March 6, 2000

The National Pork Producers Council will demand a series of investigations into the Agriculture Department’s decision to hold a vote on the national pork checkoff, REUTERS reported. NPPC directors are also considering a lawsuit against the decision, whose propriety they questioned during their annual meeting.

Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman has said USDA will pay the costs of the referendum on continuing the checkoff, which Congress authorized in 1985. NPPC has asserted that a petition drive to force a vote fell short of the required number of valid signatures.