To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to institute a program of mandatory livestock market reporting for meat packers regarding prices, volume, and the terms of sale for the procurement of domestic and imported livestock and livestock products, to improve the collection of information regarding swine inventories and the slaughtering and measurement of swine, and for other purposes.

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to institute a program of mandatory livestock market reporting for meat packers regarding prices, volume, and the terms of sale for the procurement of domestic and imported livestock and livestock products, to improve the collection of information regarding swine inventories and the slaughtering and measurement of swine, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Livestock Industry Fairness and Enhancement Act'.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Mandatory livestock market reporting.

Sec. 3. Collection, collation, and reporting of data and statistics related to production of swine, pork, and pork products.

Sec. 4. Report on jurisdiction, duties, and authorities of Secretary of Agriculture regarding packers, livestock, and livestock products.

Sec. 5. Retail price report of representative meat products.

Sec. 6. Regulations.

SEC. 2. MANDATORY LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORTING.

(a) REPORTING REQUIRED- The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 is amended by inserting after section 203 (7 U.S.C. 1622) the following new section:

`SEC. 203A. MANDATORY LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORTING.

`(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

`(1) LIVESTOCK- The term `livestock' means cattle, sheep, and swine, whether live or dead.

`(2) LIVESTOCK PRODUCT- The term `livestock product' means any product or byproduct produced or processed in whole or in part from livestock, including boxed beef, boxed lamb, and any value-added product derived from pork.

`(3) PACKER- Subject to subsection (b)(1), the term `packer' means any person engaged in the business of--

`(A) buying livestock in commerce for purposes of slaughter;

`(B) manufacturing or preparing livestock products for sale or shipment in commerce; or

`(C) marketing livestock products in an unmanufactured form acting as a wholesale broker, dealer, or distributor in commerce.

`(4) PRICES, VOLUME, AND TERMS OF SALE- The term `prices, volume, and terms of sale' includes base price, premium and discount price factors, formula-based pricing systems, quality characteristics (including percent lean and carcass weight), and any current or future contract offered by a packer.

`(5) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Agriculture.

`(b) MANDATORY REPORTING REQUIRED-

`(1) PACKERS SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENT- This subsection applies only to a packer that the Secretary estimates is engaged in the business of buying, manufacturing, preparing, or marketing more than five percent (by daily volume) of--

`(A) all cattle, all sheep, or all swine that are bought, prepared, or marketed in the United States;

`(B) all livestock products that are bought, manufactured, prepared, or marketed in the United States; or

`(C) any combination of subparagraphs (A) and (B).

`(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION- The Secretary shall require each packer described in paragraph (1) to report to the Secretary, in such manner as the Secretary shall require, such information relating to prices, volume, and terms of sale for the procurement of domestic and imported livestock and livestock products as the Secretary determines is appropriate.

`(3) ADMINISTRATION- In carrying out paragraph (2), the Secretary shall require packers described in paragraph (1)--

`(A) to separately report domestic and imported livestock and livestock products; and

`(B) to report the information required under paragraph (2) by the next business day, as defined by the Secretary.

`(4) NONCOMPLIANCE- It shall be unlawful for any packer described in paragraph (1) to knowingly fail or refuse to provide to the Secretary information required under paragraph (2).

`(5) VERIFICATION- The Secretary may take such actions as are necessary to verify the accuracy of the information required under paragraph (2), regardless of the source of the information.

`(6) CEASE AND DESIST AND CIVIL PENALTY-

`(A) IN GENERAL- If the Secretary has reason to believe that a packer described in paragraph (1) is violating this subsection (or a regulation issued under this subsection), the Secretary may issue an order to cease and desist from continuing the violation and assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each violation. The order shall be issued only after notice and an opportunity for hearing is provided to the packer.

`(B) FACTORS- In determining the amount of a civil penalty to be assessed under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider the gravity of the offense, the size of the business involved, and the effect of the penalty on the ability of the packer to continue in business.

`(7) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL- If, after expiration of the period for appeal or after the affirmance of a civil penalty assessed under paragraph (6), the packer against whom the civil penalty is assessed fails to pay the civil penalty, the Secretary may refer the matter to the Attorney General, who may recover the amount of the civil penalty in a civil action in United States district court.

`(c) VOLUNTARY REPORTING- The Secretary shall encourage voluntary reporting by packers that are not subjected to a mandatory reporting requirement under subsection (b).

`(d) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION-

`(1) TIMELY AVAILABILITY- The Secretary shall make information received under this section available to the public in a timely manner to permit the use of the information while it is still relevant.

`(2) LIMITATIONS- The disclosure of information under paragraph (1) may be made only in a form that ensures the following:

`(A) The identity of the parties involved in any transaction described in a report is not disclosed.

`(B) The identity of the packer submitting a report is not disclosed.

`(C) The confidentiality of proprietary business information is otherwise protected.

`(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS- Nothing in this section restricts or modifies the authority of the Secretary to collect voluntary reports in accordance with other provisions of law.

`(f) TERMINATION OF MANDATORY REQUIREMENT- The reporting requirement established by subsection (b) shall expire at the end of the three-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this section.'.

(b) REPEAL OF PILOT PRICE REPORTING INVESTIGATION- Section 416 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 229a), as added by section 1127(a) of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (as contained in section 101(a) of division A of Public Law 105-277), is repealed.

SEC. 3. COLLECTION, COLLATION, AND REPORTING OF DATA AND STATISTICS RELATED TO PRODUCTION OF SWINE, PORK, AND PORK PRODUCTS.

