House Takes Up Interstate Meat Shipment Bills

May 18, 2007 - Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow interstate sales of state-inspected meat and poultry products.

On Tuesday, Reps. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) and Roy Blunt (Mo.), along with 15 co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 2315, the same bill they presented last year. The other bill, H.R. 1760, was introduced on March 29 by Rep. Ron Kind (Wisc.) and nine other representatives.

H.R. 1760 and H.R. 2315 take different approaches to allow interstate sales of state-inspected meat and poultry, however, both bills are intended to provide open markets and expand economic opportunities for rural small businesses.

Currently, 28 states have their own meat and poultry inspection programs serving about 2,000 small establishments.

Two similar bills have also been introduced in the U.S. Senate.

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