II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 16

To ensure the continued viability of livestock producers and the livestock

industry in the United States, to assure foreign countries do not deny

market access to United States meat and meat products, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21, 1997

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. DORGAN, Mr.

CONRAD, Mr. KERREY, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. KOHL, Mr.

FEINGOLD, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. WELLSTONE) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

Forestry

A BILL

To ensure the continued viability of livestock producers and

the livestock industry in the United States, to assure

foreign countries do not deny market access to United

States meat and meat products, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘Cattle Industry Improvement Act of 1997’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—CATTLE INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 101. Prohibition on noncompetitive practices.

Sec. 102. Domestic Market Reporting.

Sec. 103. Import reporting.

Sec. 104. Protection of livestock producers against retaliation by packers.

Sec. 105. Review of Federal agriculture credit policies.

Sec. 106. Streamlining and consolidating the United States food inspection system.

Sec. 107. Labeling system for meat and meat food products produced in the

United States.

Sec. 108. Sense of Senate on interstate shipment of State-inspected meat, poultry, and eggs.

Sec. 109. Exchange of cattle production data with Canada.

TITLE II—MARKET ACCESS FOR UNITED STATES MEAT

PRODUCTS

Sec. 201. Short title.

Subtitle A—Identification of Countries

Sec. 211. Findings; purposes.

Sec. 212. Identification of countries that deny market access.

Sec. 213. Investigations.

Sec. 214. Authorized actions by United States Trade Representative.

Subtitle B—Review of Third Country Meat Directive

Sec. 221. Findings.

Sec. 223. Definitions.

Sec. 224. Requirement for determination by United States Trade Representative.

Sec. 225. Request for dispute settlement.

Sec. 226. Review of certain meat facilities.

3 TITLE I—CATTLE INDUSTRY

4 IMPROVEMENT

5 SEC. 101. PROHIBITION ON NONCOMPETITIVE PRACTICES.

6 Section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921

7 (7 U.S.C. 192), is amended—

8 (1) in subsection (g), by striking the period at

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
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1 (2) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(h) Engage in any practice or device that the Sec3 retary by regulation, after consultation with producers of

4 cattle, lamb, and hogs, and other persons in the cattle,

5 lamb, and hog industries, determines is a detrimental non6 competitive practice or device relating to the price or a

7 term of sale for the procurement of livestock or the sale

8 of meat or other byproduct of slaughter.’’.

9 SEC. 102. DOMESTIC MARKET REPORTING.

10 (a) PERSONS IN SLAUGHTER BUSINESS.—Section

11 203(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7

12 U.S.C. 1622(g)) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘(g) To’’ and inserting the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(g) COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF MARKET16 ING INFORMATION.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To’’; and

18 (2) by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(2) DOMESTIC MARKET REPORTING.—

20 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY REPORTING.—Each per21 son engaged in the business of slaughtering a

22 quantity of livestock determined by the Sec23 retary shall report to the Secretary in such

24 manner as the Secretary shall require, as soon

25 as practicable but not later than 24 hours after
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1 a transaction takes place, such information re2 lating to prices and the terms of sale for the

3 procurement of livestock and the sale of meat

4 food products and livestock products as the Sec5 retary determines is necessary to carry out this

6 subsection.

7 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANCE.—Whoever know8 ingly fails or refuses to provide to the Secretary

9 information required to be reported by subpara10 graph (A) shall be fined under title 18, United

11 States Code, or imprisoned for not more than

12 5 years, or both.

13 ‘‘(C) VOLUNTARY REPORTING.—The Sec14 retary shall encourage voluntary reporting by

15 any person engaged in the business of slaugh16 tering livestock who is not subject to subpara17 graph (A).

18 ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—

19 The Secretary shall make information received

20 under this subsection available to the public

21 only in the aggregate and shall ensure the con22 fidentiality of persons providing the informa23 tion.

24 ‘‘(E) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The

25 authority provided by this paragraph shall ter-
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1 minate on the date that is 1 year after the date

2 of enactment of this paragraph, except that the

3 Secretary may extend the authority beyond that

4 date if the Secretary determines the extension

5 is necessary or appropriate.’’.

6 (b) ELIMINATION OF OUTMODED REPORTS.—The

7 Secretary of Agriculture, after consultation with producers

8 and other affected parties, shall periodically—

9 (1) eliminate obsolete reports; and

10 (2) streamline the collection and reporting of

11 data related to livestock and meat and livestock

12 products, using modern data communications tech13 nology, to provide information to the public on as

14 close to a real-time basis as practicable.

15 (c) DEFINITION OF ‘‘CAPTIVE SUPPLY’’.—For the

16 purpose of regulations issued by the Secretary of Agri17 culture relating to reporting under the Agricultural Mar18 keting Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) and the Pack19 ers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the

20 term ‘‘captive supply’’ means livestock obligated to a pack21 er in any form of transaction in which more than 7 days

22 elapses from the date of obligation to the date of delivery

23 of the livestock.
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1 SEC. 103. IMPORT REPORTING.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture and

3 the Secretary of Commerce shall, using modern data com4 munications technology to provide the information to the

5 public on as close to a real-time basis as practicable, joint6 ly make available to the public aggregate price and quan7 tity information on imported meat food products, livestock

8 products, and livestock (as the terms are defined in section

9 2 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C.

10 182)).

11 (b) FIRST REPORT.—The Secretaries shall release to

12 the public the first report under subsection (a) not later

13 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 104. PROTECTION OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS

15 AGAINST RETALIATION BY PACKERS.

16 (a) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—Section 202(b) of

17 the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192(b)),

18 is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘or subject’’ and inserting ‘‘sub20 ject’’; and

21 (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end

22 the following: ‘‘, or retaliate against any livestock

23 producer on account of any statement made by the

24 producer (whether made to the Secretary or a law

25 enforcement agency or in a public forum) regarding

26 an action of any packer’’.
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1 (b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING ALLEGA2 TIONS OF RETALIATION.—Section 203 of the Packers and

3 Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 193), is amended by add4 ing at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL PROCEDURES REGARDING ALLEGA6 TIONS OF RETALIATION.—

7 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION BY SPECIAL PANEL.—The

8 President shall appoint a special panel consisting of

9 3 members to receive and initially consider a com10 plaint submitted by any person that alleges prohib11 ited packer retaliation under section 202(b) directed

12 against a livestock producer.

13 ‘‘(2) COMPLAINT; HEARING.—If the panel has

14 reason to believe from the complaint or resulting in15 vestigation that a packer has violated or is violating

16 the retaliation prohibition under section 202(b), the

17 panel shall notify the Secretary who shall cause a

18 complaint to be issued against the packer, and a

19 hearing conducted, under subsection (a).

20 ‘‘(3) EVIDENTIARY STANDARD.—In the case of

21 a complaint regarding retaliation prohibited under

22 section 202(b), the Secretary shall find that the

23 packer involved has violated or is violating section

24 202(b) if the finding is supported by a preponder25 ance of the evidence.’’.
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1 (c) DAMAGES FOR PRODUCERS SUFFERING RETAL2 IATION.—Section 203 of the Packers and Stockyards Act,

3 1921 (7 U.S.C. 193) (as amended by subsection (b)), is

4 amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(f) DAMAGES FOR PRODUCERS SUFFERING RETAL6 IATION.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a packer violates the re8 taliation prohibition under section 202(b), the pack9 er shall be liable to the livestock producer injured by

10 the retaliation for not more than 3 times the amount

11 of damages sustained as a result of the violation.

12 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—The liability may be en13 forced either by complaint to the Secretary, as pro14 vided in subsection (e), or by suit in any court of

15 competent jurisdiction.

16 ‘‘(3) OTHER REMEDIES.—This subsection shall

17 not abridge or alter a remedy existing at common

18 law or by statute. The remedy provided by this sub19 section shall be in addition to any other remedy.’’.

20 SEC. 105. REVIEW OF FEDERAL AGRICULTURE CREDIT

21 POLICIES.

22 The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the

23 Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Board of

24 Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Chair-
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1 man of the Board of the Farm Credit Administration,

2 shall establish an interagency working group to study—

3 (1) the extent to which Federal lending prac4 tices and policies have contributed, or are contribut5 ing, to market concentration in the livestock and

6 dairy sectors of the national economy; and

7 (2) whether Federal policies regarding the fi8 nancial system of the United States adequately take

9 account of the weather and price volatility risks in10 herent in livestock and dairy enterprises.

11 SEC. 106. STREAMLINING AND CONSOLIDATING THE UNIT12 ED STATES FOOD INSPECTION SYSTEM.

13 (a) PREPARATION.—In consultation with the Sec14 retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human

15 Services, and all other interested parties, the President

16 shall prepare a plan to consolidate the United States food

17 inspection system that ensures the best use of available

18 resources to improve the consistency, coordination, and ef19 fectiveness of the United States food inspection system,

20 taking into account food safety risks.

21 (b) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 1 year after the

22 date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit

23 to Congress the plan prepared under subsection (a).
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1 SEC. 107. LABELING SYSTEM FOR MEAT AND MEAT FOOD

2 PRODUCTS PRODUCED IN THE UNITED

3 STATES.

4 (a) LABELING.—Section 7 of the Federal Meat In5 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 607) is amended by adding at

6 the end the following:

7 ‘‘(g) LABELING OF MEAT OF UNITED STATES ORI8 GIN.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop

10 a system for the labeling of carcasses, parts of car11 casses, and meat produced in the United States

12 from livestock raised in the United States, and meat

13 food products produced in the United States from

14 the carcasses, parts of carcasses, and meat, to indi15 cate the United States origin of the carcasses, parts

16 of carcasses, meat, and meat food products.

17 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall provide

18 technical and financial assistance to establishments

19 subject to inspection under this title to implement

20 the labeling system.

21 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

22 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

23 as are necessary to carry out this subsection.’’.
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1 SEC. 108. SENSE OF SENATE ON INTERSTATE SHIPMENT OF

2 STATE-INSPECTED MEAT, POULTRY, AND

3 EGGS.

4 It is the sense of the Senate that—

5 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en6 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture

7 should convene a public meeting of State inspection

8 officials and all other interested parties to determine

9 whether the interstate shipment of State-inspected

10 meat, poultry, and egg products should be per11 mitted; and

12 (2) the meeting should be structured to ensure

13 that all parties are given an opportunity to present

14 their views on the subject described in paragraph

15 (1).

16 SEC. 109. EXCHANGE OF CATTLE PRODUCTION DATA WITH

17 CANADA.

18 The Secretary of Agriculture shall seek immediate

19 consultation with the Minister of Agriculture of Canada

20 to provide for a regular monthly exchange of cattle pro21 duction data, including cattle on feed, cattle slaughtered,

22 and cattle and beef shipped to the United States.
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1 TITLE II—MARKET ACCESS FOR

2 UNITED STATES MEAT PROD3 UCTS

4 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Meat Products Market

6 Access Act of 1997’’.

7 Subtitle A—Identification of

8 Countries

9 SEC. 211. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find11 ings:

12 (1) The export of meat and meat products is of

13 vital importance to the economy of the United

14 States.

15 (2) In 1995, agriculture was the largest positive

16 contributor to the United States merchandise trade

17 balance with a trade surplus of $25,800,000,000.

18 (3) The growth of exports of United States

19 meat and meat products should continue to be an

20 important factor in improving the United States

21 merchandise trade balance.

22 (4) Increasing exports of meat and meat prod23 ucts will increase farm income in the United States,

24 thereby protecting family farms and contributing to
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1 the economic well-being of rural communities in the

2 United States.

3 (5) Although the United States efficiently pro4 duces high-quality meat and meat products, United

5 States producers cannot realize their full export po6 tential because many foreign countries deny fair and

7 equitable market access to United States agricul8 tural products.

9 (6) The Foreign Agricultural Service estimates

10 that United States agricultural exports are reduced

11 by $4,700,000,000 annually due to unjustifiable im12 position of sanitary and phytosanitary measures that

13 deny or limit market access to United States prod14 ucts.

15 (7) The denial of fair and equitable market ac16 cess for United States meat and meat products im17 pedes the ability of United States farmers to export

18 their products, thereby harming the economic inter19 ests of the United States.

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subtitle are—

21 (1) to reduce or eliminate foreign unfair trade

22 practices and to remove constraints on fair and open

23 trade in meat and meat products;
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1 (2) to ensure fair and equitable market access

2 for exports of United States meat and meat prod3 ucts; and

4 (3) to promote free and fair trade in meat and

5 meat products.

6 SEC. 212. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY

7 MARKET ACCESS.

8 (a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 8 of title

9 I of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the

10 end the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 183. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY

12 MARKET ACCESS FOR MEAT AND MEAT

13 PRODUCTS.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that is

15 30 days after the date on which the annual report is re16 quired to be submitted to Congressional committees under

17 section 181(b), the United States Trade Representative

18 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Trade Rep19 resentative’) shall identify—

20 ‘‘(1) those foreign countries that—

21 ‘‘(A) deny fair and equitable market access

22 to United States meat and meat products, or

23 ‘‘(B) apply standards for the importation

24 of meat and meat products from the United

25 States that are not related to public health con-
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1 cerns or cannot be substantiated by reliable an2 alytical methods; and

3 ‘‘(2) those foreign countries identified under

4 paragraph (1) that are determined by the Trade

5 Representative to be priority foreign countries.

6 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR IDENTIFICATIONS.—

7 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—In identifying priority foreign

8 countries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Rep9 resentative shall only identify those foreign coun10 tries—

11 ‘‘(A) that engage in or have the most oner12 ous or egregious acts, policies, or practices that

13 deny fair and equitable market access to United

14 States meat and meat products,

15 ‘‘(B) whose acts, policies, or practices de16 scribed in subparagraph (A) have the greatest

17 adverse impact (actual or potential) on the rel18 evant United States products, and

19 ‘‘(C) that are not—

20 ‘‘(i) entering into good faith negotia21 tions, or

22 ‘‘(ii) making significant progress in

23 bilateral or multilateral negotiations,

24 to provide fair and equitable market access to

25 United States meat and meat products.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION RE2 QUIREMENTS.—In identifying priority foreign coun3 tries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representa4 tive shall—

5 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Agri6 culture and other appropriate officers of the

7 Federal Government, and

8 ‘‘(B) take into account information from

9 such sources as may be available to the Trade

10 Representative and such information as may be

11 submitted to the Trade Representative by inter12 ested persons, including information contained

13 in reports submitted under section 181(b) and

14 petitions submitted under section 302.

15 ‘‘(3) FACTUAL BASIS REQUIREMENT.—The

16 Trade Representative may identify a foreign country

17 under subsection (a)(1) only if the Trade Represent18 ative finds that there is a factual basis for the denial

19 of fair and equitable market access as a result of the

20 violation of international law or agreement, or the

21 existence of barriers, referred to in subsection

22 (d)(3).

23 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL FAC24 TORS.—In identifying foreign countries under para-
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1 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Trade Rep2 resentative shall take into account—

3 ‘‘(A) the history of meat and meat prod4 ucts trade relations with the foreign country,

5 including any previous identification under sub6 section (a)(2), and

7 ‘‘(B) the history of efforts of the United

8 States, and the response of the foreign country,

9 to achieve fair and equitable market access for

10 United States meat and meat products.

11 ‘‘(c) REVOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICA12 TIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACT AT ANY TIME.—If in14 formation available to the Trade Representative indi15 cates that such action is appropriate, the Trade

16 Representative may at any time—

17 ‘‘(A) revoke the identification of any for18 eign country as a priority foreign country under

19 this section, or

20 ‘‘(B) identify any foreign country as a pri21 ority foreign country under this section.

22 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION REPORTS.—The Trade Rep23 resentative shall include in the semiannual report

24 submitted to the Congress under section 309(3) a

25 detailed explanation of the reasons for the revocation
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1 under paragraph (1) of the identification of any for2 eign country as a priority foreign country under this

3 section.

