GIPSA Final Interim Rule Implementation Delayed
The rule had been scheduled to take effect April 22. But a notice in tomorrow's Federal Register will push back its effective date by 180 days and include a 60-day comment period (from April 12 to June 10) on whether the interim finally rule should be withdrawn or delayed further. This means the so-called "Farmer Fair Practices Rules" will not take effect until Oct. 19, if at all.
Livestock groups say today's delay shows the Trump administration is taking the time to review the regulation and public comments on it, particularly in regard to its negative impact on the livestock industry. "We are confident that once the new secretary of agriculture takes office, he will recognize what a disaster this rule is for producers, meat packers and processors, retailers and consumers,” says NAMI CEO Barry Carpenter.
The interim final rule would broaden the scope of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) of 1921 related to using "unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practices" and to giving "undue or unreasonable preferences or advantages." The rule would deem such actions violations of federal law, even if they didn't harm competition or cause competitive injury.
An Informa Economics study found that the GIPSA rules could cost the U.S. pork industry more than $420 million annually, with the bulk of the cost related to PSA lawsuits brought under the "no competitive injury" provision of the interim final rule, NPPC details.
NCC says that the agency's interim final rule and proposed rules would "inflict billions of dollars of economic harm to American agriculture, exceed GIPSA's statutory authority, and represent an arbitrary and capricious abuse of federal regulatory authority."
And NAMI's Carpenter says that both the interim final rule and the previously proposed GIPSA rules "violate the intent of Congress, numerous court rulings and the Administration’s desire to reduce regulations and control costs, and they will undermine the meat industry’s ability to meet consumer demand."
