I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 693

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to institute a program

of mandatory livestock market reporting for meat packers regarding

prices, volume, and the terms of sale for the procurement of domestic

and imported livestock and livestock products, to improve the collection

of information regarding swine inventories and the slaughtering and

measurement of swine, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. MINGE, Mr. BOSWELL, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr.

POMEROY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. WELLER, and Mrs. CLAYTON) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to institute a program of mandatory livestock market reporting

for meat packers regarding prices, volume, and the terms

of sale for the procurement of domestic and imported

livestock and livestock products, to improve the collection

of information regarding swine inventories and the

slaughtering and measurement of swine, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Livestock Industry Fairness and Enhancement Act’’.

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

5 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Mandatory livestock market reporting.

Sec. 3. Collection, collation, and reporting of data and statistics related to production of swine, pork, and pork products.

Sec. 4. Report on jurisdiction, duties, and authorities of Secretary of Agriculture regarding packers, livestock, and livestock products.

Sec. 5. Retail price report of representative meat products.

Sec. 6. Regulations.

6 SEC. 2. MANDATORY LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORTING.

7 (a) REPORTING REQUIRED.—The Agricultural Mar8 keting Act of 1946 is amended by inserting after section

9 203 (7 U.S.C. 1622) the following new section:

10 ‘‘SEC. 203A. MANDATORY LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORTING.

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

12 ‘‘(1) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘livestock’ means

13 cattle, sheep, and swine, whether live or dead.

14 ‘‘(2) LIVESTOCK PRODUCT.—The term ‘live15 stock product’ means any product or byproduct pro16 duced or processed in whole or in part from live17 stock, including boxed beef, boxed lamb, and any

18 value-added product derived from pork.

19 ‘‘(3) PACKER.—Subject to subsection (b)(1),

20 the term ‘packer’ means any person engaged in the

21 business of—
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1 ‘‘(A) buying livestock in commerce for pur2 poses of slaughter;

3 ‘‘(B) manufacturing or preparing livestock

4 products for sale or shipment in commerce; or

5 ‘‘(C) marketing livestock products in an

6 unmanufactured form acting as a wholesale

7 broker, dealer, or distributor in commerce.

8 ‘‘(4) PRICES, VOLUME, AND TERMS OF SALE.—

9 The term ‘prices, volume, and terms of sale’ includes

10 base price, premium and discount price factors, for11 mula-based pricing systems, quality characteristics

12 (including percent lean and carcass weight), and any

13 current or future contract offered by a packer.

14 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

15 the Secretary of Agriculture.

16 ‘‘(b) MANDATORY REPORTING REQUIRED.—

17 ‘‘(1) PACKERS SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENT.—

18 This subsection applies only to a packer that the

19 Secretary estimates is engaged in the business of

20 buying, manufacturing, preparing, or marketing

21 more than five percent (by daily volume) of—

22 ‘‘(A) all cattle, all sheep, or all swine that

23 are bought, prepared, or marketed in the

24 United States;
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1 ‘‘(B) all livestock products that are bought,

2 manufactured, prepared, or marketed in the

3 United States; or

4 ‘‘(C) any combination of subparagraphs

5 (A) and (B).

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The Secretary

7 shall require each packer described in paragraph (1)

8 to report to the Secretary, in such manner as the

9 Secretary shall require, such information relating to

10 prices, volume, and terms of sale for the procure11 ment of domestic and imported livestock and live12 stock products as the Secretary determines is appro13 priate.

14 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out para15 graph (2), the Secretary shall require packers de16 scribed in paragraph (1)—

17 ‘‘(A) to separately report domestic and im18 ported livestock and livestock products; and

19 ‘‘(B) to report the information required

20 under paragraph (2) by the next business day,

21 as defined by the Secretary.

22 ‘‘(4) NONCOMPLIANCE.—It shall be unlawful

23 for any packer described in paragraph (1) to know24 ingly fail or refuse to provide to the Secretary infor25 mation required under paragraph (2).
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1 ‘‘(5) VERIFICATION.—The Secretary may take

2 such actions as are necessary to verify the accuracy

3 of the information required under paragraph (2), re4 gardless of the source of the information.

5 ‘‘(6) CEASE AND DESIST AND CIVIL PEN6 ALTY.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary has

8 reason to believe that a packer described in

9 paragraph (1) is violating this subsection (or a

10 regulation issued under this subsection), the

11 Secretary may issue an order to cease and de12 sist from continuing the violation and assess a

13 civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each

14 violation. The order shall be issued only after

15 notice and an opportunity for hearing is pro16 vided to the packer.

17 ‘‘(B) FACTORS.—In determining the

18 amount of a civil penalty to be assessed under

19 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider

20 the gravity of the offense, the size of the busi21 ness involved, and the effect of the penalty on

22 the ability of the packer to continue in business.

