SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Livestock Ownership
Fairness Act of 2002’’.
TITLE 
I—LIVESTOCK 
OWNER-
SHIP AND FEEDING PROHIBI-
TION
SEC. 101. PROHIBITION ON PACKERS OWNING OR FEEDING
LIVESTOCK FOR EXTENDED PERIOD.
(a) PROHIBITION; EXCEPTIONS.—The Packers and
Stockyards Act, 1921, is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 202 (7 U.S.C. 192) the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 202A. PROHIBITION ON PACKERS OWNING OR FEED-
ING LIVESTOCK FOR EXTENDED PERIOD.
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any
packer with respect to livestock, meats, meat food prod-
ucts, or livestock products in unmanufactured form to own
or feed livestock intended for slaughter for more than 14
days prior to slaughter. The prohibition applies regardless
of whether the ownership or feeding of the livestock is by
the packer directly or through a subsidiary or an arrange-
ment described in subsection (b).
‘‘(b) COVERED ARRANGEMENTS.—The arrangements
referred to in subsection (a) mean arrangements that give
a packer operational, managerial, or supervisory control
over livestock or over a farming operation that produces
livestock to such an extent that the actual producer of the
livestock is no longer materially participating (as such
term is defined in section 469(h) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986) in the management of the farming oper-
ation with respect to the production of the livestock.
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not apply to
the following:
‘‘(1) Forward contracting arrangements, exe-
cuted in advance of slaughter and used by packers
for the purchase of livestock, so long as the producer
retains operational, managerial, and supervisory con-
trol over the livestock until their delivery for slaugh-
ter and over the farming operation that produces the
livestock.
‘‘(2) A cooperative, if a majority of the owner-
ship interest in the cooperative is held by active co-
operative members that—
‘‘(A) own or feed livestock; and
‘‘(B) provide the livestock to the coopera-
tive for slaughter.
‘‘(3) A packer that is owned or controlled by
producers of a type of livestock, if, during the pre-
vious calendar year, the packer slaughtered less than
2 percent of the total number of that type of live-
stock slaughtered in the United States.
‘‘(d) CONSPIRACY.—It shall also be unlawful for any
packer to conspire, combine, agree, or arrange with any
other person to do, or aid or abet the doing of, any act
made unlawful by subsection (a).’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
section 202A of the Packers and Stockyards Act,
1921, as added by subsection (a), takes effect on the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) TRANSITION RULES.—In the case of a pack-
er that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act,
owns or feeds livestock in violation of section 202A
of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, the prohi-
bitions in subsections (a) and (d) of such section
shall apply to the packer—
(A) in the case of a packer of swine, begin-
ning 540 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act; and
(B) in the case of a packer of any other
type of livestock, beginning as soon as prac-
ticable, but not later than 180 days, after the
date of the enactment of this Act, as deter-
mined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
TITLE II—AGRICULTURAL
ANTITRUST PROVISIONS
SEC. 201. PREMERGER NOTICE REQUIREMENT.
(a) NOTICE.—Whenever a person in the business of
purchasing livestock, poultry, or a basic agricultural com-
modity for wholesale resale either unprocessed or proc-
essed, files a notification under section 7A of the Clayton
Act (15 U.S.C. 18a), such person shall file simultaneously
with the Secretary a notice in accordance with rules issued
by the Secretary, that such person has filed such notifica-
tion.
(b) PUBLIC COMMENTS.—The Secretary shall—
(1) publish promptly in the Federal Register a
copy of each notice received under subsection (a),
(2) accept public comments on the proposed
merger described in such notice, and
(3) consider as part of the review required by
subsection (c), such comments timely received.
(c) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after receiving
a notice filed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
(1) review the proposed acquisition described in
such notice;
(2) determine—
(A) the probable effects such acquisition
would have on the prices paid to producers of
any livestock, poultry, or basic agricultural
commodities who sell to, buy from, or bargain
with 1 or more of the persons involved in the
proposed acquisition; and
(B) whether such acquisition would—
(i) result in significantly increased
market power for any of such persons; and
(ii) increase the potential for anti-
competitive or predatory pricing conduct
by any of such persons;
(3) prepare a report containing—
(A) the detailed findings made by the Sec-
retary as a result of such review and such de-
termination; and
(B) an economic analysis of the Secretary
regarding whether such acquisition may sub-
stantially lessen competition or tend to create a
monopoly; and
(4) transmit to the Office of Special Counsel for
Agriculture, and shall publish in the Federal Reg-
ister, simultaneously, a copy of such report.
SEC. 202. SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR AGRICULTURE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF OFFICE.—The Attorney
General shall establish in the Department of Justice an
Office of Special Counsel for Agriculture that shall handle
agricultural antitrust issues and related matters, as deter-
mined by the Attorney General.
(b) APPOINTMENT.—The Special Counsel for Agri-
culture may be appointed by the Attorney General only
after the expiration of the 30-day period beginning on the
date the Attorney General publishes in the Federal Reg-
ister the name of the individual proposed to be appointed
and requests public comment with respect to the appoint-
ment of such individual.
SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title—
(1) the term ‘‘antitrust laws’’ has the meaning
given such term in subsection (a) of the 1st section
of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)),
(2) the term ‘‘basic agricultural commodity’’
means corn, wheat, or soybeans,
(3) the term ‘‘livestock’’ means cattle, sheep,
goats, swine, or equine animals used for food or in
the production of food,
(4) the term ‘‘person’’ has the meaning given
such term in subsection (a) of the 1st section of the
Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)),
(5) the term ‘‘poultry’’ means chickens, turkeys,
ducks, geese, or other domestic fowl used for food or
in the production of food, and
(6) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
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