(b)
Records and reports; availability
Handlers and importers responsible for payment of assessments under subsection (a) of this section shall maintain and make available for inspection by the Secretary such books and records as required by the plan and file reports at the times, in the manner, and having the content prescribed by the plan, to the end that information and data shall be made available to the board and to the Secretary which is appropriate or necessary to the effectuation, administration, or enforcement of this chapter or of any plan or regulation issued pursuant to this chapter.
(c)
Confidential information; disclosure during proceedings; prohibition inapplicable to general statements and publication of violations; penalties; removal from office
All information obtained pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be kept confidential by all officers and employees of the Department of Agriculture and of the board, and only such information so furnished or acquired as the Secretary 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 to which he or any officer of the United States is a party, and involving the plan with reference to which the information to be disclosed was furnished or acquired. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit—
(1)
the issuance of general statements based upon the reports of a number of handlers or importers subject to a plan if such statements do not identify the information furnished by any person, or
(2)
the publication by direction of the Secretary of the name of any person violating any plan together with a statement of the particular provisions of the plan violated by such person.
Any such officer or employee violating the provisions of this subsection shall upon conviction be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, and shall be removed from office.