§ 2-20-407 - Reports -- Books and records.
2-20-407. Reports -- Books and records.
(a) Each person responsible for the collection and remittance of assessments pursuant to 2-20-406(a) shall report to the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board such information as may be required from time to time by regulations approved by the Secretary of Agriculture or the board. Such information may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) The number of bushels of soybeans purchased, initially transferred, or which, in any other manner, is subject to the collection of assessment;
(2) The amount of assessments remitted;
(3) The basis, if necessary, to show why the remittance is less than the applicable rate of assessment per bushel of soybeans purchased multiplied by the number of bushels purchased; and
(4) The date any assessment was paid.
(b) (1) Each person who is subject to this subchapter shall maintain and make available for inspection by the secretary, the board or its designee, the Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, such books and records as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter and the regulations issued thereunder, including such records as are necessary to verify any reports required. Such records shall be retained for at least two (2) years beyond the fiscal period of their applicability.
(2) Any producer who plants less than twenty-five (25) acres of soybeans annually shall not be required to maintain books or records pursuant to this section.
(c) All information obtained from books, records, or reports required to be filed or kept pursuant to this section shall be kept confidential by all persons, including employees and former employees of the board, all officers and employees and all former officers and employees of the Department of Finance and Administration, and by all officers and employees and all former officers and employees of contracting parties having access to such information, and shall not be available to board members or any other producers. Only those persons having a specific need for such information in order to effectively administer the provisions of this subchapter shall have access to such information. In addition, only such information so furnished or acquired as the secretary or the board deems relevant shall be disclosed by them, and then only in a suit or administrative hearing brought at the direction, or upon the request, of the secretary or the board, or to which the secretary, any officer of the United States, the board, or the director, is a party. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit:
(1) The issuance of general statements based upon the reports of the number of persons subject to this subchapter or statistical data collected therefrom, which statements do not identify the information furnished by any person; and
(2) The publication, by direction of the secretary or the board, of the name of any person who has been adjudged to have violated this subchapter, together with a statement of the particular provisions of the subchapter violated by such person.