Title: DIRECT Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions Act or the DIRECT Act
This bill allows meat and poultry products inspected by State Meat and Poultry Inspection programs to be sold by retail stores, restaurants, or similar retail-type establishments over the internet and shipped by a carrier in commerce (other than for export to a foreign country), provided the meat and poultry products so inspected are shipped directly to household consumers and in normal retail quantities. (Under the inspection programs, the Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service allows states that meet certain requirements to inspect meat and poultry. The state-inspected products are currently limited to intrastate commerce, unless a state opts into a separate Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7425 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7425

   To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products 
 Inspection Act to allow for the interstate internet sales of certain 
             State-inspected meat, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2020

 Mr. Johnson of South Dakota (for himself and Mr. Cuellar) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products 
 Inspection Act to allow for the interstate internet sales of certain 
             State-inspected meat, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Direct Interstate Retail Exemption 
for Certain Transactions Act'' or the ``DIRECT Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERSTATE INTERNET SALES OF CERTAIN STATE-INSPECTED MEAT 
              ALLOWED.

    (a) In General.--Section 301(c)(2) of the Federal Meat Inspection 
Act (21 U.S.C. 661(c)(2)) is amended, by inserting after the first 
sentence, the following: ``For the purposes of this subparagraph, any 
retail store, restaurant, or similar retail-type establishment may sell 
over the internet and ship by carrier in commerce (other than for 
export to a foreign country) any State-inspected meat or meat food 
product, provided the meat or meat food product so inspected is shipped 
directly to household consumers and in normal retail quantities.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 301 of the Federal Meat 
Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``or for distribution pursuant to the 
        second sentence of paragraph (c)(2)''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(2), in the first sentence, by 
        inserting ``or by'' after ``conducted at''.

SEC. 3. INTERSTATE INTERNET SALES OF CERTAIN STATE-INSPECTED POULTRY 
              ALLOWED.

    (a) In General.--Section 5(c)(2) of the Poultry Products Inspection 
Act (21 U.S.C. 454(c)(2)) is amended, by inserting after the first 
sentence, the following: ``For the purposes of this subparagraph, any 
retail store, restaurant, or similar retail-type establishment may sell 
over the internet and ship by carrier in commerce (other than for 
export to a foreign country) any State-inspected poultry product, 
provided the poultry product so inspected is shipped directly to 
household consumers and in normal retail quantities.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 5 of the Poultry Products 
Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 454) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``or for distribution pursuant to the 
        second sentence of paragraph (c)(2)''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(2), in the first sentence, by 
        inserting ``or by'' after ``conducted at''.
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