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Correspondence submitted to the subcommittee:

Beirne, Joseph A., president, Communications Workers of America,
letter of July 14, 1967...

Page

200

Campbell, Phil, commissioner of agriculture, Georgia Department
of Agriculture, letter of:

March 27, 1967, to Hon. Robert Stephens, Jr.---
March 27, 1967, to Charles Paul..

234

234

English, J. T., secretary, Illinois Independent Meat Packers and
Processors Association, letter of July 1, 1967_-.

154

Harris, Lee, secretary-treasurer, Oklahoma Independent Meat Packers
Association, letter of July 10, 1967--

154

Lynn, John C., legislative director, American Farm Bureau Federa-
tion, letter of July 11, 1967-

156

Moore, Robert B., secretary-treasurer, North Carolina Meat Packers
Association, Inc., letter of June 30, 1967-

234

Potter, J. C., J. C. Potter Country Style Pork Sausage, letter of

July 13, 1967..

Shanks, R. E., president, Illinois Independent Meat Packers and
Processors Association, letter of July 11, 1967-

155

Thies, John M., president, Thies Packing Co., Inc., letter of July 17,
1967.-

231

AMEND MEAT INSPECTION ACT

MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1967

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON LIVESTOCK AND GRAINS

OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,

Washington, D.C. The committee met at 10 a.m., in room 1301, Longworth House Office Building, the Honorable Graham Purcell (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Purcell, Jones of Missouri, Stubblefield, Montgomery, May, Dole, Mayne, Zwach, and Kleppe.

Mr. PURCELL. The subcommittee will please come to order. This morning we will be considering H.R. 6168, and at least two other bills. Mr. Smith, who is present with our subcommittee this morning, introduced 6168 and also 1314.

Mrs. Sullivan introduced 1321.

(The bills follow:)

[H.R. 1314, 90th Cong., first sess.]

A BILL To extend Federal meat inspection and to permit cooperation with State meat inspection services, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That meat and meat food products are an important source of the Nation's total supply of food. Meat and meat food products are consumed throughout the Nation and substantial quantities thereof move in interstate and foreign commerce. Unwholesome, adulterated, or mislabeled meat or meat food products in the channels of interstate or foreign commerce, or in competition with other meat and meat food products in such commerce, are injurious to the public welfare, result in sundry losses to producers, and destroy markets for wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled meat and meat food products. The marketing of wholesome, unadulterated, properly labeled meat and meat food products is in the public interest and affects the welfare of the people. All livestock and meats and meat food products which are subject to inspection or are otherwise regulated under this Áct are either in the current of interstate or foreign commerce or substantially affect such commerce.

SEC. 2. (a) The meat inspection provisions of the Act of March 4, 1907 (ch. 2907, 34 Stat. 1260-1265), as amended and extended (21 U.S.C. 71 et seq.), hereinafter in this Act called the Meat Inspection Act, are hereby further extended to the slaughtering of all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses, and to the processing and comprehensive marking and labeling of all meat and meat food products thereof, at any establishment not otherwise subject to the Meat Inspection Act, at which slaughtering of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or horses, or the processing of the meat or meat food products of any such animals, is conducted by any person, firm, or corporation which (1) is engaged, in any of its operations, in interstate or foreign commerce or in activities affecting such commerce, or (2) controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, any other person, firm, or corporation so engaged: Provided, That the operations of any such person, firm, or corporation, with respect to slaughtering of such animals or preparation of such meat or meat food products have an annual outflow or inflow (direct or indirect) across State lines of at least $50,000.

(b) Such establishments and all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses slaughtered, and all meats and meat food products of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and

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horses processed, at such establishments shall be subject to the inspection, complete control of chemicals and other additives, comprehensive marking and labeling, and other provisions of the Meat Inspection Act to the same extent as if the meat and meat food products were intended for interstate or foreign commerce, unless exempted under paragraph (c).

