{
  "id": "RL31945",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31945",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101629,
      "date": "2003-10-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:36:20.040544",
      "title": "Animal Agriculture: Selected Issues in the 108th Congress",
      "summary": "Animal agriculture accounts for a significant segment of U.S. agriculture: in 2002, for example,\nU.S.\nFarmers and ranchers received $94 billion from the sale of animal products, or about half of all U.S.\nFarm cash receipts.\n \n Various issues important to animal agriculture have generated interest among lawmakers in the\nfirst session of the 108th Congress. For example, under the 2002 farm bill ( P.L. 107-171 ) many food\nstores in 2004 must provide country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on ground and fresh cuts of beef,\npork, and lamb. The House-passed USDA appropriation for FY2004 ( H.R. 2673 ) would\nblock funding to implement COOL for meats. The Senate committee version ( S. 1427 )\nlacks the ban.\n \n Elsewhere, lawmakers are keenly interested in the effectiveness of U.S. food safety and animal\nhealth programs -- particularly after Canada announced, on May 20, 2003, that one of its cows had\n\u201cmad cow disease\u201d (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE). The United States\nresponded by\nbanning all imports from Canada of live ruminants and their products. On August 8, 2003, USDA\nannounced steps to begin lifting the ban on some meat products, based on what it said was a\nscientific assessment of risk. USDA also unveiled a voluntary \u201cBeef Export\nVerification\u201d program\naimed at satisfying a related demand by Japan, the top market for U.S. beef (and pork), for\nverification that U.S. beef imports are not of Canadian origin. The COOL and BSE issues have\nrekindled interest in whether the United States should move more quickly toward a universal animal\nidentification (and, possibly, meat traceability) system. Among other issues of interest to lawmakers:\n \n   Consolidation and concentration continue to fuel congressional interest in the\nstructure and business methods of agriculture in general and animal production in particular, and in\ntheir impacts on producers and consumers.  \n   Large animal production units have stirred concerns about impacts on the\nenvironment, including surface water, groundwater, soil, and air.  \n   Meat and poultry products, among the fastest-growing components of U.S.\nAgricultural exports, have encountered foreign trade barriers that disrupt markets and heighten trade\ntensions. At the same time, the Administration is negotiating new trade agreements that would\nimpact animal product exports.  \n   Court challenges to the national beef and pork promotion (\u201ccheck-off\u201d)\nprograms have clouded the future of these efforts.  \n   Among the bills affecting animal agriculture are:  H.R. 719 ,  H.R. 857 ,\n H.R. 2203 ,  H.R. 2270 ,  H.R. 2273 ,  H.R. 2519 ,\n H.R. 2932 ,  H.R. 3022 ,  H.R. 3083 ,  S. 27 ,\n S. 325 ,  S. 1044 ,  S. 1103 ,  S. 1187 ,  S. 1202 ,  S. 1298 ,  S. 1407 ,  S. 1460 ,  S. 1626 , and\n S. 1644 . This report will not be updated.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Agricultural Policy"
  ]
}