[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2062 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2062

   To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products 
 Inspection Act to permit the movement in interstate commerce of meat 
    and meat food products and poultry products that satisfy State 
 inspection requirements that are at least equal to Federal inspection 
                   standards, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                  May 3 (legislative day, May 2), 1994

  Mr. Inouye introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products 
 Inspection Act to permit the movement in interstate commerce of meat 
    and meat food products and poultry products that satisfy State 
 inspection requirements that are at least equal to Federal inspection 
                   standards, 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 ``Meat and Poultry Products Inspection 
Amendments of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION UNDER THE FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION 
              ACT.

    (a) Removal of Intrastate Distribution Limitation.--Section 
301(a)(1) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661(a)(1)) is 
amended by striking ``solely for distribution within such State''.
    (b) Use of State Inspectors.--Section 301(a) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 
661(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) In addition to appointing inspectors under section 
        21, the Secretary may enter into an agreement with a State or 
        the District of Columbia to utilize an officer or employee of 
        the State or the District of Columbia to conduct any 
        examination, investigation, or inspection authorized under this 
        Act, if the Secretary determines that it is practicable for the 
        examination, investigation, or inspection to be so 
        conducted.''.
    (c) Termination of Designation of State as Subject to Federal 
Inspection for Intrastate Distribution.--Section 301(c)(3) of such Act 
(21 U.S.C. 661(c)(3)) is amended by striking ``, with respect to the 
operations and transactions within such State which are regulated under 
subparagraph (1), he'' and inserting ``with respect to each 
establishment within the jurisdiction of the State that does not 
operate under Federal inspection under title I and at which any cattle, 
sheep, swine, goat, or equine is slaughtered, or the carcass of the 
animal, or a part or product of the carcass of the animal, is prepared, 
for use as human food, and with respect to the distribution of each 
carcass, part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product of the animal 
within the State, the Secretary''.
    (d) Expansion of State Inspection Authority.--Section 301 of such 
Act (21 U.S.C. 661) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a carcass, part of a 
carcass, meat, or meat food product of a cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or 
equine prepared under State inspection in a State (other than a State 
designated under subsection (c)) in compliance with the meat inspection 
law of the State shall be eligible for sale or transportation in 
interstate commerce, and for entry into and use in the preparation of a 
product in an establishment at which Federal inspection is maintained 
under title I, in the same manner and to the same extent as a product 
prepared at the establishment.
    ``(2) A State-inspected article described in paragraph (1), and a 
federally inspected article prepared (in whole or in part) from the 
State-inspected article--
            ``(A) shall not be eligible for sale or transportation in 
        foreign commerce; and
            ``(B) shall be separated at all times from all other 
        federally inspected articles in a federally inspected 
        establishment that engages in the preparation, sale, or 
        transportation of carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat, or meat 
        food products, for foreign commerce.
    ``(3) Each carcass, part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product 
that is inspected in a program of inspection in a State (other than a 
State designated under subsection (c)) pursuant to State law shall be 
