| HR 719 IH
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 719
To amend the Packers
and Stockyards Act, 1921, to make it unlawful for a packer to own, feed,
or control livestock intended for slaughter.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2003
Mr. BOSWELL (for himself, Mr.
LEACH, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. JANKLOW, and Mr.
BEREUTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Packers
and Stockyards Act, 1921, to make it unlawful for a packer to own, feed,
or control livestock intended for slaughter.
Be it enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON PACKERS
OWNING, FEEDING, OR CONTROLLING LIVESTOCK.
(a) PROHIBITION- Section
202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192), is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections
(f) and (g) as subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection
(e) the following new subsection (f):
`(f) Own or feed livestock
directly, through a subsidiary, or through an arrangement that gives the
packer operational, managerial, or supervisory control over the livestock,
or over the farming operation that produces the livestock, to such an extent
that the producer is no longer materially participating in the management
of the operation with respect to the production of the livestock, except
that this subsection shall not apply to--
`(1) an arrangement entered
into within 7 days (excluding any Saturday or Sunday) before slaughter
of the livestock by a packer, a person acting through the packer, or a
person that directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by or under
common control with, the packer;
`(2) a cooperative or entity
owned by a cooperative, if a majority of the ownership interest in the
cooperative is held by active cooperative members that--
`(A) own, feed, or control
livestock; and
`(B) provide the livestock
to the cooperative for slaughter;
`(3) a packer that is not
required to report to the Secretary on each reporting day (as defined in
section 212 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1635a))
information on the price and quantity of livestock purchased by the packer;
or
`(4) a packer that owns
one livestock processing plant; or'.
(1) IN GENERAL- Subject
to paragraph (2), the amendments made by subsection (a) take effect on
the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) TRANSITION RULES- In
the case of a packer that, on the date of enactment of this Act, owns,
feeds, or controls livestock intended for slaughter in violation of section
202(f) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (as added by subsection
(a)), such section shall not apply to the packer--
(A) in the case of a packer
of swine, until the end of the 18-month period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act; and
(B) in the case of a packer
of any other type of livestock, until such date as the Secretary of Agriculture
considers practicable, but not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
END
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