4 ‘‘(d) FAIR AND EQUITABLE MARKET ACCESS.—For

5 purposes of this section, a foreign country denies fair and

6 equitable market access if the foreign country effectively

7 denies access to a market for a product through the use

8 of laws, procedures, practices, or regulations which—

9 ‘‘(1) violate provisions of international law or

10 international agreements to which both the United

11 States and the foreign country are parties, or

12 ‘‘(2) constitute discriminatory nontariff trade

13 barriers.

14 ‘‘(e) PUBLICATION.—The Trade Representative shall

15 publish in the Federal Register a list of foreign countries

16 identified under subsection (a) and shall make such revi17 sions to the list as may be required by reason of the action

18 under subsection (c).

19 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Trade Representative

20 shall, not later than the date by which countries are identi21 fied under subsection (a), transmit to the Committee on

22 Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture of the

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance

24 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For25 estry of the Senate, a report on the actions taken under
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1 this section during the 12 months preceding such report,

2 and the reasons for such actions, including a description

3 of progress made in achieving fair and equitable market

4 access for United States meat and meat products.’’.

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

6 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after

7 the item relating to section 182 the following:

‘‘Sec. 183. Identification of countries that deny market access for meat and

meat products.’’.

8 SEC. 213. INVESTIGATIONS.

9 (a) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Subparagraph (A)

10 of section 302(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.

11 2412(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 183(a)(2)’’ after

12 ‘‘section 182(a)(2)’’ in the matter preceding clause (i).

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subparagraph (D)

14 of section 302(b)(2) of such Act is amended by inserting

15 ‘‘concerning intellectual property rights that is’’ after

16 ‘‘any investigation’’.

17 SEC. 214. AUTHORIZED ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES TRADE

18 REPRESENTATIVE.

19 Section 301(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19

20 U.S.C. 2411(c)(1)) is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

22 (C);

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub24 paragraph (D)(iii)(II) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(E) with respect to an investigation of a

3 country identified under section 183(a)(1), to

4 request that the Secretary of Agriculture (who,

5 upon receipt of such a request, shall) direct the

6 Food Safety and Inspection Service of the De7 partment of Agriculture to review certifications

8 for the facilities of such country that export

9 meat and other agricultural products to the

10 United States.’’.

11 Subtitle B—Review of Third

12 Country Meat Directive

13 SEC. 221. FINDINGS.

14 Congress makes the following findings:

15 (1) The European Union’s Third Country Meat

16 Directive has been used to decertify more than 400

17 United States facilities exporting beef and pork

18 products to the European Union even though United

19 States health inspection procedures are equivalent to

20 those provided for in the Third Country Meat Direc21 tive.

22 (2) An effect of the decertifications is to pro23 hibit the importation of United States beef and pork

24 products into the European Union.
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1 (3) As a result of the decertifications, the high2 ly competitive United States pork industry loses as

3 much as $60,000,000 each year from trade with Eu4 ropean Union countries.

5 (4) In July 1987 and November 1990, at the

6 request of affected United States industries, the

7 United States initiated investigations under section

8 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into the European

9 Union’s administration of the Third Country Meat

10 Directive and sought resolution of the meat and

11 pork trade problems through the dispute settlement

12 process established under the General Agreement on

13 Tariffs and Trade.

14 (5) The United States Trade Representative

15 preliminarily concluded on October 10, 1992, that

16 the European Union’s administration of the Third

17 Country Meat Directive created a burden on and re18 stricted United States commerce.

19 (6) Bilateral talks, initiated as a result of that

20 finding, resulted in an Exchange of Letters in which

21 the United States and the European Union con22 cluded that the meat inspection systems of the Unit23 ed States and the European Union provided ‘‘equiv24 alent safeguards against public health risks’’ and
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1 agreed to take steps to resolve remaining differences

2 regarding meat inspection.

3 (7) Even though the United States terminated

4 the section 301 investigation as a result of the Ex5 change of Letters, the United States determined

6 that the practices under investigation would have

7 been actionable if an acceptable agreement had not

8 been reached.

9 (8) United States meat and pork producers

10 have displayed consistent interest in exporting prod11 ucts to the European Union and have undertaken

12 substantial investment to take the steps specified by

13 the Exchange of Letters.

14 (9) The European Union has failed to acknowl15 edge changes in plant safety and inspection proce16 dures undertaken in the United States specifically at

17 the European Union’s request and has not fulfilled

18 its obligation to inspect and relist United States pro19 ducers who have taken the steps specified by the Ex20 change of Letters.

21 (10) The actions of the European Union in con22 ducting United States plant inspections places the

23 European Union in violation of commitments made

24 in the Exchange of Letters.
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1 (11) The European Union, in addition to being

2 a party to the Exchange of Letters, is a signatory

3 to GATT 1994 and to the Agreement on the Appli4 cation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures,

5 which requires that meat and pork inspection proce6 dures under Department of Agriculture regulations

7 be treated as equivalent to inspection procedures re8 quired by the European Union under the Third

9 Country Meat Directive.

10 (12) Whenever a foreign country is not satisfac11 torily implementing an international trade measure

12 or agreement, the United States Trade Representa13 tive is required under section 306(b)(1) of the Trade

14 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416(b)(1)) to determine

15 the actions to be taken under section 301(a) of such

16 Act.

17 SEC. 223. DEFINITIONS.

18 For purposes of this subtitle:

19 (1) EXCHANGE OF LETTERS.—The term ‘‘Ex20 change of Letters’’ means the exchange of letters

21 concerning the application of the Community Third

22 Country Directive, signed in May 1991 and Novem23 ber 1992, which constitute the agreement between

24 the United States and the European Economic Com25 munity regarding the Third Country Meat Directive.
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1 (2) GATT 1994.—The term ‘‘GATT 1994’’

2 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

3 annexed to the WTO Agreement.

4 (3) THIRD COUNTRY MEAT DIRECTIVE; COMMU5 NITY THIRD COUNTRY DIRECTIVE.—The terms

6 ‘‘Third Country Meat Directive’’ and ‘‘Community

7 Third Country Directive’’ mean the European

8 Union’s Council Directive 72/462/EEC relating to

9 inspection and certification of slaughter and process10 ing plants that export meat and pork products to

11 the European Union.

12 (4) WTO AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘WTO

13 Agreement’’ means the Agreement establishing the

14 World Trade Organization entered into on April 15,

15 1994.

16 SEC. 224. REQUIREMENT FOR DETERMINATION BY UNITED

17 STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.

18 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment

19 of this Act, the United States Trade Representative shall

20 determine, for purposes of section 306(b)(1) of the Trade

21 Act of 1974, whether the European Union has failed to

22 implement satisfactorily its obligations under the Ex23 change of Letters, the Agreement on the Application of

24 Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, or any other Agree25 ment.
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1 SEC. 225. REQUEST FOR DISPUTE SETTLEMENT.

2 If the United States Trade Representative determines

3 under section 224 that the European Union has failed to

4 implement satisfactorily its obligations under the Ex5 change of Letters, the Agreement on the Application of

6 Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, or any other agree7 ment, the United States Trade Representative shall

8 promptly request proceedings on the matter under the for9 mal dispute settlement procedures applicable to the agree10 ment.

11 SEC. 226. REVIEW OF CERTAIN MEAT FACILITIES.

12 (a) REVIEW BY FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION

13 SERVICE.—If the United States Trade Representative de14 termines pursuant to section 224 that the European

15 Union has failed to implement satisfactorily its obligations

16 under the Exchange of Letters, the Agreement on the Ap17 plication of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, or any

18 other Agreement, the United States Trade Representative

19 shall request the Secretary of Agriculture (who, upon re20 ceipt of the request, shall) direct the Food Safety and In21 spection Service of the Department of Agriculture to re22 view certifications for European Union facilities that im23 port meat and other agricultural products into the United

24 States.

25 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO USTR AUTHORITY.—The re26 view authorized under subsection (a) is in addition to the
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1 authority of the United States Trade Representative to

2 take actions described in section 301(c)(1) of the Trade

3 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411(c)(1)).

Æ