I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1648
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend certain regulations to clarify
that livestock auction owners may have an interest in small meatpacking
businesses, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Mr. A
LFORD(for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. JOHNSONof South Dakota, Mr.
R
OUZER, Mr. GRAVES, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. VASQUEZ, Mr. SMITHof Ne-
braska, Mr. D
AVISof North Carolina, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. FINSTAD, and
Mr. M
OOREof Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend certain
regulations to clarify that livestock auction owners may
have an interest in small meatpacking businesses, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amplifying Processing 4
of Livestock in the United States Act’’ or the ‘‘A–PLUS 5
Act’’. 6
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SEC. 2. AMPLIFYING PROCESSING OF LIVESTOCK IN THE 1
UNITED STATES (A- PLUS). 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 3
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise 4
section 201.67 of title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, as 5
in effect on January 1, 2025, to specify that— 6
(1) market agencies may have an ownership in-7
terest in, finance, or participate in the management 8
or operation of, a packer, so long as such packer— 9
(A) with respect to cattle and sheep, has a 10
cumulative slaughter capacity of less than— 11
(i) 2,000 animals per day; or 12
(ii) 700,000 animals per year; and 13
(B) with respect to hogs, has a cumulative 14
slaughter capacity of less than— 15
(i) 10,000 animals per day; or 16
(ii) 3,000,000 animals per year; and 17
(2) market agencies that have an ownership in-18
terest in, finance, or participate in the management 19
or operation of, a packer shall disclose to sellers of 20
livestock the existence of such ownership interest, fi-21
nancial relationship, or participation. 22
(b) S
AVINGSCLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 23
be interpreted as a limitation on the authority of the Sec-24
retary to adopt or enforce rules or regulations under the 25
Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 26
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related to the protection of producers, competition, market 1
integrity, or the prevention of conflicts of interest. 2
Æ
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