Immediate
Action Needed to Include Interstate Shipment of State Inspected Meat into the
2002 Farm Bill! Please
Contact Your US Senators and US Representatives and Ask Them to Instruct the House/Senate
Farm Bill 2002 Conference Committee to Support the U.S. Senate Position on Allowing
the Interstate Shipment of Meat that has been Inspected by State Government Meat
Inspection Programs as part of the 2002 Farm Bill. For
more than 90 years, government inspection of meat and meat products at the time
of slaughter and processing has been one of the cornerstones of our national food
safety system. Meat inspection has traditionally been a function performed by
the government, both at the state and the federal level, to protect its citizens
from the dangers of contaminated meat products. Both the federal meat inspection
program and the state administered meat inspection programs have done an outstanding
job of keeping our domestic food supply safe.
However, due to a Depression era federal law, only meat and poultry products that
are inspected under federal meat inspection programs are allowed to be sold across
state lines. This means that state inspected meat and poultry products have a
much smaller market than federally inspected meat and poultry products and farmers
often receive less for their animals in those markets. For more than 20 years,
the National Grange has supported opening interstate commerce to sale meat and
poultry products that are inspected under state meat inspection programs that
are at least as stringent as the federal meat inspection program. The
Senate version of the 2002 Farm Bill (S. 1731) contains language supporting interstate
shipment of state inspected meat and poultry products. This bipartisan provision
was sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT) and Sen. Tom Harkin (IA). The
Senate Farm Bill language reiterates the benefits of a more uniform food safety
system and the merits for allowing interstate shipment of state-inspected meat
and poultry products. Allowing interstate shipment of state-inspected meat and
poultry products will increase the viability of state meat and poultry inspection,
improve food safety by creating a more uniform system with one set of rules, enhance
consumer confidence in our food supply, give farmers and ranchers a more competitive
market to sell into, and provide consumers with more choices at the supermarket.
More
importantly, the Senate Farm Bill provision also requires USDA to conduct a comprehensive
review of state meat inspection programs by September 30, 2003. This review must
be completed before interstate shipment can begin. It will ensure that state inspection
programs are and will be "equal to" federal requirements and it adds an additional
margin of safety to the state inspection process. More
reasons why the National Grange supports the interstate shipment of state-inspected
meat and poultry products.
Allowing interstate meat shipment will level the economic playing field for small
businesses and help small meat processors grow and expand into new markets. Current
law places small meat processors who chose to participate in state meat inspection
programs at a competitive disadvantage. Under
numerous trade agreements, foreign-produced meat and poultry products can be freely
shipped and sold anywhere in the U.S. This gives our foreign competitors greater
access to the U.S. market than our own hard-working, farmers, ranchers and small
business owners in this country who are denied the same opportunity. Our trade
agreements did not create this problem. This is an unfair situation that we impose
on ourselves through existing federal law. Without
change, growing concentration in agriculture will continue to leave smaller farmers
and ranchers with fewer buyers for their livestock and poultry, further depressing
their financial situation which is already stressed by low commodity prices. Already
the four largest meatpacking and processing companies control 80% of the market
in the US, in part, because they are currently sheltered from competition with
state inspected meat processing companies under existing federal law. Interstate
meat shipment will spur more competition in the system by giving farmers and ranchers
more opportunities to sell their livestock at better prices. This will create
jobs and stimulate the rural economy. The
current ban on interstate shipment does not apply to "non-amenable" meats such
as venison, buffalo, pheasant, and rabbit. It makes no sense to allow these products
across state borders while beef, pork, and lamb cannot be shipped in interstate
commerce. Action
Plan---The 2002 House/Senate Farm Bill conference committee is now writing
the final version of the 2002 Farm Bill. Please Ask your US Senators and US Representatives
to immediately instruct the 2002 Farm Bill conference committee to support the
following Grange supported provision to open state inspected meat products to
interstate commerce as part of the 2002 Farm Bill!
1. Support including the Harkin-Hatch Amendment from the Senate version of the
Farm Bill on interstate shipment of state-inspected meat and poultry products
as part of the final 2002 Farm Bill. Thank
you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program. | 
