Second Regular Session
Sixty-first General Assembly
LLS NO. R980566.01 JLB
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVES George and K. Alexander;
also SENATOR B. Alexander.
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 98-1004
WHEREAS, The market concentration of the top three
beef packing processing companies has increased dramatically from
just thirtythree percent of the market in 1978 to over eighty
percent of the market in 1996; and
WHEREAS, This market concentration has resulted in
record low prices for Colorado cattle producers while cost to
consumers has steadily increased in relation to quality of product
available; and
WHEREAS, Over time this situation has continued to
intensify resulting in an alarming loss of input to the overall
economy of Colorado; and
WHEREAS, This trend towards concentration and vertical
integration of the livestock industry threatens free enterprise
and the independence of livestock producers in Colorado and the
nation, as well as the economic vitality of the communities and
states dependent upon the livestock industry; and
WHEREAS, Federal antitrust law is founded on the
economic principle of the preservation of competitive markets
and a social policy of the preservation of small businesses; and
WHEREAS, Federal antitrust laws, if enforced, would
ensure that individual businesses do not dominate shares of individual
markets to the point of harming a public that includes consumers,
livestock producers, and workers; and
WHEREAS, Free competitive markets foster innovation
and efficiency, promote free enterprise and public confidence,
and are beneficial not only to the general population but also
to the security of the nation; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
That the General Assembly requests that the United
States Congress direct the Federal Trade Commission, the Packers
and Stockyards Administration of the United States Department
of Agriculture, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and
the United States Attorney General to enforce existing law, including
the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, 7 U.S.C. sec. 181 et seq.,
and all regulations promulgated thereto, to:
(1) Prohibit meat packing processing firms
from owning or controlling their live animal inventory needs beyond
seven days prior to pickup or delivery; and
(2) Require meat packing processing firms
to report daily concerning the quantity, kind, and quality of
animals purchased, their purchase prices, and their places of
origin; and
(3) Require meat packing processing firms
to report weekly concerning the quantity, quality, kind, and respective
price of all products sold for each market category including:
Carcass, boxed, restaurant, export, byproduct, and pharmaceutical;
and
(4) Require meat wholesalers and distributors
to report weekly the quantity, quality, kind, and respective price
of products sold for each market category including: Carcass,
boxed, restaurant, export, tripe, and byproduct; and
(5) Prohibit meat packing processing firms
from speculative "short" selling of commodity future
contracts; and
(6) Require meat packing processing firms
to divest themselves of any producing capacity exceeding twenty
percent of total production share; and
(7) Require monthly reporting by the United
States Department of Agriculture of the retail value of all meat
and meat products and market categories, grocery sales, governmental
and institutional sales, catering and restaurant sales, and export
sales; and
(8) Lift the federal ban on federal equivalent
state inspected meats for interstate commerce, thereby allowing
state meat inspectors to inspect meats for interstate commerce;
and
(9) Require meat and meat products to
have country of origin and processor identification labels; and
(10) Prohibit the United States Department
of Agriculture from grading imported meat; and
(11) Require permanent country of origin
identification of imported livestock; and
(12) Require all imported or domestic
meat, poultry, and seafood products to be subject to the same
inspection, testing, and labeling processes and standards; and
(13) Require research for implementation
of a valuebased pricing structure for the live cattle that
reflects the premium obtained by the meat packer processors from
the high quality meat products demanded by the consumer in today's
market.
Be It Further Resolved,
That the General Assembly requests the Congressional delegation
from Colorado to:
(1) Take whatever measures are necessary
to ensure the enactment, implementation, and enforcement of laws
to restore competition and fair market pricing to livestock markets;
and
(2) Introduce and support federal legislation
to protect livestock producers from retaliation by meat packing
processing firms due to any statement made by such livestock producers
to the United States Department of Agriculture, to law enforcement
agencies, or in a public forum regarding practices or actions
of meat packing processing firms; and
(3) Impel fullscale investigations
at the federal level of activities and practices within the United
States Department of Agriculture and other responsible agencies
concerning the gathering, reporting, and interpreting of agricultural
commodities supply data and what effect these reports historically
have had upon the cash and commodities futures markets.
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to the President of the United States, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, each member of the Congressional delegation from Colorado, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Department of Justice, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.