Agricultural Marketing Service October 3, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is soliciting comments on proposed revisions to the regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921. The proposal would prohibit certain prejudices against market-vulnerable individuals that tend to exclude or disadvantage covered producers in those markets. The proposal would identify retaliatory practices that interfere with lawful communications, assertion of rights, and associational participation, among other protected activities, as unjust discrimination prohibited by the law. The proposal would also identify unlawfully deceptive practices that violate the Packers and Stockyards Act with respect to contract formation, contract performance, contract termination, and contract refusal. The purpose of the rule is to promote inclusive competition and market integrity in the livestock, meats, poultry, and live poultry markets.