Congress Set To Cut Money For Meat Industry Reform

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it will abandon portions of a sweeping antitrust rule proposed for meat companies if Congress does not provide money for enforcement.

A Congressional committee voted late Monday to strip funding for the measures in a spending bill the full Congress is expected to approve by the end of this week.

The reforms would have changed how poultry companies pay chicken farmers and made it easier for ranchers to sue meat packers over antitrust violations. The USDA proposed the reforms in response to an order in the 2008 farm bill that it beef up its antitrust rules. But the agency went much further than Congress had asked.

USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe told The Associated Press that if the bill passes, the USDA will be forced to abandon the reforms.

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