers to reflect price aberrations or other unusual or unique occurrences that the Secretary determines would distort the published information to the detriment of producers, packers, or other market participants. ###
(f)Verification The Secretary shall take such actions as the Secretary considers necessary to verify the accuracy of the information submitted or reported under chapter 2, 3, or 4. ###
(g)Electronic Reporting and Publishing ####
(1)In general The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, provide for the reporting and publishing of the information required under this subtitle by electronic means. ####
(2)Improvements and education #####
(A)Enhanced electronic publishing The Secretary shall develop and implement an enhanced system of electronic publishing to disseminate information collected pursuant to this subtitle. Such system shall— ######
(i)present information in a format that can be readily understood by producers, packers, and other market participants; ######
(ii)adhere to the publication deadlines in this subtitle; ######
(iii)present information in charts and graphs, as appropriate; ######
(iv)present comparative information for prior reporting periods, as the Secretary considers appropriate; and ######
(v)be updated as soon as practicable after information is reported to the Secretary. #####
(B)Education The Secretary shall carry out a market news education program to educate the public and persons in the livestock and meat industries about— ######
(i)usage of the system developed under subparagraph (A); and ######
(ii)interpreting and understanding information collected and disseminated through such system. ###
(h)Reporting of Activities on Weekends and Holidays ####
(1)In general Livestock committed to a packer, or purchased, sold, or slaughtered by a packer, on a weekend day or holiday shall be reported by the packer to the Secretary (to the extent required under this subtitle), and reported by the Secretary, on the immediately following reporting day. ####
(2)Limitation on reporting by packers A packer shall not be required to report actions under paragraph
(1)more than once on the immediately following reporting day. ###
(i)Effect on Other Laws Nothing in this subtitle, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999, or amendments made by that Act restricts or modifies the authority of the Secretary to— ####
(1)administer or enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); ####
(2)administer, enforce, or collect voluntary reports under this title or any other law; or ####
(3)access documentary evidence as provided under sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 49, 50).
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