The U.S. Department of Agriculture is announcing the finalization of Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The final rule will be effective 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. The final rule (Inclusive Competition Rule) establishes clearer standards under the Packers and Stockyards Act for prohibited practices relating to discrimination, retaliation and deception in contracting. This aims to help producers and growers that have suffered from increasingly consolidated markets over the last 30 years by enhancing market integrity and ensuring fair access to economic opportunities.
“Discrimination, retaliation, and deception against producers and growers has no place in modern livestock and poultry markets,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “The Biden-Harris Administration is making significant progress in tackling the abuses that have left producers and growers excluded from economic opportunities and fair and equal access to the marketplace. This rule establishes clearer, more effective standards to govern the modern marketplace, and they are another example of how USDA is focused on building new, fairer, more resilient and more competitive markets for our farmers, ranchers, and producers.”