The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (Title IX of the FY2000 USDA appropriations act (P.L. 106-78)) requires large packers and importers to report to

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

the details of all transactions involving purchases of livestock and imported boxed lamb cuts, and the details of all transactions involving domestic and export sales of boxed beef cuts, sales of domestic and imported boxed lamb cuts, and sales of lamb carcasses. Additional provisions impose, in turn, new

data reporting Data reporting is the process of collecting and submitting data which gives rise to accurate analyses of the facts on the ground; inaccurate data reporting can lead to vastly uninformed decision-making based on erroneous evidence. Different from da ...

requirements on USDA, including more frequent price reports along with new monthly information on retail prices for meat and poultry products. In the past, meat packers and processors were not required to report the prices they paid for the animals or the terms of sale. Rather, daily sales and price information was collected by the

Agricultural Marketing Service The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture; it maintains programs in five commodity areas: cotton and tobacco; dairy; fruit and vegetable; livestock and seed; and poultry. These program ...

from companies on a voluntary basis. AMS reporters also attended auctions to collect price information. However, as more and more animals were sold under formula pricing, other contract, or

captive supply Captive supply is a term for that part of the supply that is not owned by a company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objectiv ...

arrangements, the open cash markets became less helpful as benchmarks. On the argument that such arrangements also enabled packers to more easily conceal potential anti-competitive practices, Congress passed the Act, requiring large packers and importers to report prices and other transaction details to the Agricultural Marketing Service. Policy issues include the ability of USDA to effectively implement the mandatory program, which had a 5-year authorization that expired October 22, 2004, and whether mandatory reporting is more or less helpful to producers than the longstanding voluntary reporting system.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act Of 1999 United States Department of Agriculture Riders to United States federal appropriations legislation