I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3646

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to permit the movement in interstate commerce of meat and

meat food products and poultry products that satisfy State inspection

requirements that are at least equal to Federal inspection standards.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Mr. GUNDERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry

Products Inspection Act to permit the movement in interstate commerce of meat and meat food products and

poultry products that satisfy State inspection requirements that are at least equal to Federal inspection standards.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Meat and Poultry

5 Products Inspection Amendments of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION UNDER THE

2 FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT.

3 (a) REMOVAL OF INTRASTATE DISTRIBUTION LIMI4 TATION.—Subsection (a)(1) of section 301 of the Federal

5 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘solely for distribution within such State.’’.

7 (b) USE OF STATE INSPECTORS.—Subsection (a) of

8 such section is amended by adding at the end the following

9 new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(5) In addition to appointing inspectors under

11 section 21, the Secretary may enter into agreements

12 to utilize officers and employees of a State or the

13 District of Columbia to conduct such examinations,

14 investigations, and inspections authorized under this

15 Act as the Secretary determines practicable.’’.

16 (c) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION OF STATE AS

17 SUBJECT TO FEDERAL INSPECTION FOR INTRASTATE

18 DISTRIBUTION.—Subsection (c)(3) of such section is

19 amended by striking ‘‘, with respect to the operations and

20 transactions within such State which are regulated under

21 subparagraph (1), he’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to all

22 establishments within its jurisdiction which do not operate

23 under Federal inspection under title I and at which any

24 cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or equines are slaughtered, or

25 their carcasses, or parts or products thereof, are prepared,

26 for use as human food, and with respect to the distribution
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1 of carcasses, parts thereof, meat, or meat food products

2 of such animals within the States, the Secretary’’.

3 (d) EXPANSION OF STATE INSPECTION AUTHOR4 ITY.—Such section is further amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub6 section (e); and

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow8 ing new subsection:

9 ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), car10 casses, parts of carcasses, meat, and meat food products

11 of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or equines prepared under

12 State inspection in any State (other than a State des13 ignated under subsection (c)) in compliance with the meat

14 inspection law of the State shall be eligible for sale or

15 transportation in interstate commerce, and for entry into

16 and use in the preparation of products in establishments

17 at which Federal inspection is maintained under title I,

18 in the same manner and to the same extent as products

19 prepared at such establishments.

20 ‘‘(2) State inspected articles described in paragraph

21 (1), and federally inspected articles prepared (in whole or

22 in part) from such State inspected articles—

23 ‘‘(A) shall not be eligible for sale or transpor24 tation in foreign commerce; and
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1 ‘‘(B) shall be separated at all times from all

2 other federally inspected articles in any federally in3 spected establishment that engages in the prepara4 tion, sale, or transportation of carcasses, parts of

5 carcasses, meat, or meat food products, for foreign

6 commerce.

7 ‘‘(3) All carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat, and meat

8 food products that are inspected in a program of inspec9 tion in a State (other than a State designated under sub10 section (c)) pursuant to State law shall be identified as

11 so inspected only by official marks that identify the State

12 and are such design as the State shall prescribe. Federally

13 inspected articles prepared (in whole or in part) from such

14 State inspected articles shall be identified as so inspected

15 only by the same official marks as prescribed by the Sec16 retary for articles slaughtered or prepared under title I.

17 ‘‘(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the opera18 tor of an establishment operated under Federal or State

19 inspection who wishes to transfer to State or Federal in20 spection, as the case may be, may do so only on October

21 1 of any year. Such transfer shall occur only if—

22 ‘‘(A) the operator provides written notice of the

23 intention to transfer to both inspection agencies at

24 least six months in advance of that date; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the transfer

2 will effectuate the purposes set forth in section 2

3 and will not adversely affect the stability of the total

4 State and Federal inspection systems.

5 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may permit the operator of an

6 establishment to transfer from State to Federal inspection

7 at any time if the operator presents clear and convincing

8 evidence to the Secretary that the establishment intends

9 to, and will be able to, engage in foreign commerce to a

10 substantial extent in a manner which would require Fed11 eral inspection.

12 ‘‘(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘inter13 state commerce’ means commerce between States or be14 tween a State and the District of Columbia.’’.

15 (e) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL OR DIFFERENT

16 STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 408 of such Act (21

17 U.S.C. 678) is amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘SEC. 408. (a) Requirements within the scope of this

19 Act with respect to premises, facilities and operations of

20 any establishment at which inspection is provided under

21 title I, which are in addition to, or different than those

22 made under this Act may not be imposed by any State

23 or Territory or the District of Columbia. However, any

24 such jurisdiction may impose recordkeeping and other re-
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1 quirements within the scope of section 202, if consistent

2 with such section, with respect to any such establishment.

3 ‘‘(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), mark4 ing, labeling, packaging, or ingredient requirements in ad5 dition to (or different than) those made under this Act

6 may not be imposed by any State or Territory or the Dis7 trict of Columbia with respect to articles prepared at any

8 establishment under Federal inspection in accordance with

9 the requirements of title I or with respect to articles pre10 pared for commerce at any State inspected establishment

11 in accordance with the requirements of section 301(d).

12 ‘‘(2) A State or territory or the District of Columbia

13 may, consistent with the requirements under this Act, ex14 ercise concurrent jurisdiction with the Secretary over arti15 cles distributed in commerce or otherwise subject to this

16 Act, for the purpose of preventing the distribution for

17 human food purposes of any such articles which are not

18 in compliance with the requirements under this Act and

19 are outside of any federally or State inspected establish20 ment, or in the case of imported articles, which are not

21 at such an establishment, after their entry into the United

22 States.

23 ‘‘(c) This Act shall not preclude any State or Terri24 tory or the District of Columbia from imposing a require-
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1 ment or taking other action, consistent with this Act, with

2 respect to any other matters regulated under this Act.’’.