(c) The provisions of said Act shall not be extended hereby to any establishment exempted by the Secretary of Agriculture upon his finding that not more than fifty thousand pounds of cattle, sheep, swine, and goats, or of horses (on a live weight basis) are slaughtered and not more than twenty thousand pounds of meat and meat food products (on a finished product basis) are processed at such establishment in any calendar week. The Secretary shall grant such exemptions to slaughterers and processors who are eligible therefor, and shall withdraw such exemptions when he finds that they are not warranted by the facts. The Secretary may also exempt any establishment from inspection under this Act at any time for periods not in excess of ninety days whenever he finds that it is impracticable to provide such inspection due to lack of inspectors or similar causes. Exemption under this paragraph shall apply to the distribution of meat or meat food products only within the State in which the plant is located. (d) As used in this section

(1) direct outflow means goods shipped or services furnished by the person, firm, or corporation outside the home State;

(2) direct inflow means goods or services furnished the person, firm, or corporation directly from outside the home State;

(3) indirect outflow means the sale of goods or services to any user who is engaged in activities in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce and who (A) conducts a retail enterprise having a gross volume of business of at least $500,000 per annum or (B) conducts a hotel or motel enterprise (other than a residential hotel or motel enterprise, at least 75 per centum of the guests of which remain for a month or more) which receives at least $500,000 in gross revenues per annum, or (C) conducts nonretail operations with an annual direct outflow or direct inflow across State lines of at least $50,000;

(4) indirect inflow means goods which originated outside the home State, but which the person, firm, or corporation purchased from a seller or supplier within the State;

(5) "State" means State, territory, or the District of Columbia; and

(6) "goods" means live animals, products thereof, or any other articles. SEC. 3. (a) Any person, firm, or corporation who slaughters any animals or processes any meat or meat food products subject to this Act or the Meat Inspection Act without the inspection required by either of said Acts, after notice of such requirement, or who transports, sells, or offers or receives for transportation or sale in interstate or foreign commerce, or otherwise, any meat or meat food product required to be inspected under either of said Acts, which has not been so inspected and passed or which does not bear the marks of such inspection, or any meat or meat food product required to be inspected or exempted under either of said Acts, which is capable of use as human food and is unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food or is adulterated, or bears or is accompanied by any false or deceptive marking or labeling or fails to have any marking or labeling required by regulations under this Act or the Meat Insepction Act to prevent deception of consumers or other members of the public, shall be subject to the penalties provided in the eighteenth paragraph of the Meat Inspection Act.

(b) The seizure and injunction provisions with respect to violation of the Meat Inspection Act shall apply also with respect to violation of this Act.

SEC. 4. Every person, firm, or corporation who is or has been engaged in the business of slaughtering any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or horses, or processing, transporting, storing, or selling any meat or meat food products shall maintain such records as the Secretary of Agriculture may by regulation require to enable him to determine whether such person, firm, or corporation is or was subject to or in compliance with the requirements of the Meat Inspection Act or this Act and shall, upon request of a duly authorized representative of the Secretary, permit him at all reasonable times to have access to, and to copy, all such records. Any record required to be maintained by this section shall be maintained for such period of time as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe. Any person, firm, or corporation who fails to maintain or give access to records as required under this section shall be subject to the penalties provided in the eighteenth paragraph of the Meat Inspection Act.

SEC. 5. This Act shall apply with respect to operations of establishments in areas (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) in which the Meat Inspection Act applies.

SEC. 6. The Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate such regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 7. The eighth paragraph and the second proviso of the twenty-first paragraph of the Meat Inspection Act (34 Stat. 1262, 21 U.S.C. 78; 52 Stat. 1235, 21 U.S. C. 91) are hereby deleted.

SEC. 8. Notwithstanding the Act approved June 5, 1948 (ch. 423, 62 Stat. 344; 21 U.S.C. 98), the Secretary of Agriculture may cooperate subject to the conditions stated below and such further conditions as he deems necessary with agencies of States or subdivisions thereof in performing meat inspection services and conduct examinations, investigations, and inspections as he determines practicable through any officer or employee of any such agency who, upon recommendation of the responsible State official, is designated or appointed by the Secretary for such purpose and who is compensated by the State or subdivision thereof for such service. Under any such cooperative arrangement, the Secretary of Agriculture as a minimum shall have final authority

(1) to determine the individual establishments under the State system to which, upon recommendation of the responsible State official, the service will be extended and to withdraw such service from any establishment which fails to conform with Federal requirements and orders;

(2) to determine the individual inspectors who will be designated or appointed and to withdraw such designations or appointments in his discretion; and

(3) to cancel the arrangement completely upon withdrawal of adequate financial support by the State. Any person designated or appointed by the Secretary hereunder shall be deemed an "inspector" for the purposes of the provisions of the Meat Inspection Act relating to bribery of, or gifts to, inspectors or other officers and acceptance of gifts (34 Stat. 1264; 21 U.S.C. 90).

SEC. 9. If any provision of this Act or of the amendments made hereby or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and the amendments and of the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby. SEC. 10. The provisions of this Act and of the amendments made hereby shall become effective one year after enactment.

