I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2859 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to exempt from inspection the 

slaughter of animals and the preparation of carcasses conducted at 

a custom slaughter facility, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Mr. MASSIE (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. AMASH, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. MEADOWS, 

Mr. PERRY, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to exempt from 

inspection the slaughter of animals and the preparation 

of carcasses conducted at a custom slaughter facility, 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Processing Revival and 

5 Intrastate Meat Exemption Act’’ or the ‘‘PRIME Act’’. 


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•HR 2859 IH

1 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FOR SLAUGHTER AND PREPARATION 

2 OCCURRING AT CUSTOM SLAUGHTER FACILI3 TIES. 

4 Section 23 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 

5 U.S.C. 623) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (b), (c), and 

7 (d) as paragraphs (c), (d), and (e), respectively; 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (a) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(b)(1) The provisions of this title requiring inspec11 tion of the slaughter of animals and the preparation of 

12 the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products 

13 at establishments conducting such operations for com14 merce shall not apply to the slaughtering by any person 

15 of animals at a custom slaughter facility, and the prepara16 tion at such custom slaughter facility and transportation 

17 in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and 

18 meat food products of such animals if— 

19 ‘‘(A) the slaughtering and preparation carried 

20 out at such custom slaughter facility is carried out 

21 in accordance with the law of the State in which the 

22 custom slaughter facility is located; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the animals are so slaughtered and the 

24 carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food prod25 ucts of such animals are so prepared exclusively for 

26 distribution to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) household consumers within the State; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, 

4 grocery stores, or other establishments located 

5 in such State that— 

6 ‘‘(I) are involved in the preparation of 

7 meals served directly to consumers; or 

8 ‘‘(II) offer meat and meat food prod9 ucts for sale directly to consumers in the 

10 State. 

11 ‘‘(2) For purposes of subparagraph (1), the term 

12 ‘State’ means each State of the United States, the District 

13 of Columbia, and each territory or possession of the 

14 United States.’’; and 

15 (3) in paragraph (c) (as redesignated by para16 graph (1)), in the second sentence, by striking 

17 ‘‘paragraph (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (c)’’. 

18 SEC. 3. NO PREEMPTION OF STATE LAW. 

19 The amendments made by section 2 shall not be con20 strued as preempting any State law that concerns the 

21 slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts 

22 thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaugh23 ter facility, or the sale of meat or meat food products. 

Æ 


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