I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3750

To permit the interstate distribution of State-inspected meat under

appropriate circumstances.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 27, 1996

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

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To permit the interstate distribution of State-inspected meat

under appropriate circumstances.

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 ‘‘Interstate Distribution

5 of State-Inspected Meat Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION WITH RE7 SPECT TO MEAT INSPECTION.

8 (a) WAIVER OF INTRASTATE DISTRIBUTION LIMITA9 TION UNDER THE FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT.—

10 Section 301(a) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21
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1 U.S.C. 661(a)) is amended by adding the following para2 graph at the end thereof:

3 ‘‘(5) Upon application of an appropriate State

4 agency with which the Secretary may cooperate

5 under this Act, the Secretary shall reevaluate the

6 applicant State’s meat inspection program to verify

7 that its mandatory requirements are at least equal

8 to the Federal inspection, reinspection, and sanita9 tion requirements under title I of this Act.

10 ‘‘(A) In the event that the Secretary veri11 fies that the mandatory inspection requirements

12 of the applicant State are at least equal to Fed13 eral inspection requirements, the limitation in

14 paragraph (1) of this section which restricts

15 meat inspected by the applicant State to intra16 state distribution shall be waived by the Sec17 retary.

18 ‘‘(B) Following any waiver under subpara19 graph (A) of this paragraph, the Secretary is

20 authorized to perform random inspections of

21 State-inspected plants within the applicant

22 State to ensure that the mandatory State in23 spection requirements employed therein are at

24 least equal to the substantive Federal inspection

25 requirements under title I of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may utilize Federal

2 personnel, or may cooperate with the appro3 priate State agency under this Act to train and

4 utilize State personnel, to perform any random

5 inspections authorized by this paragraph.

6 ‘‘(D) In the event that a random inspec7 tion performed under this paragraph discloses

8 that a State-inspected plant is not employing

9 mandatory inspection requirements at least

10 equal to the substantive Federal inspection re11 quirements under title I of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall reimpose the restriction against the

13 interstate distribution of meat and meat prod14 ucts produced at that plant until a subsequent

15 inspection verifies that the plant has reestab16 lished mandatory inspection requirements at

17 least equal to the substantive Federal inspection

18 requirements under title I of this Act.’’.

19 (b) WAIVER OF INTRASTATE DISTRIBUTION LIMITA20 TION UNDER THE POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION

21 ACT.—Section 5(a) of the Poultry Products Inspection

22 Act (21 U.S.C. 454(a)) is amended by adding the follow23 ing paragraph at the end thereof:

24 ‘‘(5) Upon application of an appropriate State

25 agency with which the Secretary may cooperate
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1 under this Act, the Secretary shall reevaluate the

2 applicant State’s poultry inspection program to ver3 ify that its mandatory requirements are at least

4 equal to the Federal inspection, reinspection, and

5 sanitation requirements of this Act.

6 ‘‘(A) In the event that the Secretary veri7 fies that the mandatory inspection requirements

8 of the applicant State are at least equal to Fed9 eral inspection requirements, the limitation in

10 paragraph (1) of this section that restricts poul11 try or poultry products inspected by the appli12 cant State to intrastate distribution shall be

13 waived by the Secretary.

14 ‘‘(B) Following any waiver under subpara15 graph (A) of this paragraph, the Secretary is

16 authorized to perform random inspections of

17 State-inspected plants within the applicant

18 State to ensure that the mandatory State in19 spection requirements employed therein are at

20 least equal to the substantive Federal inspection

21 requirements under title I of this Act.

22 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may utilize Federal

23 personnel, or may cooperate with the appro24 priate State agency under this Act to train and
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1 utilize State personnel, to perform any random

2 inspections authorized by this paragraph.

3 ‘‘(D) In the event that a random inspec4 tion performed under this paragraph discloses

5 that a State-inspected plant is not employing

6 mandatory inspection requirements at least

7 equal to the substantive Federal inspection re8 quirements of this Act, the Secretary shall re9 impose the restriction against the interstate dis10 tribution of poultry and poultry products pro11 duced at that plant until a subsequent inspec12 tion verifies that the plant has reestablished

13 mandatory inspection requirements at least

14 equal to the substantive inspection Federal re15 quirements of this Act.’’.

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