identified as so inspected only by an official mark that identifies the 
State and is of such design as the State shall prescribe. A federally 
inspected article prepared (in whole or in part) from the State-
inspected article shall be identified as so inspected only by the same 
official mark as is prescribed by the Secretary for an article 
slaughtered or prepared under title I.
    ``(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the operator of an 
establishment operated under Federal or State inspection who wishes to 
transfer to State or Federal inspection, as the case may be, may do so 
only as of October 1 of any year. The transfer shall occur only if--
            ``(A) the operator provides written notice of the intention 
        to transfer to both inspection agencies at least 180 days in 
        advance of the date referred to in the preceding sentence; and
            ``(B) the Secretary determines that the transfer will 
        effectuate the purposes set forth in section 2 and will not 
        adversely affect the stability of the total State and Federal 
        inspection systems.
    ``(5) The Secretary may permit the operator of an establishment to 
transfer from State to Federal inspection at any time if the operator 
presents clear and convincing evidence to the Secretary that the 
establishment intends to, and will be able to, engage in foreign 
commerce to a substantial extent in a manner that would require Federal 
inspection.
    ``(6) As used in this subsection, the term `interstate commerce' 
means commerce between States or between a State and the District of 
Columbia.''.
    (e) Prohibition on Additional or Different State Requirements.--
Section 408 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 678) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 408. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL OR DIFFERENT STATE REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Requirements Relating to Establishments.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        State or Territory or the District of Columbia may not impose a 
        requirement within the scope of this Act with respect to the 
        premises, facility, or operation of an establishment at which 
        inspection is provided under title I that is in addition to, or 
        different than, a requirement under this Act.
            ``(2) Recordkeeping requirements.--A State or Territory or 
        the District of Columbia may impose a recordkeeping or other 
        requirement within the scope of section 202, if the requirement 
        is consistent with such section, with respect to an 
        establishment.
    ``(b) Requirements Relating to Marking, Labeling, Packaging, and 
Ingredients.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        State or Territory or the District of Columbia may not impose a 
        marking, labeling, packaging, or ingredient requirement that is 
        in addition to, or different than, a requirement under this Act 
        with respect to an article prepared at an establishment under 
        Federal inspection in accordance with title I or with respect 
        to an article prepared for commerce at a State-inspected 
        establishment in accordance with section 301(d).
            ``(2) Concurrent jurisdiction.--A State or territory or the 
        District of Columbia may, consistent with this Act, exercise 
        concurrent jurisdiction with the Secretary over an article 
        distributed in commerce or otherwise subject to this Act, for 
        the purpose of preventing the distribution for use as human 
        food of an article that is not in compliance with this Act and 
        is outside of a federally or State-inspected establishment, or 
        in the case of an imported article, that is not at such an 
        establishment, after the entry of the article into the United 
        States.
    ``(c) Effect on Other Laws.--This Act shall not preclude a State or 
Territory or the District of Columbia from imposing a requirement or 
taking any other action, consistent with this Act, with respect to an 
area regulated under this Act that is not referred to in this 
section.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL AND STATE COOPERATION UNDER THE POULTRY PRODUCTS 
              INSPECTION ACT.