[H.R. 1321, 90th Cong., first Sess.]

A BILL To amend the Meat Inspection Act to extend its coverage in certain areas

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the portions of the Act of March 4, 1907, which are known as the Meat Inspection Act are hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

"Upon application by any appropriate State or local official or agency of a substantial portion of any major consuming area, or upon application by an appropriate local meat industry group in such an area, where the Secretary has reason to believe that meat or meat food products are handled or consumed in such volume as to affect, burden, or obstruct the movement of inspected meat or meat food products in interstate or foreign commerce, the Secretary shall conduct a public hearing to ascertain whether or not it will tend to effectuate the purposes of this Act for such area to be subject to this Act. If after public hearing the Secretary finds that meat or meat food products are handled or consumed in such volume as to affect, burden, or obstruct the movement of inspected meat and meat food products in interstate or foreign commerce and that the designation of such area will tend to effectuate the purposes of this Act, he shall by order designate such area and prescribe which of the provisions of this Act shall be applicable thereto and grant such exemptions therefrom as he determines practicable. Such designation shall not become effective until six months after the notice thereof is published in the Federal Register. On and after the effective date of such designation, all meat and meat food products processed, sold, received, or delivered in any such area shall be subject to this Act. As used herein, the term 'this Act' means the provisions of the Act of March 4, 1907, which is known as the Meat Inspection Act.”

[H.R. 6168, 90th Cong., first sess.]

A BILL To clarify and otherwise amend the Meat Inspection Act, to provide for cooperation with appropriate State agencies with respect to State meat inspection programs, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the Wholesome Meat Act and that the provisions appearing under the subheading "FOR MEAT INSPECTION:" under the heading "BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY" in the Act approved March 4, 1907, entitled "An Act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eight" (34 Stat. 1260-1265, as amended; 21 U.S.C. 71-91), are hereby designated as the "Federal Meat Inspection Act"; the first twenty paragraphs thereof are hereby designated, respectively, as sections 3 through 22, and the twenty-first and twentysecond paragraphs thereof as section 23; and said sections 3 through 23 are hereby designated as "TITLE I-INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS; ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING".

SEC. 2. The Federal Meat Inspection Act is hereby amended by adding, in title I, new sections 1 and 2 reading, respectively, as follows:

"SECTION 1. As used in this Act, except as otherwise specified, the following terms shall have the meanings stated below:

"(a) The term 'Secretary' means the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States or his delegatee.

"(b) The term 'firm' means any partnership, association, or other unincorporated business organization.

"(c) The term 'meat broker' means any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of buying or selling carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat, or meat food products of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines on commission, or otherwise negotiating purchases or sales of such articles other than for his own account or as an employee of another person, firm, or corporation.

"(d) The term 'renderer' means any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of rendering carcasses, or parts or products of the carcasses, of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, except rendering conducted under inspection or exemption under title I of this Act.

"(e) The term 'animal food manufacturer' means any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of manufacturing or processing animal food derived wholly or in part from carcasses, or parts or products of the carcasses, of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines.

"(f) The term 'State' means any State of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

"(g) The term 'territory' means Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States, excluding the Canal Zone.

"(h) The term 'commerce' means commerce between any State, any territory, or the District of Columbia, and any place outside thereof; or within any territory not organized with a legislative body, or the District of Columbia.

"(i) The term 'United States' means the States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States.

"(j) The term 'meat food product' means any product capable of use as human food which is made wholly or in part from any meat or other portion of the carcass of any cattle, sheep, swine, or goats, excepting products which contain meat or other portions of such carcasses only in a relatively small proportion or historically have not been considered by consumers as products of the meat food industry, and which are exempted from definition as a meat food product by the Secretary under such conditions as he may prescribe to effectuate the purposes of this Act. This term as applied to food products of equines shall have a meaning comparable to that provided in this paragraph with respect to cattle, sheep, swine, and goats.

"(k) The term 'capable of use as human food' shall apply to any carcass, or part or product of a carcass, of any animal, unless it is denatured or otherwise identified as required by regulations prescribed by the Secretary to deter its use as human food, or it is naturally inedible by humans.

"(1) The term 'prepared' means slaughtered, canned, salted, rendered, boned, cut up, or otherwise manufactured or processed.

"(m) The term 'adulterated' shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat or meat food product under one or more of the following circumstances:

"(1) if it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health; but in case the substance is not an added substance, such article shall not be considered adulterated under this clause

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