The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 is amended by inserting after section 203A (as added by section 2 of this Act) the following new section:

`SEC. 203B. SPECIAL REPORTING AND MEASUREMENT REQUIREMENTS REGARDING SWINE.

`(a) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

`(1) PACKER- The term `packer' has the meaning given the term in section 203A(a).

`(2) SWINE- The term `swine' means the porcine animal raised for feeder pigs, seedstock, or slaughter.

`(3) BARROW- The term `barrow' means a neutered male swine.

`(4) GILT- The term `gilt' means a young female swine, one that has not produced a litter.

`(5) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Agriculture.

`(b) SWINE INVENTORY REPORT IMPROVEMENT-

`(1) NEW REPORTING REQUIREMENT- As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall implement a reporting procedure that results in a monthly report of the inventory of swine located on farms and other confinement or production areas, in the 17 leading pork producing States in the United States. The reporting procedure shall include in a separate category the number of bred female swine that are assumed, or have been confirmed, as pregnant during the reporting period.

`(2) EFFECT ON EXISTING REPORT- The Secretary shall continue to maintain and publish the

`(3) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT- The monthly report referred to in paragraph (1) shall be made available to swine producers, packers, market analysts and researchers, and such other persons and entities as the Secretary determines to be in the public interest. The quarterly report continued as provided in paragraph (2) shall be designed to be provided to those same persons or entities intended to receive the monthly report so as to provide them with a data overlap period until the monthly report is fully functional.

`(c) CARCASS MEASUREMENT AND VALUE PRICING-

`(1) LEAN CONTENT MEASUREMENTS- As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall conduct a study and survey and issue regulations requiring packers to implement a program to measure the lean content (containing little or no fat) of swine carcasses using trained and impartial personnel. In issuing the regulation, the Secretary shall provide for the administration of the program and inspection of such packer operations by personnel of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

`(2) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT- Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report setting forth the actions taken to implement this subsection. The report shall set forth the numbers and names of packers who have initiated such a measurement program on a voluntary basis, the percentage of the packing industry that has initiated such voluntary programs, the date such voluntary programs were initiated, the estimated cost to packers to implement a voluntary program, the estimated cost to be incurred by packers to implement the mandatory program required by paragraph (1), and other benefits that may accrue from the program.

`(3) INSPECTION OF EQUIPMENT- This paragraph applies to a packer that slaughters more than five percent (by daily volume) of all swine that are bought, prepared, or marketed in the United States. All equipment used by such a packer in the measurement and determination of the value of swine shall be subject to inspection by personnel of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration designated by the Secretary. All formulas and pricing procedures used to determine the value of swine by such a packer may be obtained by the Secretary who shall ensure its publication as determined by the Secretary.

`(d) BARROW AND GILT SLAUGHTER- The Secretary shall promptly obtain, either through a valid reporting procedure for a packer described in subsection (c)(3) or other valid statistical sampling procedure at packing plants as determined by the Secretary, data on the division of the total market slaughter of swine that reflects differences in numbers between barrows and gilts. Such information shall be made available to swine producers in a report published by the Secretary.'.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON JURISDICTION, DUTIES, AND AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE REGARDING PACKERS, LIVESTOCK, AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS.

(a) REPORT REQUIRED- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report describing the jurisdiction, power, duties, and authorities of the Secretary over packers, livestock, livestock products, and interstate commerce in livestock and livestock products under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C.

(b) CONTENT- With respect to such jurisdiction, power, duties, and authorities, the report shall address the following:

(1) The burdens on, and obstructions to, interstate commerce in livestock and livestock products by packers and other persons who enter into arrangements with packers that are contrary to, or do not protect, the public interest.

(2) Non-competitive pricing arrangements between or among packers, or other persons involved in the processing, distribution, or sale of livestock or livestock products to consumers, including those provided for in contracts for the purchase of livestock.

(3) Measures to provide transparency to, and effective monitoring of, contracts entered into between packers and livestock producers.

(4) Investigations that relate to, and affect the disclosure of, transactions involved in the business of packers involved in the ownership of such businesses, the pricing of livestock to producers, and the pricing of livestock products in the entire merchandising chain.

(5) Cooperation and enhancement by the Secretary with the enforcement of actions initiated by other Federal agencies to protect trade and commerce in the livestock and livestock product industries against unlawful restraints and monopolies.

(c) DEFINITIONS- In this section, the terms `packer', `livestock', and `livestock products' have the meaning given such terms in section 203A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as added by section 2 of this Act.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE ABILITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TO PROVIDE RELIABLE PERIODIC RETAIL PRICE REPORTS.

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report describing the ability of the Department of Agriculture to provide reliable periodic reports of the retail prices of representative meat products. The report shall include at least the following:

(1) Existing private and public retail price reporting services.

(2) Existing authorities to use, interpret, and publish data from such services, and any additional authorities necessary to improve the use, interpretation, and publication of such data.

(3) Opportunities to cooperate with other Federal and State agencies.

SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

(a) ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue such regulations as the Secretary considers necessary to implement the amendments made by this Act. The Secretary shall issue the regulations without regard to the following:

(1) The notice and comment provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code.

(2) The Statement of Policy of the Secretary of Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking and public participation in rulemaking.

(3) Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Paperwork Reduction Act).

(b) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULEMAKING- In issuing regulations under subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture shall use the authority provided under section 808(2) of title 5, United States Code.