    (a) Removal of Intrastate Distribution Limitation.--Section 5(a)(1) 
of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 454(a)(1)) is amended 
by striking ``solely for distribution within such State''.
    (b) Use of State Inspectors.--Section 5(a) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 
454(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) The Secretary may enter into an agreement with a 
        State or the District of Columbia to utilize an officer or 
        employee of the State or the District of Columbia to conduct 
        any examination, investigation, or inspection authorized under 
        this Act, if the Secretary determines that it is practicable 
        for the examination, investigation, or inspection to be so 
        conducted.''.
    (c) Termination of Designation of State as Subject to Federal 
Inspection for Intrastate Distribution.--Section 5(c)(3) of such Act 
(21 U.S.C. 454(c)(3)) is amended by striking ``, with respect to the 
operations and transactions within such State which are regulated under 
subparagraph (1) of this paragraph (c), he'' and inserting ``with 
respect to each establishment within the jurisdiction of the State that 
does not operate under Federal inspection under this Act and at which 
any poultry is slaughtered, or any poultry product is processed, for 
use as human food, and with respect to the distribution of each poultry 
product within the State, the Secretary''.
    (d) Expansion of State Inspection Authority.--Section 5 of such Act 
(21 U.S.C. 454) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a poultry product 
processed under State inspection in a State (other than a State 
designated under subsection (c)) in compliance with the poultry 
products inspection law of the State shall be eligible for sale or 
transportation in interstate commerce, and for entry into and use in 
the preparation of a product in an establishment at which Federal 
inspection is maintained under this Act, in the same manner and to the 
same extent as a poultry product processed at the establishment. A 
poultry product that complies with the poultry product inspection laws 
of the State (other than a State designated under subsection (c)) in 
which the product was processed shall be considered to comply with this 
Act.
    ``(2) A State-inspected poultry product described in paragraph (1), 
and a federally inspected poultry product processed (in whole or in 
part) from the State-inspected poultry product--
            ``(A) shall not be eligible for sale or transportation in 
        foreign commerce; and
            ``(B) shall be separated at all times from all other 
        federally inspected poultry products in a federally inspected 
        establishment that engages in the processing, sale, or 
        transportation of poultry products for foreign commerce.
    ``(3) A poultry product that is inspected in a program of 
inspection in a State (other than a State designated under subsection 
(c)) pursuant to State law shall be identified as so inspected only by 
an official mark that identifies the State and is of such design as the 
State shall prescribe. A federally inspected poultry product processed 
(in whole or in part) from a State-inspected poultry product shall be 
identified as so inspected only by the same official mark as is 
prescribed by the Secretary for a poultry product processed under this 
Act (other than this section or section 11).
    ``(4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the operator of an 
establishment operated under Federal or State inspection who wishes to 
transfer to State or Federal inspection, as the case may be, may do so 
only as of October 1 of any year. The transfer shall occur only if--
            ``(A) the operator provides written notice of the intention 
        to transfer to both inspection agencies at least 180 days in 
        advance of the date referred to in the preceding sentence; and
            ``(B) the Secretary determines that the transfer will 
        effectuate the legislative policy set forth in section 3 and 
        will not adversely affect the stability of the total Federal 
        and State inspection systems.
    ``(5) The Secretary may permit the operator of an establishment to 
transfer from State to Federal inspection at any time if the operator 
presents clear and convincing evidence to the Secretary that the 
establishment intends to, and will be able to, engage in foreign 
commerce to a substantial extent in a manner that would require Federal 
inspection.
    ``(6) As used in this subsection, the term `interstate commerce' 
means commerce between States or between a State and the District of 
Columbia.''.
    (e) Prohibition on Additional or Different State Requirements.--
Section 23 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 467e) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 23. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL OR DIFFERENT STATE REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Requirements Relating to Establishments.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        State or territory or the District of Columbia may not impose a 
        requirement within the scope of this Act with respect to the 
        premises, facility, or operation of an official establishment, 
        that is in addition to, or different than, a requirement under 
        this Act.
            ``(2) Recordkeeping requirements.--A State or territory or 
        the District of Columbia may impose a recordkeeping or other 
        requirement within the scope of section 11(b), if the 
        requirement is consistent with such section, with respect to an 
        establishment.
    ``(b) Requirements Relating to Marking, Labeling, Packaging, and 
Ingredients.--
            ``(1) In general.--A State or territory or the District of 
        Columbia may not impose--
                    ``(A) except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
                marking, labeling, packaging, or ingredient requirement 
                that is in addition to, or different than, a 
                requirement under this Act with respect to an article 
                prepared at an establishment under Federal inspection 
                in accordance with this Act or with respect to an 
                article prepared for commerce at a State-inspected 
                establishment in accordance with section 5(d); or
                    ``(B) any other storage or handling requirement 
                found by the Secretary to unduly interfere with the 
                free flow of any poultry product in commerce.
            ``(2) Concurrent jurisdiction.--A State or territory or the 
        District of Columbia may, consistent with this Act, exercise 
        concurrent jurisdiction with the Secretary over an article 
        distributed in commerce or otherwise subject to this Act, for 
        the purpose of preventing the distribution for use as human 
        food of any article that is not in compliance with this Act and 
        is outside of a federally or State-inspected establishment, or 
        in the case of an imported article, that is not at such an 
        establishment, after the entry of the article into the United 
        States.
    ``(c) Effect on Other Laws.--This Act shall not preclude a State or 
territory or the District of Columbia from imposing a requirement or 
taking any other action, consistent with this Act, with respect to an 
area regulated under this Act that is not referred to in this 
section.''.

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