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Summary
Conclusions: Part I. Operation and Impact of the
Compact Over-Order
Price Regulation
Part II.
History of the Compact
Milkshed
Stabilization
·The
Compact has accomplished the states' intended economic and social purpose
of stabilizing the New England milkshed. The Compact Commission's price
regulation has provided income stability as well as price enhancement to
the New England and New York producers, with a net positive impact on farm
viability and sustainability.A variety
of sources quoted in the report indicate that the attrition rate among
New England and New York farms subject to the price regulation has been
slowed considerably a result.
Consumer Impact
·The
Compact has accomplished the further economic and social purpose of not
unduly burdening consumers.The
price regulation's precise impact on retail prices remains an open question
and the subject of vigorous debate.The
record unequivocally establishes that the WIC and School Food Service programs
have been held harmless as intended.Moreover,
at least two academic studies, as cited in the report, suggest only a minimal
impact on consumer prices.The record
also strongly indicates that the broader, consumer, public interest is
served by regulatory intervention into the pricing dynamic for the procurement
cost of beverage milk, in the manner of the Compact price regulation.
Neutral Impact on National Market
·The
Compact has not result in unwarranted surplus production.Operation
of the Compact has not adversely affected the national milk market or the
interests of farmer or processor participants in the national marketplace.Milk
production in New England has not increased out of scale with national
production or the demands of the local marketplace.
·Consistent
with its design, the Compact has been administered without discrimination
among market participants.The
price regulation is being successfully administered without discriminatory
burden on either farmers or processors located outside the New England
region.New York farmers benefit
uniformly with their counterpart New England farmers; the regulation is
equally competitive-neutral in its effect on processors located outside
of New England.The price regulation
has been particularly effective in its uniform treatment of packaged milk
brought in from outside the region, and in this regard represents a significant
advance in milk market regulation.
Legal
Stability
·The
Compact has solved the vexing legal problem of how best to restore the
two-part federal/state system of milk market regulation.The
Compact has successfully reinvigorated the ability of the six New England
states to exercise lawful regulatory authority over a regional dairy market,
in the public interest, without running afoul of the constitution.The
Compact has been tested twice in court with two federal circuits of appeal
finding resoundingly in its favor.Most
specifically, the 1st Circuit affirmed the constitutionality
of the congressional grant of authority to the New England states for the
uniform regulation of the interstate New England market.
Forum for the Marketplace; Forum for the Public Interest
·Also
as intended, the Compact has successfully incorporated the concerns of
all market participants - from farmers to consumers - in the regulatory
process.Comprised of delegations
from each of the six states, the Compact Commission contains twenty-six
members covering the whole spectrum of interested concerns in the marketplace.This
diverse, potentially divergent, group has proven most able to work together
on behalf of New England’s common, public interest.
Groundbreaking Supply Management Initiative
·Consistent
with its design and statutory requirement, the Compact Commission has instituted
a ground-breaking initiative in supply management.As
intended, the Commission is ensuring that the causal relationship between
pay price and milk production is cemented and made a vital part of its
regulatory program.The Commission
has taken the first, concrete steps toward real progress in this truly
difficult task.
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