Text: HF00719 Text: HF00721 Text: HF00700 - HF00799 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. A packer who purchases livestock or executes a contract
2 7 for the purchase of livestock shall notify sellers of prices
2 8 paid for the livestock or under contracts. If the livestock
2 9 are purchased, the packer shall at the beginning of each day
2 10 in which livestock are purchased post, in a conspicuous place
2 11 at the point of delivery, all prices for livestock paid the
2 12 previous day that livestock were purchased. If the packer
2 13 executes a contract for the purchase of the livestock, the
2 14 packer shall notify the seller in writing of prices offered to
2 15 sellers under similar contracts executed the previous day that
2 16 contracts were executed.
2 17 5. An agreement made by a packer in violation of this
2 18 section is voidable.
2 19 6. A packer acting in violation of this section is guilty
2 20 of a fraudulent practice as provided in chapter 714.
2 21 7. The attorney general shall enforce this section. The
2 22 department shall refer any violations of this chapter to the
2 23 attorney general. The attorney general or any person injured
2 24 by a violation of this section may bring an action in district
2 25 court to restrain a packer from violating this section. A
2 26 seller who receives a discriminatory price or who is offered
2 27 only a discriminatory price for livestock based upon a
2 28 violation of this section by a packer, has a civil cause of
2 29 action against the packer and, if successful, shall be awarded
2 30 treble damages.
2 31 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 172C.3 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
2 32 1. A packer shall at the end of each day during which the
2 33 packer purchases livestock or executes a contract for the
2 34 purchase of livestock, submit a report to the department of
2 35 agriculture and land stewardship setting forth information
3 1 regarding prices paid for livestock purchased or under
3 2 contract. The packer shall submit the report to the market
3 3 news service of the United State department of agriculture to
3 4 the extent that the United States department of agriculture
3 5 provides for the reporting.
3 6 2. The reports shall be completed on forms prepared by the
3 7 department of agriculture and land stewardship for comparison
3 8 with cash market prices for livestock according to procedures
3 9 required by the department. However, a report shall not
3 10 include information regarding the identity of a seller.
3 11 3. The failure of a packer to report as required by this
3 12 section is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed one
3 13 thousand dollars for each day that a timely or accurate report
3 14 is not published. The department shall refer to the attorney
3 15 general any packer or packer's agent who the department
3 16 believes is in violation of this section. The attorney
3 17 general may, upon referral from the department, file an action
3 18 in district court to enforce this section.
3 19 EXPLANATION
3 20 This bill creates new Code chapter 172C which regulates
3 21 meat packers. A "packer" is a person who is engaged in the
3 22 business of slaughtering livestock or receiving, purchasing,
3 23 or soliciting livestock for slaughter. The definition
3 24 includes a packer's agent, but does not include a frozen food
3 25 locker plant.
3 26 This bill prohibits price discrimination in the purchase of
3 27 livestock by a packer. The prohibition does not apply if
3 28 first, the price differential is based on the quality of the
3 29 livestock, transportation costs, or the delivery of livestock
3 30 at a specified date or time, and second, information relating
3 31 to the price differential is published. The packer must offer
3 32 to enter into an agreement with other sellers for the delivery
3 33 of livestock according to the same terms and conditions as
3 34 provided in the published notice. In addition, the packer
3 35 must, at the beginning of each day in which livestock are
4 1 purchased, post in a conspicuous place at the point of
4 2 delivery, all prices for livestock paid the previous day. The
4 3 packer must also notify a seller in writing of prices offered
4 4 for sellers in contracts. The bill provides that an agreement
4 5 made in violation of the bill's requirements is voidable. The
4 6 packer violating the provision is guilty of a fraudulent
4 7 practice. The bill provides that the attorney general is
4 8 responsible for enforcing the provision. The bill provides
4 9 that the attorney general or an injured seller may seek
4 10 injunctive relief. The injured seller may be awarded treble
4 11 damages in a court action.
4 12 The bill also provides that a packer must make available to
4 13 the department of agriculture and land stewardship a daily
4 14 report containing prices paid for livestock under contract.
4 15 The packer must submit the report to the market news service
4 16 of the United States department of agriculture to the extent
4 17 that the United States department of agriculture provides for
4 18 the reporting. The failure to make a timely report is
4 19 punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each
4 20 day that a timely or truthful report is not published. The
4 21 attorney general is also charged to enforce this part of the
4 22 bill's requirements.
4 23 LSB 1669HV 78
4 24 da/cf/24
Text: HF00719 Text: HF00721 Text: HF00700 - HF00799 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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