Text: HF00288 Text: HF00290 Text: HF00200 - HF00299 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 172C.1 DEFINITIONS.
1 2 1. "Livestock" means live cattle, swine, or sheep.
1 3 2. "Packer" means a person who is engaged in the business
1 4 of slaughtering livestock or receiving, purchasing, or
1 5 soliciting livestock for slaughter, if the meat products of
1 6 the slaughtered livestock which are directly or indirectly to
1 7 be offered for resale or for public consumption and the meat
1 8 products have a total annual value of ten million dollars or
1 9 more. As used in this chapter, "packer" includes an agent of
1 10 the packer engaged in buying or soliciting livestock for
1 11 slaughter on behalf of a packer. "Packer" does not include a
1 12 frozen food locker plant regulated under chapter 172.
1 13 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 172C.2 PRICE DISCRIMINATION –
1 14 PROHIBITION.
1 15 1. Except as provided in subsection 2, a packer purchasing
1 16 or soliciting livestock for slaughter in this state shall not
1 17 discriminate in prices paid or offered to be paid to sellers
1 18 of that livestock.
1 19 2. The section shall not apply to the sale and purchase of
1 20 livestock if all of the following requirements are met:
1 21 a. The price differential is based on one of the
1 22 following:
1 23 (1) The quality of the livestock, if the packer purchases
1 24 or solicits the livestock based upon a payment method
1 25 specifying prices paid for criteria relating to carcass merit.
1 26 (2) Actual and quantifiable costs related to transporting
1 27 and acquiring the livestock by the packer.
1 28 (3) An agreement for the delivery of livestock at a
1 29 specified date or time.
1 30 b. After making a differential payment to a seller, the
1 31 packer publishes information relating to the differential
1 32 pricing, including the payment method for carcass merit,
1 33 transportation and acquisition pricing, and an offer to enter
1 34 into an agreement for the delivery of livestock at a specified
1 35 date or time according to the same terms and conditions
2 1 offered to other sellers.
2 2 3. A packer shall provide all sellers with the same terms
2 3 and conditions offered to a seller who receives a differential
2 4 price based on any of the criteria described in subsection 2,
2 5 paragraph "a".
2 6 4. The packer shall, at the beginning of each day in which
2 7 livestock are purchased, post in a conspicuous place at the
2 8 point of delivery, all prices for livestock to be paid that
2 9 day.
2 10 5. An agreement made by a packer in violation of this
2 11 section is voidable.
2 12 6. A packer acting in violation of this section is guilty
2 13 of a fraudulent practice as provided in chapter 714.
2 14 7. The attorney general shall enforce this section. The
2 15 department shall refer any violations of this chapter to the
2 16 attorney general. The attorney general or any person injured
2 17 by a violation of this section may bring an action in district
2 18 court to restrain a packer from violating this section. A
2 19 seller who receives a discriminatory price or who is offered
2 20 only a discriminatory price for livestock based upon a
2 21 violation of this section by a packer, has a civil cause of
2 22 action against the packer and, if successful, shall be awarded
2 23 treble damages.
2 24 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 172C.3 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
2 25 1. A packer shall make available for publication and to a
2 26 board of trade approved by the secretary of state, a daily
2 27 report setting forth information regarding prices paid for
2 28 livestock, under each contract in force, in which the packer
2 29 and an Iowa resident are parties for the purchase of the
2 30 livestock by the packer, and which sets a date for delivery
2 31 more than twenty days after the making of the contract.
2 32 2. The reports shall be completed on forms prepared by the
2 33 secretary of state for comparison with cash market prices for
2 34 livestock according to procedures required by the secretary of
2 35 state. However, a report shall not include information
3 1 regarding the identity of a seller.
3 2 3. The failure of a packer to report as required by this
3 3 section is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed one
3 4 thousand dollars for each day that a timely or accurate report
3 5 is not published. The secretary of state shall refer to the
3 6 attorney general any packer or packer's agent who the
3 7 secretary of state believes is in violation of this section.
3 8 The attorney general may, upon referral from the secretary of
3 9 state, file an action in district court to enforce this
3 10 section.
3 11 EXPLANATION
3 12 This bill creates new Code chapter 172C which regulates
3 13 meat packers. A "packer" is a person who is engaged in the
3 14 business of slaughtering livestock or receiving, purchasing,
3 15 or soliciting livestock for slaughter. The definition
3 16 includes a packer's agent, but does not include a frozen food
3 17 locker plant.
3 18 This bill prohibits price discrimination in the purchase of
3 19 livestock by a packer. The prohibition does not apply if
3 20 first, the price differential is based on the quality of the
3 21 livestock, transportation costs, or the delivery of livestock
3 22 at a specified date or time, and second, information relating
3 23 to the price differential is published. The packer must offer
3 24 to enter into an agreement with other sellers for the delivery
3 25 of livestock according to the same terms and conditions as
3 26 provided in the published notice. In addition, the packer
3 27 must, at the beginning of each day in which livestock are
3 28 purchased, post in a conspicuous place at the point of
3 29 delivery, all prices for livestock to be paid that day. The
3 30 bill provides that an agreement made in violation of the
3 31 bill's requirements is voidable. The packer violating the
3 32 provision is guilty of a fraudulent practice. The bill
3 33 provides that the attorney general is responsible for
3 34 enforcing the provision. The bill provides that the attorney
3 35 general or an injured seller may seek injunctive relief. The
4 1 injured seller may be awarded treble damages in a court
4 2 action.
4 3 The bill also provides that a packer must make available
4 4 for publication, and to a board of trade, a daily report
4 5 containing prices paid for livestock under each contract in
4 6 force in which the packer and an Iowa resident are parties, if
4 7 delivery under the contract is set more than 20 days after the
4 8 contract is executed. The failure to make a timely report is
4 9 punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each
4 10 day that a timely or truthful report is not published. The
4 11 attorney general is also charged to enforce this part of the
4 12 bill's requirements.
4 13 LSB 1669HH 78
4 14 da/cf/24
Text: HF00288 Text: HF00290 Text: HF00200 - HF00299 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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