Unfair practices in livestock, poultry, and meat markets

Subtitle A of title II of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 202 (7 U.S.C. 192) the following: 202A. (a) For purposes of section 202(a), the term unfair practice includes any act in which a packer, swine contractor, or live poultry dealer is engaged that— (1) is a collusive, coercive, predatory, restrictive, deceitful, or exclusionary method of competition that may negatively affect competitive conditions; or (2) causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to one or more market participants, which— (A) the participant or participants cannot reasonably avoid; and (B) the packer, swine contractor, or live poultry dealer cannot justify by establishing countervailing benefits to the market participant or participants or to competition in the market that outweighs the substantial injury or likelihood of substantial injury. (b) For purposes of subsection (a)(2)(A), an injury shall not be treated as reasonably avoidable— (1) solely because the act referred to in such subsection has been disclosed to market participants by the packer, swine contractor, or live poultry dealer engaging in such act; and (2) if to avoid such an injury, a market participant would be required to take unreasonable steps, such as exiting the market or making unreasonable additional investments or efforts. (c) For purposes of section 202(a), the following acts shall be considered to be unfair practices: (1) A live poultry dealer utilizing a comparison of poultry growers to reduce any rate of compensation under the contract. (2) A live poultry dealer operating a comparison of poultry growers that results in excessive variability in compensation to the grower. (3) A packer utilizing a price term in a livestock or meat contract that is based on other transactions of livestock or meat, where the price term is unreasonably variable, including owing to insufficient specificity regarding the type or quality of the livestock or meat in the other transactions on which the price term is based or to insufficient transactions on which the price is based. (4) A packer requiring a producer of livestock to exclusively or near exclusively transact with a packer, unless the producer has an option to trade a sufficient amount of the livestock to be procured under a contract through a livestock exchange in which the packer is a participant among other packers such that the exchange will be reasonably competitive in price discovery. (5) A packer failing to fully compensate producers of livestock for any delay in pickup of the livestock beyond seven days from the date on which the cattle were priced for purchase. (6) A live poultry dealer terminating a poultry growing arrangement, or a swine contractor terminating a swine production contract, without full compensation to the grower for debt incurred or other investments reasonably requested or made in order to secure or maintain the poultry growing arrangement or swine production contract including all renewals to any original contract between the live poultry dealer or swine contractor and the grower. (7) A packer failing to fully compensate livestock producers that regularly market livestock to a packer at a processing plant arising from the closure of the processing plant, including for a period covering no less than seven years the reasonable additional expenses arising from marketing the livestock at other plants within reasonable marketing distance of the producer and lower prices if the closure results in reduced competition for livestock within a reasonable marketing distance of the closed plant..