During the pandemic, the beef production industry has taken a hit as workers at large processing plants began to contract COVID-19 in the workplace, thus slowing the flow of beef production.
Federal laws additionally impacted the deceleration of the flow of production, as current laws make selling beef between states a time-consuming and expensive process, according to Jeremy Fuchs, director of public affairs of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Two bills have been presented to the House of Representatives that, if passed, will make beef sales between states more feasible and will revamp the flow of beef production and consumption across the country, Fuchs said.
“The Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT) Act of 2020 and the Requiring Assistance to Meat Processors for Upgrading Plants (RAMP UP) Act are both aimed at the same goal, which is providing more options to consumers getting beef and ranchers selling their cattle,” he said.
Under current legislation, beef producers have two options in regards to selling their products; they can have their beef inspected federally by the USDA or by the state, which in Texas is the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“Although there is no difference in quality between state and federally inspected beef, for the most part, in order to sell across state lines, the USDA has to certify because they have jurisdiction in all 50 states,” Fuchs said. “What that does, unfortunately, is place a rather large burden on meat processors. USDA certification is more time-consuming and expensive. Federal bureaucracy makes things more time-consuming and expensive.”
The RAMP UP Act addresses that barrier on behalf of smaller beef processors by offering them federal grants that will give them financial assistance through the USDA inspection process.
“The RAMP UP act, if passed, will give some federal assistance, grant money, to smaller processors so that they can take on the burdensome path of getting the federal inspection,” Fuchs said.
The DIRECT Act allows exceptions for state inspected beef processors to sell via e-commerce, which will make tracking the beef back to its source more straightforward, he said.
“One of the concerns with the processors selling across state lines is the product goes from the processor to the retailer to the customer, which creates a cumbersome traceability program,” Fuchs said. “If something went wrong with the meat, tracing it back to source would become more difficult, however the DIRECT Act recognizes that with e-commerce selling directly to consumers becomes much more traceable.”
It is unknown how long the approval process will take due to the pandemic, Fuchs said. Speculation on the matter is difficult due to the fact that some matters take longer to attend to while others have been advanced more quickly because of the current needs of the country during this time.
Fuchs said that regardless of the timing of its review, the acts could help the country to be more prepared to meet beef demands if a similar national disaster or pandemic happens again in the future.
“Everybody was caught off guard with COVID-19 across the board within the beef or any other industry,” Fuchs said. “What we want to do is ensure that when the next challenge arises, whatever it may be, that we are in best possible place to ensure beef for consumers and ensure Texans and people across the country have a market for their cattle.”
July 09, 2020 at 01:13AM
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Beef lovers and cattle raisers push for approval of bills to increase beef processing and availability - Tyler Morning Telegraph
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