I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5106 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish criteria for the review 

of requests by certain meat or poultry establishments to operate at 

alternate inspection rates, to review and respond to such requests, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2023 

Mr. FINSTAD (for himself, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. ALFORD, Mr. BISHOP of North 

Carolina, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. CLYDE, Mrs. FISCHBACH, and Mr. 

ROUZER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish criteria 

for the review of requests by certain meat or poultry 

establishments to operate at alternate inspection rates, 

to review and respond to such requests, 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. REQUESTS FOR ALTERNATE INSPECTION 

2 RATES OF MEAT AND POULTRY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

5 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall— 

6 (1) publish in the Federal Register food safety 

7 criteria that the Secretary shall consider in granting 

8 a request submitted by any establishment to operate 

9 at alternate inspection rates; and 

10 (2) begin reviewing and responding to such re11 quests from such establishments. 

12 (b) RESPONSE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the date on which a request from an establishment 

15 to operate at alternate inspection rates is submitted, 

16 the Secretary shall respond— 

17 (A) in the case of a request that the Sec18 retary determines meets the food safety criteria 

19 referred to in subsection (a)(1), by approving 

20 such request; or 

21 (B) in the case of a request that the Sec22 retary determines does not meet the food safety 

23 criteria referred to in subsection (a)(1), by de24 nying such request in writing and explaining in 

25 detail the reasons for such denial. 


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1 (2) FAILURE BY SECRETARY TO RESPOND.—In 

2 the case of a failure by the Secretary to respond to 

3 a request during the 90-day period referred to in 

4 paragraph (1), such request shall be deemed to have 

5 been approved by the Secretary. 

6 (c) CONTINUATION OF OPERATIONS AT CERTAIN ES7 TABLISHMENTS.—In the case of an establishment oper8 ating at alternate inspection rates as of the date of enact9 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall authorize such estab10 lishment to continue operating at such rates— 

11 (1) so long as the establishment maintains ef12 fective process control; or 

13 (2) until such date that the Secretary, under 

14 subsection (b)(1), approves or denies a request sub15 mitted by the establishment to operate at alternate 

16 inspection rates. 

17 (d) DURATION OF APPROVED REQUESTS.—An estab18 lishment may continue to operate pursuant to the terms 

19 of a request approved under subsection (b)(1) so long as 

20 the establishment continues to meet the food safety cri21 teria referred to in subsection (a)(1). 

22 (e) NONCOMPLIANCE AND REVOCATION.— 

23 (1) NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Sec24 retary shall provide— 


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1 (A) in the case of an establishment oper2 ating pursuant to the terms of a request ap3 proved under subsection (b)(1) that fails to 

4 meet the food safety criteria referred to in sub5 section (a)(1), written notice to such establish6 ment describing the nature of such failure; and 

7 (B) in the case of an establishment con8 tinuing operations under subsection (c) that 

9 fails to adhere to the requirements of such sub10 section, written notice to such establishment de11 scribing the nature of such failure. 

12 (2) GRACE PERIOD; RESPONSE TO NONCOMPLI13 ANCE.—Following the 180-day period beginning on 

14 the date on which an establishment receives a writ15 ten notice of noncompliance under paragraph (1), if 

16 the Secretary determines the establishment has not 

17 remedied the failures described in such notice, the 

18 Secretary may— 

19 (A) at the discretion of the Secretary, pro20 vide the establishment an additional oppor21 tunity to remedy the failures described in such 

22 notice; or 

23 (B) revoke the authority of the establish24 ment to continue operating at alternate inspec25 tion rates and provide written notice to the esVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:52 Aug 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5106.IH H5106

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1 tablishment describing the basis for such rev2 ocation. 

3 (3) TIMELINE FOR ADJUSTING INSPECTION

4 RATES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The written notice of 

6 revocation referred to in paragraph (2)(B) shall 

7 include a timeline for adjusting inspection rates 

8 at the establishment receiving such notice to in9 spection rates otherwise permitted under regu10 lations implementing the post-mortem inspec11 tion requirements of the Federal Meat Inspec12 tion Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the Poul13 try Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. et seq.), 

14 in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act 

15 (or successor regulations). 

16 (B) MINIMIZATION OF NEGATIVE IM17 PACTS.—In establishing the timeline for adjust18 ing inspection rates described in subparagraph 

19 (A), the Secretary shall— 

20 (i) consider potential effects on live 

21 animal production and sourcing; and 

22 (ii) consult with the establishment to 

23 which such rates shall apply to minimize 

24 negative impacts— 


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1 (I) on the ability of the establish2 ment to fulfill any contractual obliga3 tions of the establishment in effect on 

4 the date on which such timeline is es5 tablished; 

6 (II) on animal producers or 

7 growers; and 

8 (III) on animal welfare. 

9 (4) APPLICABILITY.—A revocation under para10 graph (2)(B) shall not limit the ability of an estab11 lishment to apply and be approved for alternate in12 spection rates under subsection (b)(1), so long as 

13 the establishment otherwise meets the food safety 

14 criteria referred to in subsection (a)(1). 

15 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ALTERNATE INSPECTION RATES.—The term 

17 ‘‘alternate inspection rates’’ means any rate in ex18 cess of the maximum rates permissible under regula19 tions implementing the post-mortem inspection re20 quirements of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 

21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the Poultry Products In22 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.), in effect as of 

23 the date of enactment of this Act (or successor regu24 lations). 


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1 (2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The term ‘‘establish2 ment’’ means— 

3 (A) an official establishment that is subject 

4 to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection 

5 Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); and 

6 (B) an official establishment that is sub7 ject to inspection under the Poultry Products 

8 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). 

Æ 


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