[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 7, Volume 4]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 7CFR283.11]



[Page 960-961]

 

                          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



[[Page 961]]



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.

    (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.