23 ‘‘(7) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—If,

24 after expiration of the period for appeal or after the

25 affirmance of a civil penalty assessed under para-
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1 graph (6), the packer against whom the civil penalty

2 is assessed fails to pay the civil penalty, the Sec3 retary may refer the matter to the Attorney General,

4 who may recover the amount of the civil penalty in

5 a civil action in United States district court.

6 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY REPORTING.—The Secretary shall

7 encourage voluntary reporting by packers that are not

8 subjected to a mandatory reporting requirement under

9 subsection (b).

10 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) TIMELY AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary

12 shall make information received under this section

13 available to the public in a timely manner to permit

14 the use of the information while it is still relevant.

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—The disclosure of informa16 tion under paragraph (1) may be made only in a

17 form that ensures the following:

18 ‘‘(A) The identity of the parties involved in

19 any transaction described in a report is not dis20 closed.

21 ‘‘(B) The identity of the packer submitting

22 a report is not disclosed.

23 ‘‘(C) The confidentiality of proprietary

24 business information is otherwise protected.
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1 ‘‘(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec2 tion restricts or modifies the authority of the Secretary

3 to collect voluntary reports in accordance with other provi4 sions of law.

5 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION OF MANDATORY REQUIRE6 MENT.—The reporting requirement established by sub7 section (b) shall expire at the end of the three-year period

8 beginning on the date of the enactment of this section.’’.

9 (b) REPEAL OF PILOT PRICE REPORTING INVES10 TIGATION.—Section 416 of the Packers and Stockyards

11 Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 229a), as added by section 1127(a)

12 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug

13 Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,

14 1999 (as contained in section 101(a) of division A of Pub15 lic Law 105–277), is repealed.

16 SEC. 3. COLLECTION, COLLATION, AND REPORTING OF

17 DATA AND STATISTICS RELATED TO PRODUC18 TION OF SWINE, PORK, AND PORK PRODUCTS.

19 The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 is amended

20 by inserting after section 203A (as added by section 2 of

21 this Act) the following new section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 203B. SPECIAL REPORTING AND MEASUREMENT RE23 QUIREMENTS REGARDING SWINE.

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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1 ‘‘(1) PACKER.—The term ‘packer’ has the

2 meaning given the term in section 203A(a).

3 ‘‘(2) SWINE.—The term ‘swine’ means the por4 cine animal raised for feeder pigs, seedstock, or

5 slaughter.

6 ‘‘(3) BARROW.—The term ‘barrow’ means a

7 neutered male swine.

8 ‘‘(4) GILT.—The term ‘gilt’ means a young fe9 male swine, one that has not produced a litter.

10 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

11 the Secretary of Agriculture.

12 ‘‘(b) SWINE INVENTORY REPORT IMPROVEMENT.—

13 ‘‘(1) NEW REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—As soon

14 as practicable after the date of the enactment of this

15 section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall implement

16 a reporting procedure that results in a monthly re17 port of the inventory of swine located on farms and

18 other confinement or production areas, in the 17

19 leading pork producing States in the United States.

20 The reporting procedure shall include in a separate

21 category the number of bred female swine that are

22 assumed, or have been confirmed, as pregnant dur23 ing the reporting period.

24 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON EXISTING REPORT.—The Sec25 retary shall continue to maintain and publish the
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1 current quarterly report known as the ‘‘Hogs and

2 Pigs Inventory Report’’ for a period of not less than

3 eight quarters after the inception of the monthly re4 port initiated under paragraph (1).

5 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—The monthly

6 report referred to in paragraph (1) shall be made

7 available to swine producers, packers, market ana8 lysts and researchers, and such other persons and

9 entities as the Secretary determines to be in the

10 public interest. The quarterly report continued as

11 provided in paragraph (2) shall be designed to be

12 provided to those same persons or entities intended

13 to receive the monthly report so as to provide them

14 with a data overlap period until the monthly report

15 is fully functional.

16 ‘‘(c) CARCASS MEASUREMENT AND VALUE PRIC17 ING.—

18 ‘‘(1) LEAN CONTENT MEASUREMENTS.—As

19 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment

20 of this section, the Secretary shall conduct a study

21 and survey and issue regulations requiring packers

22 to implement a program to measure the lean content

23 (containing little or no fat) of swine carcasses using

24 trained and impartial personnel. In issuing the regu25 lation, the Secretary shall provide for the adminis-
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1 tration of the program and inspection of such packer

2 operations by personnel of the Grain Inspection,

3 Packers and Stockyards Administration.

4 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Not later

5 than six months after the date of the enactment of

6 this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress

7 a report setting forth the actions taken to implement

8 this subsection. The report shall set forth the num9 bers and names of packers who have initiated such

10 a measurement program on a voluntary basis, the

11 percentage of the packing industry that has initiated

12 such voluntary programs, the date such voluntary

13 programs were initiated, the estimated cost to pack14 ers to implement a voluntary program, the estimated

15 cost to be incurred by packers to implement the

16 mandatory program required by paragraph (1), and

17 other benefits that may accrue from the program.

