Rounds, King Introduce Bill to Allow Local Meat and Poultry Products to be Sold Across State Lines
Bill would open up new markets for small producers and processers
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Angus King (I-Maine), today introduced the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act. The bipartisan bill would allow meat and poultry products inspected by state Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) programs to be sold across state lines.
Currently, there are 27 states with inspection programs, certified by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), which meet or exceed federal inspection standards. However, products processed at these FSIS approved state MPI inspected facilities are not currently allowed to be sold across state lines.
“At a time of economic downturn within the ag sector, opening up new markets for South Dakota producers is critically important,” said Rounds. “Currently in South Dakota, cattle, sheep, swine and goat products are limited to markets within the state even though they are required to go through inspection at an FSIS-approved state facility. Because the state inspection programs are required to be ‘at least equal to’ or better than the federal inspection standards, products that pass state inspection should be able to be sold across state lines. Our bipartisan, commonsense bill will create new markets for producers and give consumers more choices at the grocery store, while continuing to maintain the high quality and safety standards necessary to keep consumers healthy.”
“Maine farmers and producers who meet or exceed high-quality state inspection standards for their meat and poultry should have the freedom to access new markets in other states,” said King. “It makes no sense that a local farmer should have to jump through extra federal hoops to compete outside of Maine if they have proven the quality of their product at a federally-approved state facility. This common sense legislation gives our state’s agricultural sector more flexibility to expand its customer base and bring Maine-made meat and poultry products to people throughout the country.”
“We’d like to thank Senator Rounds for his commitment to the independent cattleman and processor,” said Kenny Graner, President of the United States Cattlemen’s Association. “The New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act of 2018 will strengthen local economies by allowing meat and poultry products inspected under State meat inspection programs to be sold across state lines. This opens access to new markets that were previously unavailable due to outdated federal regulations. Facilities operating under a State meat inspection program have to jump through the same hoops as those regulated under the federal meat inspection program. For South Dakota, this means that the 80 state-inspected establishments will be able to sell South Dakota beef across state lines to nearby Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and others. The idea that beef from approved South American countries may be sold across state lines in the United States, while state inspected products can’t go from South Dakota to North Dakota illustrates the inequities of our current law.”
This legislation is supported by the United States Cattlemen’s Association, the South Dakota Farm Bureau, the Maine Farm Bureau, the South Dakota Pork Producers, the South Dakota Meat Inspection Program Director, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, the South Dakota Stockgrowers and the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is an original cosponsor of this legislation.
