7 U.S.C. § 1636e — Voluntary reporting

Page 939 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 1636h this subchapter shall maintain, and make avail- able to the Secretary on request, for 2 years— (1) the original contracts, agreements, re- ceipts and other records associated with any transaction relating to the purchase, sale, pricing, transportation, delivery, weighing, slaughter, or carcass characteristics of all livestock; and (2) such records or other information as is necessary or appropriate to verify the accu- racy of the information required to be re- ported under this subchapter. (b) Limitations Under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary may not require a packer to provide new or additional in- formation if— (1) the information is not generally available or maintained by packers; or (2) the provision of the information would be unduly burdensome. (c) Purchases of cattle or swine A record of a purchase of a lot of cattle or a lot of swine by a packer shall evidence whether the purchase occurred— (1) before 10:00 a.m. Central Time; (2) between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Central Time; or (3) after 2:00 p.m. Central Time. (Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, § 255, as added Pub. L. 106–78, title IX, § 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1203.) § 1636e. Voluntary reporting The Secretary shall encourage voluntary re- porting by packers (as defined in section 191 of this title) to which the mandatory reporting re- quirements of this subchapter do not apply. (Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, § 256, as added Pub. L. 106–78, title IX, § 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1204.) § 1636f. Publication of information on retail pur- chase prices for representative meat prod- ucts (a) In general Beginning not later than 90 days after October 22, 1999, the Secretary shall compile and publish at least monthly (weekly, if practicable) infor- mation on retail prices for representative food products made from beef, pork, chicken, turkey, veal, or lamb. (b) Information The report published by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall include— (1) information on retail prices for each rep- resentative food product described in sub- section (a); and (2) information on total sales quantity (in pounds and dollars) for each representative food product. (c) Meat Price Spreads Report During the period ending 2 years after the ini- tial publication of the report required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall continue to publish the Meat Price Spreads Report in the same manner as the Report was published before October 22, 1999. (d) Information collection (1) In general To ensure the accuracy of the reports re- quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall obtain the information for the reports from one or more sources including— (A) a consistently representative set of re- tail transactions; and (B) both prices and sales quantities for the transactions. (2) Source of information The Secretary may— (A) obtain the information from retailers or commercial information sources; and (B) use valid statistical sampling proce- dures, if necessary. (3) Adjustments In providing information on retail prices under this section, the Secretary may make adjustments to take into account differences in— (A) the geographic location of consump- tion; (B) the location of the principal source of supply; (C) distribution costs; and (D) such other factors as the Secretary de- termines reflect a verifiable comparative re- tail price for a representative food product. (e) Administration The Secretary— (1) shall collect information under this sec- tion only on a voluntary basis; and (2) shall not impose a penalty on a person for failure to provide the information or other- wise compel a person to provide the informa- tion. (Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, § 257, as added Pub. L. 106–78, title IX, § 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1204.) § 1636g. Suspension authority regarding specific terms of price reporting requirements (a) In general The Secretary may suspend any requirement of this subchapter if the Secretary determines that application of the requirement is incon- sistent with the purposes of this subchapter. (b) Suspension procedure (1) Period A suspension under subsection (a) shall be for a period of not more than 240 days. (2) Action by Congress If an Act of Congress concerning the require- ment that is the subject of the suspension under subsection (a) is not enacted by the end of the period of the suspension established under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall imple- ment the requirement. (Aug. 14, 1946, ch. 966, title II, § 258, as added Pub. L. 106–78, title IX, § 911(2), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1205.) § 1636h. Federal preemption In order to achieve the goals, purposes, and ob- jectives of this chapter on a nationwide basis