
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC1635j]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
     CHAPTER 38--DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
 
              SUBCHAPTER II--LIVESTOCK MANDATORY REPORTING
 
                         Part C--Swine Reporting
 
Sec. 1635j. Mandatory reporting for swine


(a) Establishment

    The Secretary shall establish a program of swine price information 
reporting that will--
        (1) provide timely, accurate, and reliable market information;
        (2) facilitate more informed marketing decisions; and
        (3) promote competition in the swine slaughtering industry.

(b) General reporting provisions applicable to packers and the Secretary

                           (1) In general

        The Secretary shall establish and implement a price reporting 
    program in accordance with this section that includes the reporting 
    and publication of information required under this section.

                       (2) Packer-owned swine

        Information required under this section for packer-owned swine 
    shall include quantity and carcass characteristics, but not price.

                        (3) Packer-sold swine

        If information regarding the type of purchase is required under 
    this section, the information shall be reported according to the 
    numbers and percentages of each type of purchase comprising--
            (A) packer-sold swine; and
            (B) all other swine.

                     (4) Additional information

        (A) Review

            The Secretary shall review the information required to be 
        reported by packers under this section at least once every 2 
        years.

        (B) Outdated information

            After public notice and an opportunity for comment, subject 
        to subparagraph (C), the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
        that specify additional information that shall be reported under 
        this section if the Secretary determines under the review under 
        subparagraph (A) that--
                (i) information that is currently required no longer 
            accurately reflects the methods by which swine are valued 
            and priced by packers; or
                (ii) packers that slaughter a significant majority of 
            the swine produced in the United States no longer use 
            backfat or lean percentage factors as indicators of price.

        (C) Limitation

            Under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may not require 
        packers to provide any new or additional information that--
                (i) is not generally available or maintained by packers; 
            or
                (ii) would be otherwise unduly burdensome to provide.

(c) Daily reporting

                        (1) Prior day report

        (A) In general

            The corporate officers or officially designated 
        representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to 
        the Secretary, for each business day of the packer, such 
        information as the Secretary determines necessary and 
        appropriate to--
                (i) comply with the publication requirements of this 
            section; and
                (ii) provide for the timely access to the information by 
            producers, packers, and other market participants.

        (B) Reporting deadline and plants required to report

            Not later than 7:00 a.m. Central Time on each reporting day, 
        a packer required to report under subparagraph (A) shall report 
        information regarding all swine purchased, priced, or 
        slaughtered during the prior business day of the packer.

        (C) Information required

            The information from the prior business day of a packer 
        required under this paragraph shall include--
                (i) all purchase data, including--
                    (I) the total number of--
                        (aa) swine purchased; and
                        (bb) swine scheduled for delivery; and

                    (II) the base price and purchase data for 
                slaughtered swine for which a price has been 
                established;

                (ii) all slaughter data for the total number of swine 
            slaughtered, including--
                    (I) information concerning the net price, which 
                shall be equal to the total amount paid by a packer to a 
                producer (including all premiums, less all discounts) 
                per hundred pounds of carcass weight of swine delivered 
                at the plant--
                        (aa) including any sum deducted from the price 
                    per hundredweight paid to a producer that reflects 
                    the repayment of a balance owed by the producer to 
                    the packer or the accumulation of a balance to later 
                    be repaid by the packer to the producer; and
                        (bb) excluding any sum earlier paid to a 
                    producer that must later be repaid to the packer;

                    (II) information concerning the average net price, 
                which shall be equal to the quotient (stated per hundred 
                pounds of carcass weight of swine) obtained by 
                dividing--
                        (aa) the total amount paid for the swine 
                    slaughtered at a packing plant during the applicable 
                    reporting period, including all premiums and 
                    discounts, and including any sum deducted from the 
                    price per hundredweight paid to a producer that 
                    reflects the repayment of a balance owed by the 
                    producer to the packer, or the accumulation of a 
                    balance to later be repaid by the packer to the 
                    producer, less all discounts; by
                        (bb) the total carcass weight (in hundred pound 
                    increments) of the swine;

                    (III) information concerning the lowest net price, 
                which shall be equal to the lowest net price paid for a 
                single lot or a group of swine slaughtered at a packing 
                plant during the applicable reporting period per hundred 
                pounds of carcass weight of swine;
                    (IV) information concerning the highest net price, 
                which shall be equal to the highest net price paid for a 
                single lot or group of swine slaughtered at a packing 
                plant during the applicable reporting period per hundred 
                pounds of carcass weight of swine;
                    (V) the average carcass weight, which shall be equal 
                to the quotient obtained by dividing--
                        (aa) the total carcass weight of the swine 
                    slaughtered at the packing plant during the 
                    applicable reporting period; by
                        (bb) the number of the swine described in item 
                    (aa),

            adjusted for special slaughter situations (such as skinning 
                or foot removal), as the Secretary determines necessary 
                          to render comparable carcass weights;

