The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that it will conduct a referendum July 14-25, 2025, for eligible domestic manufacturers and importers of paper and paper-based packaging to decide whether to continue their research and promotion program. USDA also announced, effective immediately, a moratorium on the Paper and Packaging Board’s collection of assessments from domestic manufacturers and importers under the Paper and Paper-Based Packaging Promotion, Research and Information Order. The moratorium will remain in place throughout the referendum process.
Persons eligible to vote in the referendum include current domestic manufacturers who have domestically manufactured 100,000 short tons or more of paper and paper-based packaging, and persons who are currently importers and have imported 100,000 short tons or more of paper and paper-based packaging, during the representative period Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024.
If continuance of the program is favored by a majority of domestic manufacturers and importers voting in the referendum, who also represent a majority of the volume of paper and paper-based packaging represented in the referendum, the order will continue and the moratorium on assessment collection will be lifted. If the referendum does not pass, the order and assessment collections will be terminated.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will conduct the referendum by express mail and electronic ballot. AMS staff will express mail ballots and voting instructions, including how to vote electronically, to all known eligible domestic manufacturers and importers of paper and paper-based packaging before the voting period. Completed ballots must be delivered to AMS via express mail or electronic means no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Jul. 25, 2025. Any eligible domestic manufacturer or importer who does not receive a ballot by Jul. 18, 2025, should contact referendum agent George Webster, Marketing Specialist, at (202) 365-4172 or at (202) 720-8085, or by email at George.Webster@usda.gov.
The notice was published in the Federal Register on June 3, 2025. For more information about the board, visit the Paper and Packaging Board website.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight of 22 boards, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender