II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 19

To restore an economic safety net for agricultural producers, to increase

market transparency in agricultural markets domestically and abroad,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

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

KERREY, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr.

WELLSTONE, Mr. CONRAD, and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following

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

Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To restore an economic safety net for agricultural producers,

to increase market transparency in agricultural markets

domestically and abroad, 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 ‘‘Agricultural Safety

5 Net and Market Competitiveness Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) over the past 2 years, family farmers and

2 ranchers have experienced rapid and severe declines

3 in crop and livestock prices;

4 (2) these prices are being experienced across all

5 agricultural commodities and are projected to re6 main at current low levels indefinitely;

7 (3) these prices are a product of economic and

8 weather-related events over which domestic agricul9 tural producers have no control and that they could

10 not have anticipated;

11 (4) in particular, due to increasing concentra12 tion throughout the agricultural industry, market

13 signals that are fundamental to fair and free com14 petition and on which agricultural producers nec15 essarily rely in order to know what and when to

16 produce are being severely obscured and distorted;

17 and

18 (5) these market conditions are disproportion19 ately affecting smaller operations, which make up

20 the majority of farms and ranches across the United

21 States, and are threatening the economic stability of

22 rural communities in many States.

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

24 (1) to restore an economic safety net for agri25 cultural producers so that the producers and the
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1 rural communities of which they are a part can en2 dure the conditions described in subsection (a) and

3 remain healthy, strong, and productive;

4 (2) to increase price transparency in agricul5 tural markets domestically and abroad in order to

6 revitalize competitive forces in the domestic market7 place for agricultural producers; and

8 (3) to ensure that domestic agricultural produc9 ers have a fair opportunity to compete in foreign

10 markets.

11 SEC. 3. COUNTERCYCLICAL AGRICULTURAL INCOME LOSS

12 PROTECTION.

13 It is the sense of Congress that strategies should be

14 considered for offsetting extreme levels of income loss by

15 agricultural producers resulting from economic and weath16 er-related events that cannot be controlled or anticipated.

17 SEC. 4. CROP INSURANCE AVAILABILITY AND AFFORD18 ABILITY.

19 It is the sense of Congress that the crop insurance

20 program established under the Federal Crop Insurance

21 Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) should be modified to—

22 (1) increase the number of agricultural com23 modities that are eligible for coverage;

24 (2) increase access to crop insurance products;
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1 (3) increase the affordability of crop insurance

2 products;

3 (4) protect against multiyear disasters through

4 existing and new crop insurance products; and

5 (5) promote new strategies to manage producer

6 risk.

7 SEC. 5. CROP INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR LIVESTOCK.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 518 of the Federal Crop

9 Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1518) is amended by striking ‘‘or

10 any other agricultural commodity, excluding livestock

11 and’’ and inserting ‘‘livestock, or any other agricultural

12 commodity, excluding’’.

13 (b) REVENUE INSURANCE PILOT PROGRAM.—Sec14 tion 508(h)(9)(A) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7

15 U.S.C. 1508(h)(9)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘live16 stock,’’ after ‘‘soybeans,’’.

17 SEC. 6. PILOT PROGRAM ON LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORT18 ING.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Agricultural Marketing Act

20 of 1946 is amended by inserting after section 203 (7

21 U.S.C. 1622) the following:

22 ‘‘SEC. 203A. PILOT PROGRAM ON LIVESTOCK MARKET RE23 PORTING.

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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1 ‘‘(1) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘livestock’ means

2 cattle, sheep, and hogs, whether live or dead.

3 ‘‘(2) LIVESTOCK PRODUCT.—The term ‘live4 stock product’ means boxed beef, boxed lamb, and

5 any value-added product derived from pork.

6 ‘‘(3) PACKER.—The term ‘packer’ has the

7 meaning given the term in section 201 of the Pack8 ers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191).

9 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

10 the Secretary of Agriculture.

11 ‘‘(b) MANDATORY REPORTING PILOT PROGRAM.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (7),

13 the Secretary shall conduct a 3-year pilot program

14 under which the Secretary shall require each packer

15 to report to the Secretary (or a person designated by

16 the Secretary), in such manner as the Secretary

17 shall require, such information relating to prices,

18 volume, and the terms of sale for the procurement

19 of domestic and imported livestock and livestock

20 products as the Secretary determines is appropriate.

21 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out para22 graph (1), the Secretary shall require packers to—

23 ‘‘(A) separately report domestic and im24 ported livestock and livestock products; and
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1 ‘‘(B) report the information required to be

2 reported under paragraph (1) the next business

3 day or as soon as practicable after the procure4 ment of the livestock or livestock product.

5 ‘‘(3) NONCOMPLIANCE.—It shall be unlawful

6 for any packer to knowingly fail or refuse to provide

7 to the Secretary information required to be reported

8 under paragraph (1).

9 ‘‘(4) VERIFICATION.—The Secretary may take

10 such actions as are necessary to verify the accuracy

11 of the information required to be reported under

12 paragraph (1), regardless of the source of the infor13 mation.

14 ‘‘(5) CEASE AND DESIST AND CIVIL PEN15 ALTY.—

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

17 reason to believe that a packer is violating

18 paragraph (1) (including regulations promul19 gated under paragraph (1)), the Secretary,

20 after notice and opportunity for hearing, may

21 issue an order to cease and desist from continu22 ing the violation and assess a civil penalty of

23 not more than $10,000 for each violation.

24 ‘‘(B) FACTORS.—In determining the

25 amount of a civil penalty to be assessed under
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1 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider

2 the gravity of the offense, the size of the busi3 ness involved, and the effect of the penalty on

4 the ability of the packer to continue in business.

5 ‘‘(6) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—If,

6 after expiration of the period for appeal or after the

7 affirmance of a civil penalty assessed under para8 graph (5), the packer against whom the civil penalty

9 is assessed fails to pay the civil penalty, the Sec10 retary may refer the matter to the Attorney General,

11 who may recover the amount of the civil penalty in

12 a civil action in United States district court.

13 ‘‘(7) APPLICATION.—This subsection shall

14 apply only to the class of the largest packers (by vol15 ume) that are engaged in the business of buying,

16 manufacturing, preparing, or marketing at least 80

17 percent of the volume of each type of livestock and

18 livestock product that is bought, manufactured, pre19 pared, or marketed in the United States, as deter20 mined by the Secretary.

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

22 encourage voluntary reporting by packers that are not

23 subjected to a mandatory reporting requirement under

24 subsection (b).
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1 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Sec2 retary shall make information received under this section

3 available to the public only in a form that ensures that—

4 ‘‘(1) the identity of the packer submitting a re5 port is not disclosed; and

6 ‘‘(2) the confidentiality of proprietary business

7 information is otherwise protected.

8 ‘‘(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec9 tion restricts or modifies the authority of the Secretary

10 to collect voluntary reports in accordance with other provi11 sions of law.’’.

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 416 of the

13 Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 229a) (as

14 added by section 1127(a) of division A of Public Law 105–

15 277) is repealed.

16 (c) REGULATIONS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary of Agriculture shall promulgate such regula20 tions as are necessary to implement the amendment

21 made by subsection (a). The promulgation of the

22 regulations shall be made without regard to—

23 (A) the notice and comment provisions of

24 section 553 of title 5, United States Code;
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1 (B) the Statement of Policy of the Sec2 retary of Agriculture effective July 24, 1971

3 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating to notices of

4 proposed rulemaking and public participation in

5 rulemaking; and

6 (C) chapter 35 of title 44, United States

7 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Re8 duction Act’’).

9 (2) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE10 MAKING.—In carrying out this subsection, the Sec11 retary shall use the authority provided under section

12 808(2) of title 5, United States Code.

13 SEC. 7. LABELING OF IMPORTED MEAT AND MEAT FOOD

14 PRODUCTS.

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1 of the Federal Meat In16 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) is amended by adding at

17 the end the following:

18 ‘‘(w) BEEF.—The term ‘beef’ means meat pro19 duced from cattle (including veal).

20 ‘‘(x) IMPORTED BEEF.—The term ‘imported

21 beef’ means beef that is not United States beef,

22 whether or not the beef is graded with a quality

23 grade issued by the Secretary.

24 ‘‘(y) IMPORTED LAMB.—The term ‘imported

25 lamb’ means lamb that is not United States lamb,
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1 whether or not the lamb is graded with a quality

2 grade issued by the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(z) IMPORTED PORK.—The term ‘imported

4 pork’ means pork that is not United States pork.

5 ‘‘(aa) LAMB.—The term ‘lamb’ means meat,

6 other than mutton, produced from sheep.

7 ‘‘(bb) PORK.—The term ‘pork’ means meat pro8 duced from hogs.

9 ‘‘(cc) UNITED STATES BEEF.—The term

10 ‘United States beef’ means beef produced from cat11 tle born, fed, and slaughtered in the United States.

12 ‘‘(dd) UNITED STATES LAMB.—The term

13 ‘United States lamb’ means lamb produced from

14 sheep born, fed, and slaughtered in the United

15 States.

16 ‘‘(ee) UNITED STATES PORK.—The term

17 ‘United States pork’ means pork produced from

18 hogs born, fed, and slaughtered in the United

19 States.’’.

20 (b) MISBRANDING.—Section 1(n) of the Federal

21 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(n)) is amended—

22 (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

23 end;

24 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at

25 the end and inserting a semicolon; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(13)(A) if it is imported beef, imported lamb,

3 or imported pork offered for retail sale as muscle

4 cuts of beef, lamb, or pork and does not bear a label

5 that identifies its country of origin;

6 ‘‘(B) if it is United States beef, United States

7 lamb, or United States pork offered for retail sale as

8 muscle cuts of beef, lamb, or pork, and does not

9 bear a label that identifies its country of origin; or

10 ‘‘(C) if it is United States or imported ground

11 beef, ground lamb, ground pork, or other processed

12 beef, lamb, or pork product and is not accompanied

13 by labeling that identifies it as United States beef,

14 United States lamb, United States pork, imported

15 beef, imported lamb, imported pork, or other des16 ignation that identifies the content of United States

17 beef, imported beef, United States lamb, imported

18 lamb, United States pork, and imported pork con19 tained in the product, as determined by the Sec20 retary; or

21 ‘‘(14) if it is imported beef or imported lamb

22 and bears a label that indicates a quality grade

23 issued by the Secretary.’’.
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1 (c) LABELING.—Section 7 of the Federal Meat In2 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 607) is amended by adding at

3 the end the following:

4 ‘‘(g) MANDATORY LABELING.—The Secretary shall

5 provide by regulation that the following offered for retail

6 sale bear a label that identifies its country of origin:

7 ‘‘(1) Muscle cuts of United States beef, United

8 States lamb, United States pork, imported beef, im9 ported lamb, and imported pork.

10 ‘‘(2) Ground beef, ground lamb, ground pork,

11 and other processed beef, lamb, or pork product

12 made from imported beef, imported lamb, or im13 ported pork.

14 ‘‘(h) AUDIT VERIFICATION SYSTEM FOR UNITED

15 STATES AND IMPORTED MUSCLE CUTS OF BEEF, LAMB,

16 AND PORK.—The Secretary may require by regulation

17 that any person that prepares, stores, handles, or distrib18 utes muscle cuts of United States beef, imported beef,

19 United States lamb, imported lamb, United States pork,

20 or imported pork for retail sale maintain a verifiable rec21 ordkeeping audit trail that will permit the Secretary to

22 ensure compliance with the regulations promulgated under

23 subsection (g).’’.

24 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture
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1 shall promulgate final regulations to carry out the amend2 ments made by this section.

3 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

4 this section take effect 60 days after the date on which

5 final regulations are promulgated under subsection (d).

6 SEC. 8. INTERAGENCY CONCENTRATION TASK FORCE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish an

8 interagency task force to investigate—

9 (1) alleged anticompetitive practices in the meat

10 packing industry; and

11 (2) the effects on rural communities and the

12 public of increasing concentration in many sectors

13 of—

14 (A) the agricultural industry, including the

15 meat packing and processing, grain distribution

16 and marketing, and biotechnology industries;

17 and

18 (B) industries that have a direct impact on

19 agriculture, including retail sales and transpor20 tation.

21 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

22 of enactment of this Act, the task force shall submit a

23 report to Congress that describes the results of the inves24 tigation.
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1 SEC. 9. STUDY OF LINK BETWEEN CREDIT AND CON2 CENTRATION AMONG HANDLERS AND PROC3 ESSORS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall conduct a

5 study to determine whether public and private lending

6 practices have contributed to, or are contributing to, con7 centration among persons that produce, handle, or process

8 agricultural commodities.

9 (b) CREDIT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—In con10 ducting the study, the President shall analyze the appro11 priateness of public and private credit eligibility require12 ments for—

13 (1) beginning farmers and ranchers; and

14 (2) farmers and ranchers who use, or intend to

15 use, alternative farm and ranch management sys16 tems, in contrast to large scale, capital intensive, or

17 subsidized systems.

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date

19 of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to

20 Congress a report that—

21 (1) describes the results of the study; and

22 (2) makes any recommendations that are nec23 essary to improve the availability of credit to meet

24 the diverse needs of farmers and ranchers.
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1 SEC. 10. STUDY OF ENFORCEMENT OF PROHIBITION ON

2 ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES BY PACKERS

3 AND STOCKYARDS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the

5 United States shall conduct a study of what kinds of prac6 tices or activities described in section 202 of the Packers

7 and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192), would warrant

8 intervention by the Secretary of Agriculture to prevent

9 anticompetitive practices.

10 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

11 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall

12 submit a report to Congress that describes the results of

13 the study.

14 SEC. 11. REPORTING OF CONTRACTS BY PACKERS AND

15 STOCKYARDS.

16 Section 401 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921

17 (7 U.S.C. 221), is amended—

18 (1) by designating the first and second sen19 tences as subsections (a) and (c), respectively;

20 (2) by striking ‘‘SEC. 401. (a) Every’’ and in21 serting the following:

22 ‘‘SEC. 401. ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS OF BUSINESS.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each’’;

24 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) (as so des25 ignated) the following:

26 ‘‘(b) CONTRACTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each packer, live poultry

2 dealer, stockyard owner, market agency, and dealer

3 shall submit to the Secretary a copy of each contract

4 involving a transaction described in subsection (a).

5 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary

6 shall make each contract submitted under paragraph

7 (1) available to the public in a manner that pre8 serves the confidentiality of the parties to the con9 tract.’’; and

10 (4) in subsection (c) (as so designated)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(c) Whenever’’ and insert12 ing the following:

13 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—If’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘and memoranda’’ each

15 place it appears and inserting ‘‘memoranda,

16 and contracts’’.

17 SEC. 12. VALUE-ADDED ENTERPRISES AND NEW MARKETS.

18 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agri19 culture should identify and provide opportunities, re20 sources, and economic incentives for agricultural produc21 ers to expand participation in value-added processing (in22 cluding renewable, biobased products), cooperative enter23 prises, and improved marketing and financial management

24 techniques.
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1 SEC. 13. MARKET ACCESS IDENTIFICATION FOR CERTAIN

2 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS (SPECIAL 301).

3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

4 ‘‘United States Agricultural Products Market Access Act

5 of 1998’’.

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

7 (1) to reduce or eliminate foreign unfair trade

8 practices and to remove constraints on fair and open

9 trade in agricultural products;

10 (2) to ensure fair and equitable market access

11 for exports of United States agricultural products;

12 and

13 (3) to promote free and fair trade in agricul14 tural products.

15 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES THAT DENY

16 MARKET ACCESS.—

17 (1) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 8 of

18 title I of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by add19 ing at the end the following:

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

21 MARKET ACCESS FOR AGRICULTURAL PROD22 UCTS.

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

24 30 days after the date on which the annual report is re25 quired to be submitted to Congressional committees under

26 section 181(b), the United States Trade Representative
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1 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Trade Rep2 resentative’) shall identify—

3 ‘‘(1) those foreign countries that—

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

5 to United States agricultural products, or

6 ‘‘(B) apply unjustified sanitary or

7 phytosanitary standards to agricultural prod8 ucts imported from the United States; and

9 ‘‘(2) those foreign countries identified under

10 paragraph (1) that are determined by the Trade

11 Representative to be priority foreign countries.

12 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR IDENTIFICATION.—

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

14 countries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Rep15 resentative shall only identify those foreign

16 countries—

17 ‘‘(A) that engage in or have the most oner18 ous or egregious acts, policies, or practices that

19 deny fair and equitable market access to United

20 States agricultural products,

21 ‘‘(B) whose acts, policies, or practices de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) have the greatest

23 adverse impact (actual or potential) on the rel24 evant United States products, and

25 ‘‘(C) that are not—
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1 ‘‘(i) entering into good faith negotia2 tions, or

3 ‘‘(ii) making significant progress in

4 bilateral or multilateral negotiations,

5 to provide fair and equitable market access to

6 United States agricultural products.

7 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION RE8 QUIREMENTS.—In identifying priority foreign coun9 tries under subsection (a)(2), the Trade Representa10 tive shall—

11 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Agri12 culture and other appropriate officers of the

13 Federal Government, and

14 ‘‘(B) take into account information from

15 such sources as may be available to the Trade

16 Representative and such information as may be

17 submitted to the Trade Representative by inter18 ested persons, including information contained

19 in reports submitted under section 181(b) and

20 petitions submitted under section 302.

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

22 Trade Representative may identify a foreign country

23 under subsection (a)(1) only if the Trade Represent24 ative finds that there is a factual basis for the denial

25 of fair and equitable market access as a result of the
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1 violation of international law or agreement, or the

2 existence of barriers, referred to in subsection (d).

3 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF HISTORICAL FAC4 TORS.—In identifying foreign countries under para5 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the Trade Rep6 resentative shall take into account—

7 ‘‘(A) the history of agricultural trade rela8 tions with the foreign country, including any

9 previous identification under subsection (a)(2),

10 and

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

12 States, and the response of the foreign country,

13 to achieve fair and equitable market access for

14 United States agricultural products.

15 ‘‘(c) REVOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICA16 TIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ACT AT ANY TIME.—If in18 formation available to the Trade Representative indi19 cates that such action is appropriate, the Trade

20 Representative may at any time—

21 ‘‘(A) revoke the identification of any for22 eign country as a priority foreign country under

23 this section, or

24 ‘‘(B) identify any foreign country as a pri25 ority foreign country under this section.
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1 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION REPORTS.—The Trade Rep2 resentative shall include in the semiannual report

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

4 detailed explanation of the reasons for the revocation

5 under paragraph (1) of the identification of any for6 eign country as a priority foreign country under this

7 section.

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION AND SPECIAL RULE.—For pur9 poses of this section:

10 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.—The term

11 ‘agricultural products’ includes forest products, fish,

12 and seafood products.

13 ‘‘(2) FAIR AND EQUITABLE MARKET ACCESS.—

14 A foreign country denies fair and equitable market

15 access if the foreign country effectively denies access

16 to a market for a product through the use of laws,

17 procedures, practices, or regulations which—

18 ‘‘(A) violate provisions of international law

19 or international agreements to which both the

20 United States and the foreign country are par21 ties, or

22 ‘‘(B) constitute discriminatory nontariff

23 trade barriers.

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

25 publish in the Federal Register a list of foreign countries
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1 identified under subsection (a) and shall make such revi2 sions to the list as may be required by reason of the action

3 under subsection (c).