3 SEC. 3. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION UNDER THE

4 POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT.

5 (a) REMOVAL OF INTRASTATE DISTRIBUTION LIMI6 TATION.—Subsection (a)(1) of section 5 of the Poultry

7 Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 454) is amended by

8 striking ‘‘solely for distribution within such State.’’.

9 (b) USE OF STATE INSPECTORS.—Subsection (a) of

10 such section is amended by adding at the end the following

11 new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may enter into agreements

13 to utilize officers and employees of a State or the

14 District of Columbia to conduct such examinations,

15 investigations, and inspections authorized under this

16 Act as the Secretary determines practicable.’’.

17 (c) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION OF STATE AS

18 SUBJECT TO FEDERAL INSPECTION FOR INTRASTATE

19 DISTRIBUTION.—Subsection (c)(3) of such section is

20 amended by striking ‘‘, with respect to the operations and

21 transactions within such State which are regulated under

22 subparagraph (1) of this paragraph (c), he’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘with respect to all establishments within its jurisdiction

24 which do not operate under Federal inspection under this

25 Act and at which any poultry are slaughtered, or any poul-
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1 try products are processed, for use as human food, and

2 with respect to the distribution of poultry products within

3 the States, the Secretary’’.

4 (d) EXPANSION OF STATE INSPECTION AUTHOR5 ITY.—Such section is further amended—

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub7 section (e); and

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow9 ing new subsection:

10 ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), poultry

11 products processed under State inspection in any State

12 (other than a State designated under subsection (c)) in

13 compliance with the poultry products inspection law of the

14 State shall be eligible for sale or transportation in inter15 state commerce, and for entry into and use in the prepara16 tion of products in establishments at which Federal in17 spection is maintained under this Act, in the same manner

18 and to the same extent as poultry products processed at

19 such establishments. Poultry products complying with the

20 requirements of the poultry product inspection laws of the

21 State (other than a State designated under subsection (c))

22 in which the products were processed shall be considered

23 as complying with this Act.

24 ‘‘(2) State inspected poultry products described in

25 paragraph (1), and federally inspected poultry products
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1 processed (in whole or in part) from such State inspected

2 poultry products—

3 ‘‘(A) shall not be eligible for sale or transpor4 tation in foreign commerce; and

5 ‘‘(B) shall be separated at all times from all

6 other federally inspected poultry products in any

7 federally inspected establishment that engages in the

8 processing, sale, or transportation of poultry prod9 ucts for foreign commerce.

10 ‘‘(3) All poultry products that are inspected in a pro11 gram of inspection in a State (other than a State des12 ignated under subsection (c)) pursuant to State law shall

13 be identified as so inspected only by official marks that

14 identify the State and are such design as the State shall

15 prescribe. Federally inspected poultry products processed

16 (in whole or in part) from such State inspected poultry

17 products shall be identified as so inspected only by the

18 same official marks as prescribed by the Secretary for

19 poultry products processed under this Act (other than this

20 section or section 11).

21 ‘‘(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the opera22 tor of an establishment operated under Federal or State

23 inspection who wishes to transfer to State or Federal in24 spection, as the case may be, may do so only on October

25 1 of any year. Such transfer shall occur only if—
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1 ‘‘(A) the operator provides written notice of the

2 intention to transfer to both inspection agencies at

3 least six months in advance of that date; and

4 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the transfer

5 will effectuate the legislative policy set forth in sec6 tion 3 and will not adversely affect the stability of

7 the total State and Federal inspection systems.

8 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may permit the operator of an

9 establishment to transfer from State to Federal inspection

10 at any time if the operator presents clear and convincing

11 evidence to the Secretary that the establishment intends

12 to, and will be able to, engage in foreign commerce to a

13 substantial extent in a manner which would require Fed14 eral inspection.

15 ‘‘(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘inter16 state commerce’ means commerce between States or be17 tween a State and the District of Columbia.’’.

18 (e) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL OR DIFFERENT

19 STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 23 of such Act (21

20 U.S.C. 467e) is amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘SEC. 23. (a) Requirements within the scope of this

22 Act with respect to premises, facilities and operations of

23 any official establishment, which are in addition to, or dif24 ferent than those made under this Act may not be imposed

25 by any State or territory or the District of Columbia.
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1 However, any such jurisdiction may impose recordkeeping

2 and other requirements within the scope of section 11(b),

3 if consistent with such section, with respect to any such

4 establishment.

5 ‘‘(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), mark6 ing, labeling, packaging, or ingredient requirements in ad7 dition to (or different than) those made under this Act

8 may not be imposed by any State or territory or the Dis9 trict of Columbia with respect to articles prepared at any

10 establishment under Federal inspection in accordance with

11 the requirements of this Act or with respect to articles

12 prepared for commerce at any State inspected establish13 ment in accordance with the requirements of section 5(d).

14 Further storage or handling requirements found by the

15 Secretary to unduly interfere with the free flow of poultry

16 products in commerce shall not be imposed by any State

17 or territory or the District of Columbia.

18 ‘‘(2) A State or territory or the District of Columbia

19 may, consistent with the requirements of this Act, exercise

20 concurrent jurisdiction with the Secretary over articles

21 distributed in commerce or otherwise subject to this Act,

22 for the purpose of preventing the distribution for human

23 food purposes of any such articles which are not in compli24 ance with the requirements of this Act and are outside

25 of any federally or State inspected establishment, or in
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1 the case of imported articles, which are not at such an

2 establishment, after their entry into the United States.

3 ‘‘(c) This Act shall not preclude any State or territory

4 or the District of Columbia from making requirements or

5 taking other action, consistent with this Act, with respect

6 to any other matters regulated under this Act.’’.

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