18 ‘‘(3) INSPECTION OF EQUIPMENT.—This para19 graph applies to a packer that slaughters more than

20 five percent (by daily volume) of all swine that are

21 bought, prepared, or marketed in the United States.

22 All equipment used by such a packer in the meas23 urement and determination of the value of swine

24 shall be subject to inspection by personnel of the

25 Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Adminis-
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1 tration designated by the Secretary. All formulas

2 and pricing procedures used to determine the value

3 of swine by such a packer may be obtained by the

4 Secretary who shall ensure its publication as deter5 mined by the Secretary.

6 ‘‘(d) BARROW AND GILT SLAUGHTER.—The Sec7 retary shall promptly obtain, either through a valid report8 ing procedure for a packer described in subsection (c)(3)

9 or other valid statistical sampling procedure at packing

10 plants as determined by the Secretary, data on the division

11 of the total market slaughter of swine that reflects dif12 ferences in numbers between barrows and gilts. Such in13 formation shall be made available to swine producers in

14 a report published by the Secretary.’’.

15 SEC. 4. REPORT ON JURISDICTION, DUTIES, AND AUTHORI16 TIES OF SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE RE17 GARDING PACKERS, LIVESTOCK, AND LIVE18 STOCK PRODUCTS.

19 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

21 of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report describing

22 the jurisdiction, power, duties, and authorities of the Sec23 retary over packers, livestock, livestock products, and

24 interstate commerce in livestock and livestock products

25 under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C.
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1 1621 et seq.), the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7

2 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), and all other related laws, such as

3 sections 6, 8, 9, and 10 of the Federal Trade Commission

4 Act (as referred to in section 402 of the Packers and

5 Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 222)).

6 (b) CONTENT.—With respect to such jurisdiction,

7 power, duties, and authorities, the report shall address the

8 following:

9 (1) The burdens on, and obstructions to, inter10 state commerce in livestock and livestock products

11 by packers and other persons who enter into ar12 rangements with packers that are contrary to, or do

13 not protect, the public interest.

14 (2) Non-competitive pricing arrangements be15 tween or among packers, or other persons involved

16 in the processing, distribution, or sale of livestock or

17 livestock products to consumers, including those pro18 vided for in contracts for the purchase of livestock.

19 (3) Measures to provide transparency to, and

20 effective monitoring of, contracts entered into be21 tween packers and livestock producers.

22 (4) Investigations that relate to, and affect the

23 disclosure of, transactions involved in the business of

24 packers involved in the ownership of such busi25 nesses, the pricing of livestock to producers, and the
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1 pricing of livestock products in the entire mer2 chandising chain.

3 (5) Cooperation and enhancement by the Sec4 retary with the enforcement of actions initiated by

5 other Federal agencies to protect trade and com6 merce in the livestock and livestock product indus7 tries against unlawful restraints and monopolies.

8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘pack9 er’’, ‘‘livestock’’, and ‘‘livestock products’’ have the mean10 ing given such terms in section 203A of the Agricultural

11 Marketing Act of 1946, as added by section 2 of this Act.

12 SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE ABILITY OF THE SECRETARY OF

13 AGRICULTURE TO PROVIDE RELIABLE PERI14 ODIC RETAIL PRICE REPORTS.

15 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit

17 to Congress a report describing the ability of the Depart18 ment of Agriculture to provide reliable periodic reports of

19 the retail prices of representative meat products. The re20 port shall include at least the following:

21 (1) Existing private and public retail price re22 porting services.

23 (2) Existing authorities to use, interpret, and

24 publish data from such services, and any additional
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1 authorities necessary to improve the use, interpreta2 tion, and publication of such data.

3 (3) Opportunities to cooperate with other Fed4 eral and State agencies.

5 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

6 (a) ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than

7 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

8 Secretary of Agriculture shall issue such regulations as the

9 Secretary considers necessary to implement the amend10 ments made by this Act. The Secretary shall issue the reg11 ulations without regard to the following:

12 (1) The notice and comment provisions of sec13 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code.

14 (2) The Statement of Policy of the Secretary of

15 Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg.

16 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking

17 and public participation in rulemaking.

18 (3) Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code

19 (commonly known as the Paperwork Reduction Act).

20 (b) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE21 MAKING.—In issuing regulations under subsection (a), the

22 Secretary of Agriculture shall use the authority provided

23 under section 808(2) of title 5, United States Code.

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