Friday, September 20, 2013

New GIPSA Rule on “Weighing; Feed and Swine Contractors” Takes Effect Today

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has amended the regulations  issued under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921.  The final rule, which was released in the August 21, 2013, Federal Register will go into effect today, September 20, 2013.

The changes amend regulations regarding scale tickets to reduce redundant wording and clarify weighing procedures, add swine contractors to the list of firms that must comply with reweighing, and add feed to the list of items that may need reweighing.  Additional changes include amendments to regulations about weighing livestock and poultry to include the weighing process for feed, add a specific timeline for weighing poultry, and add swine contractors to the list of firms that must comply with care and promptness requirements.  The purpose of these amendments is “to ensure that payments by live poultry dealers and swine contractors to poultry and swine production contract growers are based on accurate weighing of both inputs and outputs.”

GIPSA is an agency of USDA which was established through a joining of the Federal Grain Inspection Service and the Packers and Stockyards Administration in 1994.  GIPSA is part of USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs working to ensure a competitive and productive global marketplace for U.S. agricultural products.  GIPSA’s mission is “[t]o facilitate the marketing of livestock, poultry, meat, ceareals, oilseeds, and related products, and promote fair and competitive trading practices for the overall benefit of consumers and American Agriculture.”


For more information on GIPSA, please visit their website.  The final rule can be found in the August 21, 2013 Federal Register.

Written by Alyssa Looney – Research Assistant
The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center
@PSUAgLawCenter
September 20, 2013

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