§1635j. Mandatory reporting for swine
(a) Establishment
The Secretary shall establish a program of swine price information reporting that will-
(1) provide timely, accurate, and reliable market information;
(2) facilitate more informed marketing decisions; and
(3) promote competition in the swine slaughtering industry.
(b) General reporting provisions applicable to packers and the Secretary
(1) In general
The Secretary shall establish and implement a price reporting program in accordance with this section that includes the reporting and publication of information required under this section.
(2) Packer-owned swine
Information required under this section for packer-owned swine shall include quantity and carcass characteristics, but not price.
(3) Packer-sold swine
If information regarding the type of purchase is required under this section, the information shall be reported according to the numbers and percentages of each type of purchase comprising-
(A) packer-sold swine; and
(B) all other swine.
(4) Additional information
(A) Review
The Secretary shall review the information required to be reported by packers under this section at least once every 2 years.
(B) Outdated information
After public notice and an opportunity for comment, subject to subparagraph (C), the Secretary shall promulgate regulations that specify additional information that shall be reported under this section if the Secretary determines under the review under subparagraph (A) that-
(i) information that is currently required no longer accurately reflects the methods by which swine are valued and priced by packers; or
(ii) packers that slaughter a significant majority of the swine produced in the United States no longer use backfat or lean percentage factors as indicators of price.
(C) Limitation
Under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may not require packers to provide any new or additional information that-
(i) is not generally available or maintained by packers; or
(ii) would be otherwise unduly burdensome to provide.
(c) Daily reporting
(1) Prior day report
(A) In general
The corporate officers or officially designated representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to the Secretary, for each business day of the packer, such information as the Secretary determines necessary and appropriate to-
(i) comply with the publication requirements of this section; and
(ii) provide for the timely access to the information by producers, packers, and other market participants.
(B) Reporting deadline and plants required to report
Not later than 7:00 a.m. Central Time on each reporting day, a packer required to report under subparagraph (A) shall report information regarding all swine purchased, priced, or slaughtered during the prior business day of the packer.
(C) Information required
The information from the prior business day of a packer required under this paragraph shall include-
(i) all purchase data, including-
(I) the total number of-
(aa) swine purchased; and
(bb) swine scheduled for delivery; and
(II) the base price and purchase data for slaughtered swine for which a price has been established;
(ii) all slaughter data for the total number of swine slaughtered, including-
(I) information concerning the net price, which shall be equal to the total amount paid by a packer to a producer (including all premiums, less all discounts) per hundred pounds of carcass weight of swine delivered at the plant-
(aa) including any sum deducted from the price per hundredweight paid to a producer that reflects the repayment of a balance owed by the producer to the packer or the accumulation of a balance to later be repaid by the packer to the producer; and
(bb) excluding any sum earlier paid to a producer that must later be repaid to the packer;
(II) information concerning the average net price, which shall be equal to the quotient (stated per hundred pounds of carcass weight of swine) obtained by dividing-
(aa) the total amount paid for the swine slaughtered at a packing plant during the applicable reporting period, including all premiums and discounts, and including any sum deducted from the price per hundredweight paid to a producer that reflects the repayment of a balance owed by the producer to the packer, or the accumulation of a balance to later be repaid by the packer to the producer, less all discounts; by
(bb) the total carcass weight (in hundred pound increments) of the swine;
(III) information concerning the lowest net price, which shall be equal to the lowest net price paid for a single lot or a group of swine slaughtered at a packing plant during the applicable reporting period per hundred pounds of carcass weight of swine;
(IV) information concerning the highest net price, which shall be equal to the highest net price paid for a single lot or group of swine slaughtered at a packing plant during the applicable reporting period per hundred pounds of carcass weight of swine;
(V) the average carcass weight, which shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing-
(aa) the total carcass weight of the swine slaughtered at the packing plant during the applicable reporting period; by
(bb) the number of the swine described in item (aa),
adjusted for special slaughter situations (such as skinning or foot removal), as the Secretary determines necessary to render comparable carcass weights;
