COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA, Texas, Chairman THOMAS S. FOLEY, Washington Vice Chairman WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina ED JONES, Tennessee GEORGE E. BROWN, JR., California FREDERICK W. RICHMOND, New York 1 JIM WEAVER, Oregon TOM HARKIN, Iowa GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma LEON E. PANETTA, California CHARLES WHITLEY, North Carolina WILLIAM C. WAMPLER, Virginia ARLAN STANGELAND, Minnesota BILL EMERSON, Missouri JOHN L. NAPIER, South Carolina GENE CHAPPIE, California PROFESSIONAL Staff A. MARIO CASTILLO, Staff Director 1 Resigned from Congress Aug. 25, 1982. Resigned from committee Oct. 7, 1981. 3 Elected to committee Dec. 16, 1981. (II) 83-601355 34p83 H.R. 3863, a bill to amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act to increase the number of turkeys which may be slaughtered and processed without inspec- Marlenee, Hon. Ron, a Representative in Congress from the State of Montana Nickerson, Charles, independent turkey producer, Holliston, Mass...... Proctor, Stuart E., Jr., assistant director, National affairs, American Farm Walts, Lew, executive vice president, National Turkey Federation H.R. 6164, a bill to implement the agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the special equipment to be used for such H. CON. RES. 337 WAYNE CRYTS AFFAIR WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1982 H. Con. Res. 337, expressing the sense of Congress concerning the health of the agricultural community in light of the Wayne Cryts affair. de la Garza, Hon. E, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas, opening remarks.. Emerson, Hon. Bill, a Representative in Congress from the State of Missouri, opening remarks.... H.R. 6865, a bill to amend the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, WITNESSES Gardner, John J., Chief, Regulatory Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, HOYLE CREEK WATERSHED PROJECT, MAJOR COUNTY, OKLA., AND TEHACHAPI VALLEY WATERSHED PROJECT, KERN COUNTY, CALIF. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1982 English, Hon. Glenn, a Representative in Congress from the State of Oklaho ma 82 Seinwill, Gerald D., Associate Deputy Chief for Natural Resource Projects, 89 92 Thomas, Hon. William M., a Representative in Congress from the State of Prepared statement Unger, David G., Associate Chief, Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture 83 88 SUBMITTED Material Backes, Karl M., president, Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District, Tehachapi, Calif., prepared statement 86 Kueny, Steven, city administrator, city of Tehachapi, Calif., letter of November 22, 1982, to Hon. Ed Jones.... Larson, Russell, president, Tehachapi Resource Conservation District, Tehachapi, Calif., letter of November 26, 1982, to Hon. Ed Jones 87 AMEND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1982 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON LIVESTOCK, DAIRY, AND POULTRY, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:15 a.m., in room 1301, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Harold L. Volkmer (acting chairman) presiding. Present: Representatives Jones of Tennessee, Stenholm, Hatcher, Hagedorn, and Gunderson. Staff present: Cris Aldrete, special counsel; Peggy Pecore, clerk; Bernard Brenner; Richard Fritz; Floyd Gaibler, and George Palmer. Mr. VOLKMER [acting chairman]. The subcommittee will come to order. The subject of today's hearing is H.R. 3863, to amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act as introduced by Mr. Marlenee. [The bill, H.R. 3863, and the report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture follow:] [H.R. 3863, 97th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act to increase the number of turkeys which may be slaughtered and processed without inspection under such Act, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 15(c)(3) of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.Š.C. 464(c)(3)) is amended by striking out "slaughters" and all that follows and inserting in lieu thereof the following: ", in the current calendar year "(A) slaughters or processes the products of more than 20,000 poultry; or "(B) slaughters or processes the products of poultry at a facility used for slaughtering or processing of the products of poultry by any other poultry producer or person claiming exemption under any of such subparagraphs. Notwithstanding clause (B), the Secretary may grant such exemption to any poultry producer or other person if the Secretary determines, upon application of such poultry producer or other person, that granting such exemption will not impair effectuating the purposes of this Act.". DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., June 1, 1982. Hon. E (KIKA) DE LA Garza, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for a report on H.R. 3863 which would "amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act to increase the number of turkeys which may be slaughtered and processed without inspection under such Act and for other purposes." The Department recommends enactment of this bill. The Food Safety and Inspection Service is responsible for assuring that meat and poultry products are safe, wholesome and accurately labeled. Under the Poultry Products Inspection Act, FSIS inspects all poultry intended for use as human food which is to be shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. The Act, as amended in 1968 by the Wholesome Poultry Products Act (Public Law 90-492), allows those producers slaughtering or processing fewer than 5,000 turkeys, or an equivalent number of poultry (four birds of another species being equivalent to one turkey), in a calendar year to be exempt from Federal inspection. Those producers exempt from Federal inspection are allowed to sell their product only in intrastate commerce. They are required by law to maintain their premises in an acceptable sanitary manner and to slaughter only sound and healthy poultry. They are also required to identify the product with the name and address of the processor. H.R. 3863 amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act to increase the number of turkeys that can be slaughtered annually without Federal inspection from 5,000 to 20,000, thus eliminating the distincition between turkeys and other birds. This proposal further clarifies the law by adding specific language to prevent the exemption provision from being circumvented by other individuals slaughtering or processing additional turkeys in the same plant. Nationwide there are 218 poultry plants under Federal jurisdiction processing turkeys, of which 90 are federally exempt plants producing fewer than 5,000 turkeys. Of those 90 federally exempt plants, 15 plants are now slaughtering at or near the exemption level (4,500-5,000 turkeys). Another 7 plants are also producing fewer than 5,000 turkeys but because they market the turkeys in interstate commerce or to companies requiring inspected birds, they are under Federal inspection. An additional 13 federally inspected poultry plants produce between 5,000-20,000 birds and could become exempt under the provisions of S. 2287. We believe that the additional number of turkeys that would be slaughtered without inspection if the exemption figures were raised to 20,000 would be reasonably small. Under the current exemption, USDA inspects over 99 percent of the 164.5 million turkeys produced annually in the United States. While it is difficult to estimate with any assurance how many more turkeys would be slaughtered without inspection if the exemption were raised to 20,000, it is expected that inspection would remain at the 99 percent level. This is true even assuming that the 13 plants now under Federal inspection which are annually producing 5,000-20,000 turkeys and other species of birds would choose to give up inspection; something we consider unlikely since these processors would then no longer be able to continue to market their turkeys in interstate commerce. However, if these 13 plants were to relinquish inspection and operate under the new exemption provided by this bill, the maximum savings we could expect in inspection cost is estimated at $165,000 annually. The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, JOHN R. BLOCK, Secretary. Mr. VOLKMER. The act currently exempts 5,000 plant-processed turkeys annually from Federal bird-by-bird inspection while exempting 20,000 birds of other poultry species. This bill, as introduced by Mr. Marlenee, would raise this exemption to 20,000 turkeys, the same as for chickens and other poultry species. In the legislative history of the Poultry Products Inspection Act, it is clear that Congress intended to have an exemption from birdby-bird inspection for small family-sized producers. Some have suggested that the 5,000 turkey limit is too low and does not reflect the realities of modern agriculture. Mr. Marlenee's bill addresses this one issue so I am pleased to be able to have him as our first witness at today's hearing. He is a valued member of the full committee and has made many contributions to our work. It is my pleasure to welcome him to the subcommittee today. |