[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1939 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1939

   To improve reporting in the livestock industry and to ensure the 
    competitiveness of livestock producers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 1996

  Mr. Conrad (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, and Mr. Kerrey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve reporting in the livestock industry and to ensure the 
    competitiveness of livestock producers, 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 ``Livestock Market Revitalization Act 
of 1996''.

SEC. 2. CAPTIVE SUPPLY.

    (a) Definition of Captive Supply.--Section 2(a) of the Packers and 
Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182(a)), is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
            ``(12) Captive supply.--The term `captive supply' means 
        livestock acquired for slaughter by a packer (including 
        livestock delivered 7 days or more before slaughter) under a 
        standing purchase arrangement, forward contract, or packer 
        ownership, feeding, or financing arrangement, as determined by 
        the Secretary.''.
    (b) Annual Report on Livestock Marketed or Slaughtered.--Section 
407 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 228), is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Annual Report on Livestock Marketed or Slaughtered.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make available to 
        the public an annual statistical report on the number and 
        volume of livestock marketed or slaughtered in the United 
        States, including--
                    ``(A) information collected on the date of 
                enactment of this Act; and
                    ``(B) information on transactions involving 
                livestock in regional and local markets.
            ``(2) Administration.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall ensure that--
                    ``(A) a significant share of regional and local 
                livestock transactions are reported; and
                    ``(B) the confidentiality of individual livestock 
                transactions is maintained.''.
    (c) Information on Captive Supply Transactions.--Section 407 of the 
Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 228), as amended by 
subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Information on Captive Supply Transactions.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 24 hours after a 
        transaction involving captive supply is recorded, the Secretary 
        shall make information concerning the transaction (including 
        the specific standing arrangement) available to the public 
        using electronic and other means that will ensure wide 
        availability of the information.
            ``(2) Ongoing livestock transactions.--Any information 
        collected on captive supply under paragraph (1) shall be 
        reported in conjunction with ongoing livestock transactions.''.

SEC. 3. MONITORING OF ANTITRUST AND ANTICOMPETITIVE BEHAVIOR AMONG 
              PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS.

    (a) In General.--Section 407 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 
1921 (7 U.S.C. 228) (as amended by section 2(c)), is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(h) Monitoring of Antitrust and Anticompetitive Behavior.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) review and monitor the degree of antitrust 
                and anticompetitive behavior on a national, regional, 
                and local basis (as defined by the Secretary) among 
                packers, stockyard owners, market agencies, and dealers 
                to ensure compliance with Federal law and to ensure 
                that actions taken by packers, stockyard owners, market 
                agencies, and dealers will enhance, and not diminish, 
                competitiveness; and
                    ``(B) report the results of the review and 
                monitoring to Congress, the Attorney General, and the 
                public.
            ``(2) Coordination.--The Secretary and the Attorney General 
        shall coordinate efforts to ensure that packers, stockyard 
        owners, market agencies, and dealers do not violate Federal law 
        relating to antitrust and anticompetitive behavior.''.
    (b) Reports.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate--
            (1) a report that--
                    (A) assesses the resource needs of the Department 
                of Agriculture for effectively carrying out section 
                407(h) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1971 (7 
                U.S.C. 228(h)) (as added by subsection (a)); and
                    (B) includes a request for any additional funding 
                that may be required for effectively carrying out 
                section 407(h) of the Act; and
            (2) a report that assesses progress in implementing 
        additional monitoring activities identifying geographical 
        procurement markets described in the report entitled 
        ``Monitoring by Packers and Stockyard Administration'', dated 
        October 1991 (GAO/RCED-92-36).

SEC. 4. COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF MARKETING INFORMATION.

    Section 204(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 
1622(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``In carrying 
out this subsection, on a national, regional, and local basis (as 
defined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) provide price information, with emphasis on providing 
        the information at the point of sale;
            ``(2) provide price and other information on a regular and 
        timely basis;
            ``(3) make the information available to the public 
        electronically;
            ``(4) collect and disseminate information supplied by 
        packers (as defined in section 201 of the Packers and 
        Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191)) on contract pricing 
        related to captive supply (as defined in section 2 of the Act 
        (7 U.S.C. 182));
            ``(5) to the extent practicable, promote the use of 
        consistent, value-based pricing methodology throughout the meat 
        industry; and
            ``(6) report, on a weekly basis, the volume of cattle and 
        meat products imported into the United States.''.

SEC. 5. COOPERATIVE BARGAINING.

    Section 4 of the Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 (7 U.S.C. 
2303) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) To fail to engage in good-faith negotiations with producer 
cooperatives (including new cooperatives), or to unfairly discriminate 
among producer cooperatives (including new cooperatives), with respect 
to the purchase, acquisition, or other handling of agricultural 
products.''.

SEC. 6. LABELING OF MEAT AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.

    Section 7(b) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 607(b)) 
is amended by striking ``require,'' and all that follows through the 
period at the end and inserting ``require--
            ``(1) the information required under section 1(n); and
            ``(2) if it was imported (or was produced from an animal 
        that was located in another country for at least 120 days) and 
        is graded, a grading labeling that bears the words `imported', 
        `may have been imported', `this product contains imported 
        meat', `this product may contain imported meat', `this 
        container contains imported meat', or `this container may 
        contain imported meat', as the case may be, or words to 
        indicate its country of origin.''.

SEC. 7. LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall, in 
consultation with representatives of the livestock industry, establish 
a national commission composed of nongovernmental members appointed by 
the Secretary to study and recommend means of modernizing the livestock 
industry and responding to the consumer demand for red meat.
    (b) Study.--In carrying out this section, the commission shall 
analyze costs and benefits, and make recommendations with respect to--
            (1) value-added livestock products;
            (2) the impact of antitrust and anticompetitive behavior on 
        cattle prices;
            (3) the grading system for meat used by the Secretary; and
            (4) refunds of assessments collected under the Beef 
        Research and Information Act (7 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.).
    (c) Report.--Not later January 1, 2000, the commission shall submit 
a report the describes the results of the study required under this 
section to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 
Senate.
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