Cattlemen Applaud Introduction of Interstate Shipping Bill
Legislation Alleviates Bias Against Small, State-Inspected Beef Plants
Washington, D.C. (May 16, 2007) – A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday would allow state-inspected processing plants to ship beef across state lines just like federally inspected plants. Reps. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) introduced H.R. 2315, the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act of 2007, along with 15 other cosponsors.
Federal law requires the USDA to inspect all meat products. In the 1960s Congress created state inspection programs that are mandated to be “at least equal to” the federal inspection program. Perishable products – including milk and other dairy items, fruit, vegetables, and fish – are freely shipped across state lines after state inspection. But standard meat products, like poultry, beef, and pork, are prohibited from interstate commerce, despite decades of meeting or surpassing the federal inspection standards. This bill would remove that prohibition.
