abled, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or equine is found by any authorized representative of the Secretary upon any premises where it is held for purposes of, or during or after distribution in, commerce or otherwise subject to title I or II of this Act, and there is reason to believe that any such article is adulterated or misbranded and is capable of use as human food, or that it has not been inspected, in violation of the provisions of title I of this Act or of any other Federal law or the laws of any State or Territory, or the District of Columbia, or that such article or animal has been or is intended to be, distributed in violation of any such provisions, it may be detained by such representative for a period not to exceed twenty days, pending action under section 403 of this Act or notification of any Federal, State, or other government authorities having jurisdiction over such article or animal, and shall not be moved by any person, firm, or corporation from the place at which it is located when so detained, until released by such representative. All official marks may be required by such representative to be removed from such article or animal before it is released unless it appears to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the article or animal is eligible to retain such marks.

"SEC. 403. (a) Any carcass, part of a carcass, meat or meat food product of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or equine, that is being transported in commerce or otherwise subject to title I or II of this Act, or is held for sale in the United States after such transportation, and that (1) is or has been prepared, sold, transported, or otherwise distributed or offered or received for distribution in violation of this Act, or (2) is capable of use as human food and is adulterated or misbranded, or (3) in any other way is in violation of this Act, shall be liable to be proceeded against and seized and condemned, at any time, on a libel of information in any United States district court or other proper court as provided in section 404 of this Act within the jurisdiction of which the article or animal is found. If the article or animal is condemned it shall, after entry of the decree, be disposed of by destruction or sale as the court may direct and the proceeds, if sold, less the court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, but the article or animals shall not be sold contrary to the provisions of this Act, or the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is sold: Provided, That upon the execution and delivery of a good and sufficient bond conditioned that the article or animal shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of contrary to the provisions of this Act, or the laws of the jurisdiction in which disposal is made, the court may direct that such article or animal be delivered to the owner thereof subject to such supervision by authorized representatives of the Secretary as is necessary to insure compliance with the applicable laws. When a decree of condemnation is entered against the article or animal and it is released under bond, or destroyed, court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses shall be awarded against the person, if any, intervening as claimant of the article or animal. The proceedings in such libel cases shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the proceedings in admiralty, except that either party may demand trial by jury of any issue of fact joined in any case, and all such proceedings shall be at the suit of and in the name of the United States. "(b) The provisions of this section shall in no way derogate from authority for condemnation or seizure conferred by other provisions of this Act, or other laws.

"SEC. 404. The United States district court, the District Court of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, the highest court of American Samoa, and the United States courts of the other Territories, are vested with jurisdiction specifically to enforce, and to prevent and restrain violations of, this Act, and shall have jurisdiction in all other kinds of cases arising under this Act, except as provided in section 7(e) of this Act.

"SEC. 405. Any person who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person while engaged in or on account of the performance of his official duties under this Act shall be fined not more than $5.000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. Whoever, in the commission of any such acts, uses a deadly or dangerous weapon, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. Whoever kills any person while engaged in or on account of the performance of his official duties under this Act shall be punished as provided under sections 1111 and 1114 of title 18, United States Code.

"SEC. 406. (a) Any person, firm, or corporation who violates any provision of this Act for which no other criminal penalty is provided by this Act shall upon conviction be subject to imprisonment for not more than one year, or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both such imprisonment and fine; but if such violation involves intent to defraud, or any distribution or attempted distribution of an article that is adulterated (except as defined in section 1 (m) (8) of this Act), such person, firm, or corporation shall be subject to imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine of not more than $10,000, or both: Provided, That no person, firm, or corporation, shall be subject to penalties under this section for receiving for transportation any article or animal in violation of this Act if such receipt was made in good faith, unless such person, firm, or corporation refuses to furnish on request of a representative of the Secretary the name and address of the person from whom he received such article or animal, and copies of all documents, if any there be, pertaining to the delivery of the article or animal to him.

"(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring the Secretary to report for prosecution or for the institution of libel or injunction proceedings, minor violations of this Act whenever he believes that the public interest will be adequately served by a suitable written notice of warning.

"SEC. 407. For the efficient administration and enforcement of this Act, the provisions (including penalties) of sections 6, 8, 9, and 10 of the Act entitled 'An Act to create a Federal Trade Commission, to definite powers and duties, and for other purposes', approved September 26. 1914 (38 Stat. 721-723, as amended; 15 U.S.C. 46, 48, 49, and 50) (except paragraphs (c) through (h) of section 6 and the last paragraph of section 9), and the provisions of subsection 409 (1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 1096, as amended: 47 U.S.C. 409(1)), are made applicable to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of the Secretary in administering and enforcing the provisions of this Act and to any person, firm, or corporation with respect to whom such authority is exercised. The Secretary, in person or by such agents as he may designate, may prosecute any inquiry necessary to his duties under this Act in any part of the United States, and the powers conferred by said section 9 and 10 of the Act of September 26, 1914, as amended, on the district courts of the United States may be exercised for the purposes of this Act by any court designated in section 404 of this Act.

