The Biden administration Monday announced two new Department of Agriculture efforts to support fair and competitive meat and poultry markets. The efforts include publishing the proposed Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Rules Under the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect farmers and ranchers from abuse, and a new $15 million Agricultural Competition Challenge to ramp up collaboration with the State Attorneys General on enforcement of competition laws, such as laws against price-fixing. The two efforts come from the White House Competition Council, which held a meeting Monday. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “USDA is focused on building new, fairer, and more resilient markets, protecting producers, and reducing food costs.” Earlier this year, USDA and the Department of Justice announced their commitment to work closely together to effectively enforce federal competition laws, including by launching the FarmerFairness.gov complaint portal for reporting suspected violations of federal competition law.
USDA hopes to spur competition, protect producers and reduce costs
