Ocean Shipping Reform Act Of 2022 Signed Into LawA win for the U.S. agriculture groups – the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) was signed into law. OSRA addresses some of the most egregious practices threatening U.S. agriculture exports, such as unfair and onerous detention and demurrage charges. Last year alone, the U.S. pork industry exported…
NPPC, Farm Bureau File Prop. 12 Brief With Supreme Court NPPC and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) today filed their initial brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in their case against California’s Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork not produced according to the state’s production standards. The high court is expected to…
MCDONALD’S BOARD REJECTS ANIMAL-RIGHTS ACTIVISTSLate last week, McDonald’s shareholders rejected Carl Icahn’s bid to get two animal-rights activists on the fast-food restaurant’s board. The billionaire investor wants to force the company to stop buying pork from hog farmers who use individual pens for sows. Several other food firms, including Wendy’s, Papa John’s, and Dine Brands…
USDA PROPOSED RULES ON POULTRY INDUSTRY TO BE PUBLISHED SOONUSDA soon will publish a proposed rule and an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) related to poultry production now that the White House Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of the regulations. NPPC is watching the rules, which could provide a preview…
May 20, 2022 MEATPACKING SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR BILL SENT TO FULL HOUSE FOR VOTEThe House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday advanced the “Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act,” H.R. 7606, to the House floor for a vote. The bill would create a special investigator at USDA to bring civil actions for violations of the Packers & Stockyards…
May 13, 2022 SEC EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD ON CLIMATE REPORTING PROPOSALThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday extended to June 17 the comment period on its proposed regulation mandating that publicly-traded companies report on their carbon emissions and other climate-related data and on similar information from partner companies, suppliers, and distributors. The SEC responded…
April 29, 2022 NPPC URGES PHILIPPINES TO EXTEND HIGHER PORK QUOTA AND LOWER TARIFFSNPPC applauded the recent recommendation of an advisory committee to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to extend through the end of the year the country’s reduced tariff rates on pork imports but also urged Manilla to reinstate its higher import quota. The cabinet-level Committee on…
April 22, 2022 USDA LETS MORE PACKING PLANTS RETURN TO FASTER LINE SPEEDSUSDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced it approved the Clemens Food Group pork packing plant in Coldwater, Michigan, to run faster line speeds under a one-year trial program. The agency now has let four plants operate with faster harvesting line…
April 15, 2022 AG GROUPS ENCOURAGE USDA TO MOVE FORWARD WITH RULE ON GENE EDITINGNPPC this week joined 10 other agricultural organizations in sending a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that expressed continued support for USDA’s effort to develop a “modern” regulatory structure for gene editing in livestock. The groups pointed out that gene editing can…
OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL INCLUDED MANY PORK INDUSTRY PRIORITIESThe omnibus spending bill to keep the government operating through fiscal 2022 — approved by Congress last week and signed into law by President Biden this week — included nearly two dozen pork industry priority provisions and programs, with increased funding, that will benefit U.S. producers. A lot…