[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 4]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR283.11]

[Page 948-949]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
    CHAPTER II--FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 283--APPEALS OF QUALITY CONTROL (``QC'') CLAIMS--Table of Contents
 
           Subpart B--Appeals of QC Claims of $50,000 or More
 
Sec. 283.11  Prehearing conference and procedure.

    (a) Time and place. The ALJ shall direct the parties or their 
counsel to participate in a prehearing conference at any reasonable time 
prior to the hearing. The prehearing conference shall be held at the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. Reasonable notice of the 
time, place of the prehearing conference and if personal attendance will 
be necessary shall be given. Prehearing conferences may be conducted 
telephonically. The ALJ shall order each of the parties to furnish at 
the prehearing conference or at another time prior to the hearing the 
following:
    (1) An outline of the appeal or defense;
    (2) The legal theories upon which the party will rely;
    (3) Copies of or a list of documents that the party anticipates 
relying upon at the hearing; and
    (4) A list of witnesses who will testify on behalf of the party. At 
the discretion of the party furnishing such list of witnesses, the names 
of the witnesses need not be furnished if they are otherwise identified 
in some meaningful way, such as a short statement of the type of 
evidence they will offer.
    (b) Procedures. The ALJ shall not order any of the foregoing 
procedures that a party can show are inappropriate or unwarranted under 
the circumstances of the particular appeal.
    (c) Matters to be considered. At the prehearing conference, the 
following matters shall be considered:
    (1) The simplification of issues;
    (2) The necessity of amendments to pleadings;
    (3) The possibility of obtaining stipulations of facts and of the 
authenticity, accuracy, and admissibility of documents, which will avoid 
unnecessary proof;
    (4) The limitation of the number of expert or other witnesses;
    (5) Negotiation, compromise, or settlement of issues;
    (6) The exchange of copies of proposed exhibits;
    (7) The nature of and the date by which discovery, as provided in 
Sec. 283.12, must be completed;
    (8) The identification of documents or matters of which official 
notice may be requested;
    (9) A schedule to be followed by the parties for the completion of 
the actions decided at the conference; and
    (10) Such other matters as may expedite and aid in the disposition 
of the appeal.
    (d) Reporting. (1) A prehearing conference will not be 
stenographically reported unless so directed by the ALJ.
    (2) Any party to the appeal may, upon motion, request the ALJ to 
allow for a stenographic transcript of a prehearing conference. The 
party requesting the transcript shall bear the transcription cost of 
producing the transcript and the duplication cost for one transcript 
provided to the ALJ and to the other parties to the appeal.

[[Page 949]]

    (e) Order. Actions taken as a result of a conference shall be 
reduced to an appropriate written order, unless the ALJ concludes that a 
stenographic report, if available, shall suffice, or, in the event the 
conference takes place within 7 days of the beginning of the hearing, 
the ALJ elects to make a statement on the record at the hearing 
summarizing the actions taken.