(VI) the average sort loss, which shall be equal to the average discount (in dollars per hundred pounds carcass weight) for swine slaughtered during the applicable reporting period, resulting from the fact that the swine did not fall within the individual packer's established carcass weight or lot variation range;
(VII) the average backfat, which shall be equal to the average of the backfat thickness (in inches) measured between the third and fourth from the last ribs, 7 centimeters from the carcass split (or adjusted from the individual packer's measurement to that reference point using an adjustment made by the Secretary) of the swine slaughtered during the applicable reporting period;
(VIII) the average lean percentage, which shall be equal to the average percentage of the carcass weight comprised of lean meat for the swine slaughtered during the applicable reporting period, except that when a packer is required to report the average lean percentage under this subclause, the packer shall make available to the Secretary the underlying data, applicable methodology and formulae, and supporting materials used to determine the average lean percentage, which the Secretary may convert to the carcass measurements or lean percentage of the swine of the individual packer to correlate to a common percent lean measurement; and
(IX) the total slaughter quantity, which shall be equal to the total number of swine slaughtered during the applicable reporting period, including all types of purchases and packer-owned swine; and
(iii) packer purchase commitments, which shall be equal to the number of swine scheduled for delivery to a packer for slaughter for each of the next 14 calendar days.
(D) Publication
The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under this paragraph in a prior day report not later than 8:00 a.m. Central Time on the reporting day on which the information is received from the packer.
(2) Morning report
(A) In general
The corporate officers or officially designated representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to the Secretary not later than 10:00 a.m. Central Time each reporting day-
(i) the packer's best estimate of the total number of swine, and packer-owned swine, expected to be purchased throughout the reporting day through each type of purchase;
(ii) the total number of swine, and packer-owned swine, purchased up to that time of the reporting day through each type of purchase;
(iii) the base price paid for all base market hogs purchased up to that time of the reporting day through negotiated purchases; and
(iv) the base price paid for all base market hogs purchased through each type of purchase other than negotiated purchase up to that time of the reporting day, unless such information is unavailable due to pricing that is determined on a delayed basis.
(B) Publication
The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under this paragraph in the morning report as soon as practicable, but not later than 11:00 a.m. Central Time, on each reporting day.
(3) Afternoon report
(A) In general
The corporate officers or officially designated representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to the Secretary not later than 2:00 p.m. Central Time each reporting day-
(i) the packer's best estimate of the total number of swine, and packer-owned swine, expected to be purchased throughout the reporting day through each type of purchase;
(ii) the total number of swine, and packer-owned swine, purchased up to that time of the reporting day through each type of purchase;
(iii) the base price paid for all base market hogs purchased up to that time of the reporting day through negotiated purchases; and
(iv) the base price paid for all base market hogs purchased up to that time of the reporting day through each type of purchase other than negotiated purchase, unless such information is unavailable due to pricing that is determined on a delayed basis.
(B) Publication
The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under this paragraph in the afternoon report as soon as practicable, but not later than 3:00 p.m. Central Time, on each reporting day.
(d) Weekly noncarcass merit premium report
(1) In general
Not later than 4:00 p.m. Central Time on the first reporting day of each week, the corporate officers or officially designated representatives of each packer processing plant shall report to the Secretary a noncarcass merit premium report that lists-
(A) each category of standard noncarcass merit premiums used by the packer in the prior slaughter week; and
(B) the amount (in dollars per hundred pounds of carcass weight) paid to producers by the packer, by category.
(2) Premium list
A packer shall maintain and make available to a producer, on request, a current listing of the dollar values (per hundred pounds of carcass weight) of each noncarcass merit premium used by the packer during the current or the prior slaughter week.
(3) Availability
A packer shall not be required to pay a listed noncarcass merit premium to a producer that meets the requirements for the premium if the need for swine in a given category is filled at a particular point in time.
(4) Publication
The Secretary shall publish the information obtained under this subsection as soon as practicable, but not later than 5:00 p.m. Central Time, on the first reporting day of each week.
(Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, §232, as added
Termination of Section
For termination of section by section 942 of
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 1635i of this title.