"SEC. 408. Requirements within the scope of this Act with respect to premises, facilities and operations of any establishment at which inspection is provided under title I of this Act, which are in addition to, or different than those made under this Act may not be imposed by any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, except that any such jurisdiction may impose recordkeeping and other requirements within the scope of section 202 of this Act, if consistent therewith, with respect to any such establishment. Marking, labeling, packaging, or ingredient requirements in addition to, or different than, those made under this Act may not be imposed by any State or Territory or the District of Columbia with respect to articles prepared at any establishment under inspection in accordance with the requirements under title I of this Act, but any State or Territory or the District of Columbia may, consistent with the requirements under this Act, exercise concurrent jurisdiction with the Secretary, over articles required to be inspected under said title, for the purpose of preventing the distribution for human food purposes of any such articles which are adulterated or misbranded and are outside of such an establishment, or, in the case of imported articles which are not at such an establishment, after their entry into the United States. This Act shall not preclude any State or Territory or the District of Columbia from making requirement or taking other action, consistent with this Act, with respect to any other matters regulated under this Act.

"SEC. 409. (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, including section 902(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 392 (a)), the provisions of this Act shall not derogate from any authority conferred by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prior to enactment hereof.

"(b) The detainer authority conferred by section 402 of this Act shall apply to any authorized representative of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for purposes of the enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to any carcass, part thereof, meat, or meat food product of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or equines that is outside any premises at which inspection is being maintained under this Act, and for such purposes

the first reference to the Secretary in section 402 shall be deemed to refer to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

"SEC. 410. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act."

SEC. 17. The Secretary of Agriculture shall annually report to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry of the Senate on the operations and effectiveness of this Act.

SEC. 18. The provisions relating to equine meat and meat food products beginning with the phrase "And, hereafter," under the heading "BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY" and the subheading "MEAT INSPECTION, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY:" in the Act approved July 24, 1919, entitled "An Act making appropriation for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and twenty" (41 Stat. 241; 21 U.S.C. 96), and paragraph (b) of section 306 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (46 Stat. 689, as amended; 19 U.S.C. 1306 (b)) are hereby repealed.

SEC. 19. 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 remaining amendments and of the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 20. This Act shall become effective upon enactment except as provided in paragraph (a) through (d):

(a) The provisions of paragraph (b) (1) and (c) of section 10 and the provisions of section 20 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as amended by sections 7 and 10 of this Act, and the provisions of section 18 of this Act repealing paragraph (b) of section 306 of the Tariff Act of 1930, shall become effective upon the expiration of sixty days after enactment hereof.

"(b) The provisions of title I of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as amended by this Act, shall become effective with respect to equines (other than horses) and their carcasses and parts thereof, meat, and meat food products thereof upon the expiration of sixty days after enactment hereof.

(c) Section 11 of this Act, amending section 23 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, shall become effective sixty days after enactment hereof.

(d) Section 204 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, as added by section 14 of this Act, shall become effective upon the expiration of sixty days after enactment hereof.

Passed the House of Representatives October 31, 1967.
Attest:

W. PAT JENNINGS,

Clerk.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Washington, D.C., February 23, 1967.

Hon. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY,
President of the Senate,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Transmitted for consideration of the Congress is a draft of 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."

The Meat Inspection Act was enacted as permanent legislation on March 4, 1907, and has been amended only once, in 1938. There have been many changes in the livestock and meat processing and distributing industries since its enactment. For example, there have been the development of large scale livestock feeding operations in many new areas, the establishment of many separate slaughtering plants and further processing plants at new locations, the adoption of new scientific and highly mechanized processing methods, and improvement in refrigerated transportation facilities which permits rapid long distance distribution of meats.

The changes in the industries have produced conditions under which unscrupulous operators seek, and at times are able, through action not now prohibited by the meat inspection laws, to introduce unfit meat into human food channels and to defraud the public. This Department has always vigorously attempted

to suppress such practices within the framework of the existing laws it administers, and is now concentrating additional efforts for this purpose.

However, experience has shown that additional legislation is urgently needed for truly adequate protection of consumers, the legitimate operators in the affected industries and others associated therewith.

About fifteen percent of the commercially slaughtered cattle, sheep, swine, goats and horses is not prepared for distribution in interstate or foreign commerce and, therefore, under present law is not subject to Federal inspection at the time of slaughter. Approximately 25 percent of the nation's commercially processed meat food products is prepared without Federal inspection and to a significant degree is not subject to adequate State or local inspection or to any inspection at all to assure its wholesomeness. Nevertheless these products are permitted to be intermingled in the retailing process with federally inspected products for sale to the unsuspecting public.

In such an environment the opportunity for illegitimate operators to traffic in dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals has been found to be all too readily prevalent and inviting. Similarly, the economic climate is highly conducive to the practice of adulteration, deceptive labeling and packaging and a variety of fraudulent activities.

The object of the proposed bill is to eliminate numerous opportunities now present to defraud consumers and endanger public health.

