Sec. 5. Import and export reporting.
Sec. 6. Protection of livestock producers against retaliation by packers.
Sec. 7. Review of Federal agriculture credit policies.
Sec. 8. Streamlining and consolidating the United States food inspection sys-
tem.
Sec. 9. Labeling system for meat and meat food products produced in the Unit-
ed States.
Sec. 10. Spot transactions involving bulk cheese.
SEC. 2. EXPEDITED IMPLEMENTATION OF FUND FOR
RURAL AMERICA.
Section 793(b)(1) of the Federal Agriculture Im-
provement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C.
2204f(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 1997,’’
and all that follows through ‘‘October 1, 1999,’’ and in-
serting ‘‘November 10, 1996, October 1, 1997, and Octo-
ber 1, 1998,’’.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON NONCOMPETITIVE PRACTICES.
Section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921
(7 U.S.C. 192), is amended—
(1) in subsection (g), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(h) Engage in any practice or device that the Sec-
retary by regulation, after consultation with producers of
cattle, lamb, and hogs, and other persons in the cattle,
lamb, and hog industries, determines is a detrimental non-
competitive practice or device relating to the price or a
term of sale for the procurement of livestock or the sale
of meat or other byproduct of slaughter.’’.
SEC. 4. DOMESTIC MARKET REPORTING.
(a) PERSONS
IN SLAUGHTER BUSINESS.—Section
203(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7
U.S.C. 1622(g)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘To collect’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) Each person engaged in the business of slaugh-
tering livestock who carries out more than 5 percent of
the national slaughter for a given species shall report to
the Secretary in such manner as the Secretary shall re-
quire, as soon as practicable but not later than 24 hours
after a transaction takes place, such information relating
to prices and the terms of sale for the procurement of live-
stock and the sale of meat food products and livestock
products as the Secretary determines is necessary to carry
out this subsection.
‘‘(3) Whoever knowingly fails or refuses to provide
to the Secretary information required to be reported by
paragraph (2) shall be fined under title 18, United States
Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall encourage voluntary report-
ing by any person engaged in the business of slaughtering
livestock who carries out 5 percent or less of the national
slaughter for a given species.
‘‘(5) The Secretary shall make information received
under this subsection available to the public only in the
aggregate and shall ensure the confidentiality of persons
providing the information.’’.
(b) ELIMINATION
OF OUTMODED REPORTS.—The
Secretary of Agriculture, after consultation with producers
and other affected parties, shall periodically—
(1) eliminate obsolete reports; and
(2) streamline the collection and reporting of
data related to livestock and meat and livestock
products, using modern data communications tech-
nology, to provide information to the public on as
close to a real-time basis as practicable.
(c) DEFINITION OF ‘‘CAPTIVE SUPPLY’’.—For the
purpose of regulations issued by the Secretary of Agri-
culture relating to reporting under the Agricultural Mar-
keting Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) and the Pack-
ers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the
term ‘‘captive supply’’ means livestock obligated to a pack-
er in any form of transaction in which more than 7 days
elapses from the date of obligation to the date of delivery
of the livestock.
SEC. 5. IMPORT AND EXPORT REPORTING.
(a) EXPORTS.—Section 602(a)(1) of the Agricultural
Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5712(a)(1)) is amended by
inserting after ‘‘products thereof,’’ the following: ‘‘and
meat food products and livestock products (as the terms
are defined in section 2 of the Packers and Stockyards
Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182)),’’.
(b) IMPORTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture
and the Secretary of Commerce shall, using modern
data communications technology to provide the in-
formation to the public on as close to a real-time
basis as practicable, jointly make available to the
public aggregate price and quantity information on
imported meat food products, livestock products, and
livestock (as the terms are defined in section 2 of
the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C.
182)).
(2) FIRST REPORT.—The Secretaries shall re-
lease to the public the first report under paragraph
(1) not later than 60 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act.
SEC. 6. PROTECTION OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS AGAINST
RETALIATION BY PACKERS.
(a) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—Section 202(b) of
the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192(b)),
is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or subject’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
ject’’; and
(2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end
the following: ‘‘, or retaliate against any livestock
producer on account of any statement made by the
producer (whether made to the Secretary or a law
enforcement agency or in a public forum) regarding
an action of any packer’’.
