This report is intended to document the record of the Northeast Dairy Compact since its inception in the Vermont legislature in 1987.The Report describes the legal history by which the Compact was established under state and federal law, traces its implementation by the Compact Commission after Congressional authorization in 1996, and documents operation of the price regulation instituted by the Commission in 1997.

Also recounted are the administrative processes the Commission conducted to implement the Compact, and the various legal challenges and other court procedures that complete the Report of the Compact’s record, to date.Last, the Report provides a compilation of the Commission’s recent interstate meetings among the Compact states, during whichcomprehensive testimony about the price regulation’s impact in each of the states was received.

As I testified before the Judiciary Committee, the Report is intended to provide a documented record that allows Congress to decide whether to extend the Compact based on a substantive record, rather than speculation, to the degree this is possible.The Report is presented in several discrete segments as set forth in the Table of Contents.This organization is intended to allow readers the option of either gaining immediate access to data in areas of specific concern or reading the Record as one comprehensive piece.

The Commission directed preparation of the Report for this purpose, to recount basic data as completely as possible.The Summary Conclusions and any interpretive analysis are presented essentially on behalf of the author, to provide clarity to the presentation and to reflect the demands of the present forum, and should not be construed as formal determinations reached by the Commission.

The Report was prepared with the able assistance primarily of Deb Brighton who is even more punctilious than I.Thanks also go to Allbee Associates, Tom Kavette and Amy Mandeville of the Commission staff, and to all other members of the most dedicated staff of the Compact Commission.

Daniel Smith, Executive Director
Compact Commission

The Report is posted on the Commission’s web site at dairycompact.org.It is a work in progress and will be updated to reflect future revisions.