The proposed bill will clarify the authority of the Department for regulating the marking, labeling and packaging of carcasses, parts thereof, meats and meat food products, capable of use as human food, in order more fully to assure that the consumer has adequate protection from fraud or deception in these respects. Furthermore, it would clarify prohibitions against counterfeiting, forgery and other unauthorized use of official certificates, labels and marking devices by brand manufacturers, printers, or other persons, firms or corporations. The bill would also meet a need for establishing new authorities with respect to certain operators related to the meat processing industry whose activities have a significant part in the marketing of animal carcasses, meat, and meat food products. This group includes renderers, animal food manufacturers, meat brokers, wholesalers, transporters, and cold storage warehousemen engaged in business in or for commerce, and importers. Conditions under which their activities are carried on are conducive to pervasion by the unscrupulous. Adequate and appropriate controls are necessary to protect consumers. The bill would authorize registration requirements and impose record-keeping requirements with respect to those operators and would further require them to give access to representatives of the Secretary to their places of business for the purpose of examining records, inventories, and facilities and for taking samples upon payment therefor. This authority would materially facilitate control over the buying, selling and importation of carcasses and parts thereof derived from disabled and diseased animals that have died otherwise than by slaughter. These provisions would therefore aid in preventing substitution of such articles and adulteration and mislabeling of the meat supply and similar practices outside of inspected establishments. These new authorities would also be conferred on the Secretary with respect to persons, firms and corporations, that conduct the kinds of business specified in the bill but not in or for commerce, whenever the Secretary determines, after consultation with an advisory committee, that the State or other jurisdiction concerned does not have or is not adequately exercising comparable authority under its laws.

The bill would provide authority for the Secretary to cooperate with the appropriate agency in any State or Territory or the District of Columbia in developing and administering laws of such jurisdiction with respect to meat inspection and other matters covered by the bill. Cooperation with the States would include advisory program planning assistance, and technical and laboratory assistance, as well as financial aid up to, but not to exceed, 50 per centum of the estimated total cost of the State program. Also funds would be made available for training State inspection employees. The bill also provides for the Secretary to appoint advisory committees consisting of appropriate State agency representatives for purposes of consultation with him on such matters as State program evaluation, and establishing better coordination and more uniformity among State programs and between Federal and State systems.

Auxiliary provisions of the proposed bill would also provide detention, seizure and injunction authority needed to prevent distribution of products that are unfit

for human food or otherwise in violation of the Act. The bill would also clarify various authorities and make numerous technical changes to facilitate enforcement of the Act.

The additional Federal costs that would be incurred if the proposed bill is enacted are estimated to be approximately $4,650,000 the first fiscal year.

In the development of State meat inspection programs and for assistance to States in the registration and review of related industries, maximum first year costs are estimated at $3,500,000. This would be expected to increase annually as more States develop effective inspection systems.

Training cost estimates for State inspection employees during the first year are approximately $100,000. This would provide processing inspection training for over 225 trainees and on-the-job in-plant training for over 280 livestock slaughter inspectors.

It is estimated that the costs would not exceed $50,000 per annum for establishing and the functioning of advisory committees to consult with the Secretary on cooperative Federal-State programs.

The registration and review of the related industries by Federal personnel is estimated to cost approximately $1,000,000 per year. This would provide for visiting approximately 10,750 establishments a year in cooperation with State agencies.

The estimated costs for State program development are based on costs in sixteen States that have demonstrated through positive legislative activity that they have an interest in establishing or further developing their meat inspection programs.

There is no means of accurately forecasting the number of plants which will elect to shift from their present intrastate status to interstate operations, or the number of plants affected by possible increased State legislative action to bring them under a State inspection program receiving Federal assistance.

Provisions are made that the proposed amendments will not derogate from authorities vested in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare under the present Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Provisions are also included to further enhance the already established coordination between the two Departments in the administration of applicable food laws.

In addition to the draft bill, there is enclosed a section-by-section analysis of the bill, with further comments as necessary to explain the effect of the provisions.

We believe that the enactment of the bill would not significantly affect consumer prices of meat and meat food products and that the bill is urgently needed in the interest of more adequate protection of consumers and other members of the public.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that enactment of this proposed legislation would be in accord with the President's program.

Sincerely yours,

JOHN A. SCHNITTKER,
Acting Secretary.

EXPLANATION OF MEAT INSPECTION BILLS BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

BILLS BEFORE COMMITTEE

The Committee has before it three bills dealing with meat inspection: S. 2147 (introduced by Senator Montoya), S. 2218 (introduced by Senator Mondale), and H.R. 12144. Except for typographical errors and minor differences (noted in the section by section explanation where substantive) they differ only as follows:

(1) H.R. 12144 and S. 2147 authorize Federal assistance to State inspection programs; while S. 2218 extends Federal inspection to intrastate commerce (subject to waiver in any State with an adequate inspection program).

(2) H.R. 12144 subjects imported meats to the same inspection and sanitary requirements as domestic meats (but excepts individuals purchasing not more than 50 pounds); while S. 2147 and S. 2218 subject imports to "substantially equivalent" requirements.