(b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING ALLEGA-
TIONS OF RETALIATION.—Section 203 of the Packers and
Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 193), is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘(e) SPECIAL PROCEDURES REGARDING ALLEGA-
TIONS OF RETALIATION.—
‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION BY SPECIAL PANEL.—The
President shall appoint a special panel consisting of
3 members to receive and initially consider a com-
plaint submitted by any person that alleges prohib-
ited packer retaliation under section 202(b) directed
against a livestock producer.
‘‘(2) COMPLAINT; HEARING.—If the panel has
reason to believe from the complaint or resulting in-
vestigation that a packer has violated or is violating
the retaliation prohibition under section 202(b), the
panel shall notify the Secretary who shall cause a
complaint to be issued against the packer, and a
hearing conducted, under subsection (a).
‘‘(3) EVIDENTIARY STANDARD.—In the case of
a complaint regarding retaliation prohibited under
section 202(b), the Secretary shall find that the
packer involved has violated or is violating section
202(b) if the finding is supported by a preponder-
ance of the evidence.’’.
(c) DAMAGES FOR PRODUCERS SUFFERING RETAL-
IATION.—Section 203 of the Packers and Stockyards Act,
1921 (7 U.S.C. 193) (as amended by subsection (b)), is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(f) DAMAGES FOR PRODUCERS SUFFERING RETAL-
IATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a packer violates the re-
taliation prohibition under section 202(b), the pack-
er shall be liable to the livestock producer injured by
the retaliation for not more than 3 times the amount
of damages sustained as a result of the violation.
‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—The liability may be en-
forced either by complaint to the Secretary, as pro-
vided in subsection (e), or by suit in any court of
competent jurisdiction.
‘‘(3) OTHER REMEDIES.—This subsection shall
not abridge or alter a remedy existing at common
law or by statute. The remedy provided by this sub-
section shall be in addition to any other remedy.’’.
SEC. 7. REVIEW OF FEDERAL AGRICULTURE CREDIT POLI-
CIES.
The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Chair-
man of the Board of the Farm Credit Administration,
shall establish an interagency working group to study—
(1) the extent to which Federal lending prac-
tices and policies have contributed, or are contribut-
ing, to market concentration in the livestock and
dairy sectors of the national economy; and
(2) whether Federal policies regarding the fi-
nancial system of the United States adequately take
account of the weather and price volatility risks in-
herent in livestock and dairy enterprises.
SEC. 8. STREAMLINING AND CONSOLIDATING THE UNITED
STATES FOOD INSPECTION SYSTEM.
(a) PREPARATION.—In consultation with the Sec-
retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, and all other interested parties, the President
shall prepare a plan to consolidate the United States food
inspection system that ensures the best use of available
resources to improve the consistency, coordination, and ef-
fectiveness of the United States food inspection system,
taking into account food safety risks.
(b) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit
to Congress the plan prepared under subsection (a).
SEC. 9. LABELING SYSTEM FOR MEAT AND MEAT FOOD
PRODUCTS 
PRODUCED 
IN 
THE 
UNITED
STATES.
(a) LABELING.—Section 7 of the Federal Meat In-
spection Act (21 U.S.C. 607) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(g) LABELING OF MEAT OF UNITED STATES ORI-
GIN.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop
a system for the labeling of carcasses, parts of car-
casses, and meat produced in the United States
from livestock raised in the United States, and meat
food products produced in the United States from
the carcasses, parts of carcasses, and meat, to indi-
cate the United States origin of the carcasses, parts
of carcasses, meat, and meat food products.
‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall provide
technical and financial assistance to establishments
subject to inspection under this title to implement
the labeling system.
‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as are necessary to carry out this subsection.’’.
SEC. 10. SPOT TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING BULK CHEESE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall
collect and publicize, on a weekly basis, statistically reli-
able information, obtained from all cheese manufacturing
areas in the United States, on prices and terms of trade
for spot transactions involving bulk cheese, including in-
formation on the national average price, and regional aver-
age prices, for bulk cheese sold through spot transactions.
(b) CONFIDENTIALITY.—All information provided to,
or acquired by, the Secretary under this section shall be
kept confidential by each officer and employee of the De-
partment of Agriculture, except that general weekly state-
ments may be issued that are based on the reports of a
number of spot transactions and that do not identify the
information provided by any person.
(c) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use funds that
are available for dairy market data collection to carry out
this section.
Æ