SB 20-25: Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019 (Final Vote)

[Pericles]

A BILL

To impose a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, and to establish a commission to review large agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, concentration, and market power.

Section 1: Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019”. It may also be cited as the "FAM Act".

Section 2: Findings.

Congress finds that the concentration in the food and agricultural economy, including mergers, acquisitions, and other combinations and alliances among suppliers, packers, integrators, other food processors, distributors, and retailers has been accelerating at a rapid pace since the 1980s, and particularly since the 2007 through 2009 recession.

Section 3. Definitions.

In this Act:

(1) AGRICULTURAL INPUT SUPPLIER.—The term “agricultural input supplier” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of selling, in interstate or foreign commerce, any product to be used as an input (including seed, germ plasm, hormones, antibiotics, fertilizer, and chemicals, but excluding farm machinery) for the production of any agricultural commodity, except that no person shall be considered an agricultural input supplier if sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(2) BROKER.—The term “broker” means any person engaged in the business of negotiating sales and purchases of any agricultural commodity in interstate or foreign commerce for or on behalf of the vendor or the purchaser, except that no person shall be considered a broker if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(3) COMMISSION MERCHANT.—The term “commission merchant” means any person engaged in the business of receiving in interstate or foreign commerce any agricultural commodity for sale, on commission, or for or on behalf of another, except that no person shall be considered a commission merchant if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(4) DEALER.—The term “dealer” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of buying, selling, or marketing agricultural commodities in interstate or foreign commerce, except that no person shall be considered a dealer with respect to sales or marketing of any agricultural commodity of that person’s own raising; and no person shall be considered a dealer if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(5) INTEGRATOR.—The term “integrator” means an entity that contracts with farmers for grower services to raise chickens or hogs to slaughter size and weight. The integrator owns the chickens or hogs, supplies the feed, slaughters, and further processes the poultry or pork.

(6) PROCESSOR.—The term “processor” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of handling, preparing, or manufacturing (including slaughtering and food and beverage manufacturing) of an agricultural commodity, or the products of such agricultural commodity, for sale or marketing for human consumption, except that no person shall be considered a processor if the only sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(7) RETAILER.—The term “retailer” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) licensed as a retailer under the Perishable Agriculture Commodities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a(b)), except that no person shall be considered a retailer if the only sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000 per year.

Section 4: Moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers.

(a) In general.—

(1) Until the date referred to in paragraph (2) and except as provided in subsection (b)—

(A) no dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $160,000,000 shall merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting securities or assets of any other dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $16,000,000; and

(B) no dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $16,000,000 shall merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting securities or assets of any other dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $160,000,000 if the acquiring person would hold—

(i) 15 percent or more of the voting securities or assets of the acquired person; or

(ii) an aggregate total amount of the voting securities and assets of the acquired person in excess of $15,000,000.

(2) DATE.—The date referred to in this paragraph is the earlier of—

(A) the effective date of comprehensive legislation—

(i) addressing the problem of market concentration in the food and agricultural sector; and

(ii) containing a section stating that the legislation is comprehensive legislation as provided in section 101 of the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018; or

(B) the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

(b) Exemptions.—The classes of transactions described in section 7A(c) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(c)) are exempt from subsection (a).

(c) Avoidance.—Any transaction or other device entered into or employed for the purpose of avoiding the moratorium contained in subsection (a) shall be disregarded, and the application of the moratorium shall be determined by applying subsection (a) to the substance of the transaction.

Section 5: Establishment of Commission.

(a) Establishment.—There is established a commission to be known as the Food and Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission (hereafter in this title referred to as the “Commission”).

(b) Purposes.—The purpose of the Commission is to—

(1) study the nature and consequences of concentration in America’s food and agricultural economy; and

(2) make recommendations on how to change underlying antitrust laws and other Federal laws and regulations to keep a fair and competitive agriculture marketplace for family farmers, other small and medium sized agriculture producers, generally, and the communities of which they are a part.

(c) Membership of Commission.—

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission (non-playable) shall be composed of 12 members as follows:

(A) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(B) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(2) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

(A) APPOINTMENTS.—Persons who are appointed under paragraph (1) shall be persons who—

(i) have experience in farming or ranching, expertise in agricultural economics and antitrust, or have other pertinent qualifications or experience relating to agriculture and food and agriculture industries; and

(ii) are not officers or employees of the United States.

(B) OTHER CONSIDERATION.—In appointing Commission members, every effort shall be made to ensure that the members—

(i) are representative of a broad cross sector of agriculture and antitrust perspectives within the United States; and

(ii) provide fresh insights to analyzing the causes and impacts of concentration in agriculture industries and sectors.

(d) Period of appointment; vacancies.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and the appointment shall be for the life of the Commission.

(2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(e) Initial meeting.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meeting.

(f) Meetings.—The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

(g) Chairperson and vice Chairperson.—The members of the Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the members of the Commission.