                    (VI) the average sort loss, which shall be equal to 
                the average discount (in dollars per hundred pounds 
                carcass weight) for swine slaughtered during the 
                applicable reporting period, resulting from the fact 
                that the swine did not fall within the individual 
                packer's established carcass weight or lot variation 
                range;
                    (VII) the average backfat, which shall be equal to 
                the average of the backfat thickness (in inches) 
                measured between the third and fourth from the last 
                ribs, 7 centimeters from the carcass split (or adjusted 
                from the individual packer's measurement to that 
                reference point using an adjustment made by the 
                Secretary) of the swine slaughtered during the 
                applicable reporting period;
                    (VIII) the average lean percentage, which shall be 
                equal to the average percentage of the carcass weight 
                comprised of lean meat for the swine slaughtered during 
                the applicable reporting period, except that when a 
                packer is required to report the average lean percentage 
                under this subclause, the packer shall make available to 
                the Secretary the underlying data, applicable 
                methodology and formulae, and supporting materials used 
                to determine the average lean percentage, which the 
                Secretary may convert to the carcass measurements or 
                lean percentage of the swine of the individual packer to 
                correlate to a common percent lean measurement; and
                    (IX) the total slaughter quantity, which shall be 
                equal to the total number of swine slaughtered during 
                the applicable reporting period, including all types of 
                purchases and packer-owned swine; and

                (iii) packer purchase commitments, which shall be equal 
            to the number of swine scheduled for delivery to a packer 
            for slaughter for each of the next 14 calendar days.

        (D) Publication

            The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under 
        this paragraph in a prior day report not later than 8:00 a.m. 
        Central Time on the reporting day on which the information is 
        received from the packer.

                         (2) Morning report

        (A) In general

            The corporate officers or officially designated 
        representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to 
        the Secretary not later than 10:00 a.m. Central Time each 
        reporting day--
                (i) the packer's best estimate of the total number of 
            swine, and packer-owned swine, expected to be purchased 
            throughout the reporting day through each type of purchase;
                (ii) the total number of swine, and packer-owned swine, 
            purchased up to that time of the reporting day through each 
            type of purchase;
                (iii) the base price paid for all base market hogs 
            purchased up to that time of the reporting day through 
            negotiated purchases; and
                (iv) the base price paid for all base market hogs 
            purchased through each type of purchase other than 
            negotiated purchase up to that time of the reporting day, 
            unless such information is unavailable due to pricing that 
            is determined on a delayed basis.

        (B) Publication

            The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under 
        this paragraph in the morning report as soon as practicable, but 
        not later than 11:00 a.m. Central Time, on each reporting day.

                        (3) Afternoon report

        (A) In general

            The corporate officers or officially designated 
        representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to 
        the Secretary not later than 2:00 p.m. Central Time each 
        reporting day--
                (i) the packer's best estimate of the total number of 
            swine, and packer-owned swine, expected to be purchased 
            throughout the reporting day through each type of purchase;
                (ii) the total number of swine, and packer-owned swine, 
            purchased up to that time of the reporting day through each 
            type of purchase;
                (iii) the base price paid for all base market hogs 
            purchased up to that time of the reporting day through 
            negotiated purchases; and
                (iv) the base price paid for all base market hogs 
            purchased up to that time of the reporting day through each 
            type of purchase other than negotiated purchase, unless such 
            information is unavailable due to pricing that is determined 
            on a delayed basis.

        (B) Publication

            The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under 
        this paragraph in the afternoon report as soon as practicable, 
        but not later than 3:00 p.m. Central Time, on each reporting 
        day.

(d) Weekly noncarcass merit premium report

                           (1) In general

        Not later than 4:00 p.m. Central Time on the first reporting day 
    of each week, the corporate officers or officially designated 
    representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to the 
    Secretary a noncarcass merit premium report that lists--
            (A) each category of standard noncarcass merit premiums used 
        by the packer in the prior slaughter week; and
            (B) the amount (in dollars per hundred pounds of carcass 
        weight) paid to producers by the packer, by category.

                          (2) Premium list

        A packer shall maintain and make available to a producer, on 
    request, a current listing of the dollar values (per hundred pounds 
    of carcass weight) of each noncarcass merit premium used by the 
    packer during the current or the prior slaughter week.

                          (3) Availability

        A packer shall not be required to pay a listed noncarcass merit 
    premium to a producer that meets the requirements for the premium if 
    the need for swine in a given category is filled at a particular 
    point in time.

                           (4) Publication

        The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under this 
    subsection as soon as practicable, but not later than 5:00 p.m. 
    Central Time, on the first reporting day of each week.

(Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, Sec. 232, as added Pub. L. 106-78, 
title IX, Sec. 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1195.)

                         Termination of Section

        For termination of section by section 942 of Pub. L. 106-78, see 
    Livestock Mandatory Reporting note set out under section 1635 of 
    this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 1635i of this title.
