HR 921 IH

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency market loss assistance to swine producers for losses incurred due to economic and market conditions in the United States beyond their control that occurred during a three-month period in 1998, and for other purposes.

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency market loss assistance to swine producers for losses incurred due to economic and market conditions in the United States beyond their control that occurred during a three-month period in 1998, 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 `Swine Producers Market Loss Assistance Act of 1999'.

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

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. Market loss assistance.

Sec. 5. Payment amounts and payment limitations.

Sec. 6. Relationship to other payments.

Sec. 7. Emergency requirement; use of Commodity Credit Corporation.

Sec. 8. Mandatory livestock market reporting.

Sec. 9. Regulations.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:

(1) The marketing relationships of swine producers with meat packers have undergone significant changes in recent years, and these changes have had an adverse effect on the prices swine producers receive for swine.

(2) The concentration of the meat packing industry as it relates to swine slaughter and processing, and the increase in the number of live swine imported into the United States for slaughter and processing, have had an adverse effect on the availability of slaughter capacity in the United States and have adversely affected the price of swine in the United States.

(3) A swine market price crisis occurred in the United States during the period beginning on October 1, 1998, through December 31, 1998, which can be summarized as resting on three salient facts:

(A) A 10 percent increase in swine available for slaughter during the period.

(B) An eight percent decrease over the prior year in packer slaughter capacity.

(C) A 37 percent increase in Canadian swine imports into the United States during the period.

(4) The fourth quarter of 1998 (adjusted for inflation) registered the lowest live swine prices in the United States spot market for the 20th century, averaging 37 percent lower than 1932.

(5) Swine producers had approximately $2,600,000,000 in equity capital investment reduction in 1998 in the value of their production ownership.

(6) According to Ron Plain, University of Missouri Extension Economist, swine producers' share of the consumer pork dollar was approximately $0.22 in 1998, and 1998 was the first year since records have been maintained that swine producers received less than 30 percent of the consumer dollar spent for pork and pork products.

(7) Despite relatively little change in retail prices for pork and pork products, consumption of pork and pork products increased seven percent in 1998, and such products were the only meat protein that reflected a net per capita consumption increase in 1998 over 1997.

(b) PURPOSE- The purpose of this Act is to partially compensate swine producers who, due to circumstances beyond their control, incurred substantial losses in the marketing of their swine during the fourth quarter of 1998 as a result of--

(1) adverse economic factors in the swine market; and

(2) the failure of the Federal Government to pursue foreign trade opportunities and to obtain cooperative limitations on imports that substantially and adversely affected an industry already under stressed market pricing conditions.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) The term `swine' means the porcine animal raised for feeder pigs or slaughter produced solely in the United States.

(2) The term `swine producer' means a person in the United States who, during the crisis period, produced swine for feeder pigs or slaughter.

(3) The term `crisis period' means during the period beginning on October 1, 1998, through December 31, 1998.

(4) The term `packer' has the meaning given the term in section 201 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191).

(5) The term `feeder pig' means young swine that were sold, during the crisis period, to another person for further feeding for a period of more than one month.

(6) The term `swine operation' means any person or group of persons who, as a single unit, raised swine during the crisis period and whose production and facilities are located in the United States.

(7) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE.

(a) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE- As provided in section 7(b), the Secretary of Agriculture shall administer a program to provide financial assistance to swine producers to partially offset financial market losses they incurred on swine they sold during the crisis period.

(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS- Except as provided in subsection (c), to be eligible for assistance under this Act, a swine producer must have maintained a swine operation during the crisis period and marketed swine for slaughter or the equivalent thereof for feeder pigs during the crisis period.

(c) CERTAIN PRODUCERS INELIGIBLE- The following swine producers are ineligible for assistance under this Act:

(1) A swine producer that is a subsidiary of a publicly owned packer.

(2) A swine producer that is wholly or substantially owned by companies or corporations affiliated with a publicly owned packer.

(3) A swine producer that is otherwise directly or indirectly controlled by a publicly owned packer.

(d) APPLICATION PROCESS- In administering this Act, the Secretary shall limit the assistance to eligible swine producers by an application procedure or otherwise, as provided in this Act, and as further delineated in regulations consistent with this Act. The swine producer shall submit such information to the Secretary in support of the application as the Secretary may require to enable the Secretary to make an eligibility determination for assistance under this Act.

SEC. 5. PAYMENT AMOUNTS AND PAYMENT LIMITATIONS.

(a) FAIR AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION- Assistance made available under this Act shall be distributed in a fair and equitable manner to swine producers, either those for slaughter or the equivalent thereof for feeder pigs and other swine, who have incurred losses in their operations in all geographic regions of the United States.

(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS-

(1) PER SWINE- The amount of assistance to be paid to a eligible swine producer shall not exceed $25.00 per slaughter-weight swine that was marketed by the producer during the crisis period, except that the payment for feeder pigs shall not exceed $9.00 per feeder pig marketed during the crisis period, as provided by regulations issued by the Secretary consistent with this Act.

(2) CALCULATION- Subject to subsection (c), payments made to swine operation producers under this Act shall be calculated in an amount determined by--

(A) multiplying the number of eligible swine marketed and slaughtered during the crisis period by $25.00;

(B) adding to the amount in subparagraph (A) the sum of the number of eligible feeder pigs, if any, marketed during the crisis period multiplied by $9.00; and

(C) deducting payments received in the program specified in section 6(b) by the producer.

(c) PAYMENT LIMITATIONS- Payments may not exceed $50,000 per swine operation for a swine producer.

SEC. 6. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PAYMENTS.

(a) ASSISTANCE IN ADDITION TO OTHER PAYMENTS- Assistance provided under this Act is in addition to--

(1) assistance made available under subtitles A, B, and C of title XI 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; 7 U.S.C. 1421 note);

(2) payments or loans obtained by a person under the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.);

(3) payments received by a person for the 1998 crop year under the noninsured crop assistance program established under section 196 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 7333);

(4) crop insurance indemnities provided for 1998 crops under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.); and

(5) emergency loans made available for 1998 production under subtitle C of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961 et seq.).

(b) PAYMENTS UNDER SMALL HOG OPERATION PROGRAM- Assistance and payments made to swine producers under the Small Hog Operation Program of the Department of Agriculture, as announced January 8, 1999, using funds available under section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c), shall be deducted from payments made to swine producers under this Act.

SEC. 7. EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT; USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION.

(a) DESIGNATION BY CONGRESS AS AN EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT- Notwithstanding the last sentence of section 251(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, amounts made available by this Act are designated by Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(e) of the Balanced Budget Deficit Control Act of 1985.

(b) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION- The Secretary shall use the funds, facilities, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out the provisions of this Act (other than the amendments made by section 8).

SEC. 8. 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. 9. REGULATIONS.

(a) ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS- As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Commodity Credit Corporation, as appropriate, shall issue such regulations as are necessary and appropriate to its implementation. The Secretary's regulations shall address, among other matters, any misrepresentations, schemes, or devices used by applicants in submitting claims for benefits, appeals applicable with respect to those applicants dissatisfied with determination of benefits, and provisions relating to entitlement to benefits by estates, trusts, and minors. The issuance of the regulations shall be made without regard to--

(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; and

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

(b) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULEMAKING- In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall use the authority provided under section 808(2) of title 5, United States Code.