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

5 shall, not later than the date by which countries are identi6 fied under subsection (a), transmit to the Committee on

7 Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture of the

8 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance

9 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For10 estry of the Senate, a report on the actions taken under

11 this section during the 12 months preceding such report,

12 and the reasons for such actions, including a description

13 of progress made in achieving fair and equitable market

14 access for United States agricultural products.’’.

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by in17 serting after the item relating to section 182 the fol18 lowing:

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

products.’’.

19 (d) INVESTIGATIONS.—

20 (1) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Subparagraph

21 (A) of section 302(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974

22 (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or

23 183(a)(2)’’ after ‘‘section 182(a)(2)’’ in the matter

24 preceding clause (i).
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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

2 (A) Subparagraph (D) of section 302(b)(2)

3 of such Act is amended by inserting ‘‘concern4 ing intellectual property rights that is’’ after

5 ‘‘any investigation’’.

6 (B) Subparagraph (B) of section 304(a)(3)

7 of such Act is amended—

8 (i) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of

9 clause (ii),

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of

11 clause (iii), and

12 (iii) by inserting immediately after

13 clause (iii) the following new clause:

14 ‘‘(iv) the foreign country involved in

15 the investigation is making substantial

16 progress in drafting or implementing legis17 lative or administrative measures that will

18 provide fair and equitable market access to

19 United States agricultural products,’’.

20 SEC. 14. MANDATORY NEGOTIATING GOALS FOR THE 1999

21 WTO TALKS ON AGRICULTURE AND OTHER

22 AGRICULTURE-RELATED NEGOTIATIONS

23 GOALS.

24 (a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of this

25 section is to achieve through trade agreements economic
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1 growth, increased farm income, and full employment in

2 the United States agriculture sector.

3 (b) GOALS OF THE UNITED STATES IN AGRICUL4 TURAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS.—The agricultural trade

5 negotiating objectives of the United States with respect

6 to bilateral and multilateral negotiations (including World

7 Trade Organization negotiations) include—

8 (1) increasing opportunities for United States

9 exports of agricultural products by eliminating tariff

10 and non-tariff barriers to trade, including the elimi11 nation of—

12 (A) restrictive or trade-distorting import

13 and export practices that impact perishable or

14 cyclical products;

15 (B) unjustified restrictions or commercial

16 requirements affecting new technologies, includ17 ing biotechnology;

18 (C) unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary

19 restrictions;

20 (D) other unjustified technical barriers to

21 trade; and

22 (E) restrictive rules in the administration

23 of tariff-rate quotas;

24 (2) leveling the playing field for United States

25 producers of agricultural products by limiting per
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1 unit domestic production supports to levels that are

2 no greater than those available in the United States;

3 (3) ending the practice of export dumping by

4 eliminating all trade distorting export subsidies and

5 disciplining entities that sell agricultural products in

6 foreign markets at prices below domestic market

7 prices or at prices below the full costs of acquiring

8 and delivering the agricultural products to foreign

9 markets; and

10 (4) encouraging government policies that avoid

11 price-depressing surpluses.

12 SEC. 15. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.

14 (a) CONSULTATION BEFORE INITIAL NEGOTIA15 TIONS.—Before the United States Trade Representative

16 initiates negotiations to reduce United States tariffs on

17 agricultural products, the United States Trade Represent18 ative shall consult with the Committee on Agriculture, Nu19 trition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on

20 Agriculture of the House of Representatives concerning

21 the tariff reductions. The consultations shall include an

22 assessment of—

23 (1) the impact of any tariff reduction on the

24 United States industry producing the product for

25 which the tariff reduction is proposed; and
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1 (2) whether an adjustment period should be

2 provided to the industry.

3 (b) CONSULTATION BEFORE AGREEMENT INI4 TIALED.—Not less than 48 hours before initialing an

5 agreement relating to agricultural trade, the United States

6 Trade Representative shall consult closely with the Com7 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen8 ate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of

9 Representatives regarding—

10 (1) the details of the agreement;

11 (2) the potential impact of the agreement on

12 domestic agricultural producers; and

13 (3) any changes in United States law necessary

14 to implement the agreement.

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