---
kind: "section"
citation: "7 U.S.C. § 4531"
title: "7"
title_heading: "Agriculture"
number: "4531"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/7/4531"
units:
  - "Chapter 76 — Dairy Research and Promotion"
  - "Subchapter II — Dairy Research Program"
---

# §4531. Definitions


For purposes of this subchapter—

- (1) the term “[board](/usc/7/4502.md?p=a)” means the [board](/usc/7/4502.md?p=a) of trustees of the [Institute](#6);
- (2) the term “[Department](/usc/7/4502.md?p=b)” means the [Department](/usc/7/4502.md?p=b) of Agriculture;
- (3) the term “[dairy products](/usc/7/4502.md?p=e)” means manufactured products that are derived from the processing of [milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d), and includes [fluid milk products](/usc/7/4502.md?p=f);
- (4) the term “[fluid milk products](/usc/7/4502.md?p=f)” means those [milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d) products normally consumed in liquid form as a beverage;
- (5) the term “Fund” means the Dairy [Research](/usc/7/4502.md?p=j) Trust Fund established by [section 4536 of this title](/usc/7/4536.md);
- (6) the term “Institute” means the National Dairy [Research](/usc/7/4502.md?p=j) Endowment Institute established by [section 4532 of this title](/usc/7/4532.md);
- (7) the term “[milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d)” means any class of cow’s [milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d) marketed in the [United States](/usc/7/4502.md?p=l);
- (8) the term “[person](/usc/7/4502.md?p=g)” means any individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or any other entity;
- (9) the term “[producer](/usc/7/4502.md?p=h)” means any [person](/usc/7/4502.md?p=g) engaged in the production of [milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d) for commercial use;
- (10) the term “[research](/usc/7/4502.md?p=j)” means studies testing the effectiveness of [market](/usc/7/198.md?p=1) development and [promotion](/usc/7/4502.md?p=i) efforts, studies relating to the nutritional value of [milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d) and [dairy products](/usc/7/4502.md?p=e), and other related efforts to expand demand for [milk](/usc/7/4502.md?p=d) and [dairy products](/usc/7/4502.md?p=e);
- (11) the term “[Secretary](/usc/7/4502.md?p=c)” means the [Secretary](/usc/7/4502.md?p=c) of Agriculture unless the context specifies otherwise; and
- (12) the term “[United States](/usc/7/4502.md?p=l)”, when used in a geographical sense, means all of the [States](/usc/7/198.md?p=5), the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 98–180, title I, § 130, as added Pub. L. 99–198, title I, § 121, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1367; amended Pub. L. 110–234, title I, § 1507(c), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 997; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title I, § 1507(c), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1725.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Codification

Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

### Amendments

2008—Par. (12). Pub. L. 110–246, § 1507(c), added par. (12) and struck out former par. (12) which read as follows: “the term ‘United States’ means the several States and the territories and possessions of the United States, except that for purposes of sections 4532, 4534(a), and 4537 of this title, and paragraph (7) of this section, such term means the forty-eight contiguous States in the continental United States.”

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of this title.