Chapter 399. To promote the agriculture of the United States by expanding in the foreign field the service now rendered by the United States Department of Agriculture in acquiring and diffusing useful information regarding agriculture, and for other purposes
1,493 words·~7 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-46/chapter-399-2338538·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 399.— An Act To promote the agriculture of the United States by expanding in the foreign field the service now rendered by the United States Department of Agriculture in acquiring and diffusing useful information regarding agriculture, and for other purposes. June 5, 1930.[[H. R. 2152](/us/bill/71/hr/2152).][[Public, No. 304](/us/pl/71/304).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That for the purposeAgriculture.Promotion of American, abroad, by Secretary of Agriculture. of encouraging and promoting the agriculture of the United States and assisting American farmers to adjust their operations and practices to meet world conditions, the Secretary of Agriculture shall—
(a)Acquire information regarding world competition and demandBy acquiring Information of world competition, marketing, etc., and disseminating the same. for agricultural products and the production, marketing, and distributing of said products in foreign countries and disseminate the same through agricultural extension agencies and by such other means as may be deemed advisable.
(b)Investigate abroad farm management and any other economicInvestigating agricultural industry abroad, demonstrating standards for cotton, etc. phases of the agricultural industry and, in so far as is necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, conduct abroad any activities, including the demonstration of standards for cotton, wheat, and other American agricultural products, in which the Department of Agriculture is now authorized or in the future may be authorized to engage. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as prohibitingPresent Agricultural Department activities abroad not prohibited. the Department of Agriculture from conducting abroad any activity for which authority for thus conducting it may exist. 498 Sec. 2. Foreign Agricultural Service.Composition of.
(a)The present representatives of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the Department of Agriculture now stationed abroad shall be officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States, and the Secretary of Agriculture may appoint other officers in said service from time to time in accordance with civil-serviceTo be agricultural attachés, etc. procedure. All such officers shall constitute the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States, and shall be known as agricultural attachés, assistant agricultural attachés, or by such other titles as may be deemed appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture. Attached to diplomatic mission or consulate.Any officer in said service, when designated by the Secretary of Agriculture, shall, through the Department of State, be regularly and officially attached to the diplomatic mission of the United States in the country in which he is to be stationed, or to the consulate of the United States, as the Secretary of Agriculture shall designate. Arrangement if no foreign office in the country.If any such officer is to be stationed in a country where there is no diplomatic mission or consulate of the United States, appropriate recognition and standing, with full facilities for discharging his official duties, shall be arranged by the Department of State. The Name of officer may be rejected by Secretary of State.Secretary of State may reject the name of any such officer if, in his judgment, the attachment of such officer to the diplomatic mission or consulate at the post designated would be prejudicial to the public policy of the United States.
(b)Grades and salaries. The Secretary of Agriculture shall appoint the officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service to such grades as he may establish, with salaries in those grades comparable to those paid other officers of the Government for analogous foreign service.
(c)Promotion, separation, etc. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to promote or demote in grade or class, to increase or decrease within the salary range fixed for the class the compensation of, and to separate from the service, officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service, but in so doing the Secretary shall take into consideration records of efficiency.
(d)Character of public minister not given. No officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service shall be considered as having the character of a public minister.
(e)Assignment for duty in United States. Any officer of the Foreign Agricultural Service may be assigned for duty in the United States for a period of not more than three years without change in grade, class, or salary, or with such change as the Secretary of Agriculture may direct.
(f)Transportation, etc., expenses. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to pay the expenses of transportation and subsistence of officers in the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States and their immediate families in going to and returning from their posts under orders from Official leaves of absence upon order of Secretary.the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture is further authorized, whenever he deems it in the public interest, to order to the United States on his official leave of absence any Foreign Agricultural Service officer who has performed three years or more *Provisos*.Transportation, etc., expenses.of continuous service abroad: *Provided*, That the expenses of transportation and subsistence of such officers and their immediate families in traveling to their homes in the United States and return shall be paid under the same rules and regulations applicable in the case of officers going to and returning from their posts under orders of Duties during official leave.the Secretary of Agriculture when not on leave: *Provided further*, That while in the United States the services of such officers shall be available for such duties in the Department of Agriculture and elsewhere in the United States as the Secretary of Agriculture mayPeriod and cumulative leave. prescribe. Any officer in the Foreign Agricultural Service, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, may be given leave of absence with pay for not to exceed thirty days for any one year, 499which may be taken in the United States or elsewhere, accumulative for three years, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Agriculture shall prescribe. Sec. 3.
(a)Subject to the requirements of the civil service laws,Clerical, etc., assistants in service, authorized. and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to appoint, fix the compensation of, promote, demote, and separate from the service such clerks and other assistants for officers of the Foreign Agricultural Service as he may deem necessary.
(b)When authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture, officers ofEmployment, etc., of American citizens abroad, by officers of service. the Foreign Agricultural Service may employ American citizens in a foreign country from time to time, fix the compensation of, and separate from the service such clerical and other assistants as may be necessary. Sec. 4.
(a)Any officer, assistant, clerk, or employee of the DepartmentTransportation, etc., of officer, etc., of department, on detail. of Agriculture, while on duty outside of the continental limits of the United States and away from the post to which he is assigned, shall be entitled to receive his necessary traveling expenses and his actual expenses for subsistence, or a per diem in lieu of subsistence, equal to that paid to other officers of the Government when engaged in analogous foreign service.
(b)The Secretary of Agriculture may authorize any officer ofSubsistence, etc., allowance, for clerical, etc., assistant, may be fixed by employing officer. the Foreign Agricultural Service to fix, in an amount not exceeding the allowance fixed for such officer, an allowance for actual subsistence, or a per diem allowance in lieu thereof, for any clerical or other assistant employed by such officer under subdivision
(b)of section 3 when such clerical or other assistant is engaged in travel outside the continental limits of the United States and away from the post to which he is assigned.
(c)Any officer, assistant, clerk, or employee of the Foreign AgriculturalTravel, etc., expenses, while on detail in United States. Service, while on duty within the continental limits of the United States, shall be entitled to receive the traveling expenses and actual expenses incurred for subsistence, or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, authorized by law. Sec. 5. The Secretary of Agriculture may make such rules andRules and regulations by Secretary. regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act and may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government,Cooperation with departments, etc. State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, cooperative and other farm organizations, or any person, and shall have power to make suchContingent expenses. expenditures for rent outside the District of Columbia, for printing, telegrams, telephones, law books, books of reference, maps, publications, furniture, stationery, office equipment, travel and subsistence allowances, and other supplies and expenses as shall be necessary to the administration of the Act in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. With the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture an officerOffice expenses abroad. of the Foreign Agricultural Service may enter into leases for office quarters, and may pay rent, telephone, subscriptions to publications, and other charges incident to the conduct of his office and the discharge of his duties, in advance in any foreign country where custom or practice requires payment in advance. Approved, June 5, 1930.