(h) Quorum.—A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(i) Voting.—Each member of the Commission shall be entitled to 1 vote, which shall be equal to the vote of every other member of the Commission.

Section 6: Duties of the Commission.

(a) In general.—The Commission shall be responsible for examining the nature, the causes, and consequences of concentration in America’s agricultural economy in the broadest possible terms.

(b) Issues To be addressed.—The study shall include an examination of the following matters:

(1) The nature and extent of concentration in the food and agricultural sector, including food production, manufacturing, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, retailing, and farm inputs such as machinery, fertilizer, and seeds.

(2) Current trends in concentration of the food and agricultural sector and what this sector is likely to look like in the near and longer term future.

(3) The effects of rising concentration on suppliers and farmers, including independent and contract farmers, with respect to—

(A) competition in markets for their products and services;

(B) income and benefit levels;

(C) income distribution;

(D) income volatility; and

(E) other material benefits.

(4) The impacts of this concentration upon rural communities, rural economic development, and the natural environment.

(5) The impacts of concentration in the seed industry on genetic diversity in farm fields and any related impacts on food security.

(6) The impacts of this concentration upon food shoppers, including the reasons that low farm prices have not resulted in corresponding drops in supermarket prices.

(7) Whether farming is approaching a scale that is larger than necessary from the standpoint of productivity.

( The effect of current laws and administrative practices in supporting and encouraging this concentration.

(9) Whether the existing antitrust laws provide adequate safeguards against, and remedies for, the impacts of concentration upon family farms, the communities they comprise, and the food shoppers of this Nation.

(10) Accurate and reliable data on the national and international markets shares of multinational agribusinesses, and the portion of their sales attributable to exports.

(11) Barriers that inhibit entry of new competitors into markets for the processing of agricultural commodities, such as the meat packing industry.

(12) The extent to which developments, such as packer ownership of livestock, formula pricing, marketing agreements, production contracting, forward contracting, and vertical integration tend to give processors, agribusinesses, integrators, and other buyers of agricultural commodities additional market power over farmers and suppliers in local markets.

(13) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.


Section 7: Powers of Commission.

(a) Hearings.—The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this title. The Commission shall hold at least one or more hearings in Washington, DC, and four in different agriculture regions of the United States.

(b) Information from Federal agencies.—The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(c) Postal services.—The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Section 8: Commission personnel matters.

(a) Compensation of members.—Each member of the Commission shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission.

(b) Travel expenses.—The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

(c) Staff.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive director and such other additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission.

(2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the Commission may fix the compensation of the executive director and other personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive director and other personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(d) Detail of government employees.—Any Federal Government employee shall be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.

(e) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services.—The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

Section 9: Authorization of appropriations.

There are authorized to be appropriated $2,500,000 annually to the Commission as required by this title to carry out the provisions of this title.

House of Representatives
Passed in the House of Representatives 5-0-0-4
X YE

Sponsor:
Senate Designation: SB 20-25

[Pericles]

This needs a sponsor.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I will sponsor I guess.

I am not fond of corporate welfare favoring large entities over small, so in general terms I am favorable to the idea.

[Pericles]

24 hours to object to North Carolina Yankee sponsoring this.

[Pericles]

Senator North Carolina Yankee is recognized as the sponsor of this bill.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is largely barrowed from a Bernie Sanders bill from IRL (which may result in some needed fixes as Atlasia and RL aren’t always compatible in terms of bill writing). This bill is necessary because of how corportized the farm industry has gotten, making stuff like farm subsidies basically corporate welfare, I am inclined to think it’s necessary.

I will repost YE's because I am not 100% on this bill and will be asking some questions about things in a short while (once I finish updating my index so I can link them as a go instead of getting way behind again.

[Pyro]

This seems fine - I don't have any notable issues with the legislation.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Are these recommendations to be derived? GM analysis?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Are these recommendations to be derived? GM analysis?

[YE]

I'd rather not let the GM be accountable for this. Making it a NPC.

Amendment: (Can one of the Senators please sponsor. I literally supported all six of you all re-election efforts after all).

A BILL

To impose a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, and to establish a commission to review large agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, concentration, and market power.

Section 1: Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019”. It may also be cited as the "FAM Act".

Section 2: Findings.

Congress finds that the concentration in the food and agricultural economy, including mergers, acquisitions, and other combinations and alliances among suppliers, packers, integrators, other food processors, distributors, and retailers has been accelerating at a rapid pace since the 1980s, and particularly since the 2007 through 2009 recession.

Section 3. Definitions.

In this Act:

(1) AGRICULTURAL INPUT SUPPLIER.—The term “agricultural input supplier” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of selling, in interstate or foreign commerce, any product to be used as an input (including seed, germ plasm, hormones, antibiotics, fertilizer, and chemicals, but excluding farm machinery) for the production of any agricultural commodity, except that no person shall be considered an agricultural input supplier if sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(2) BROKER.—The term “broker” means any person engaged in the business of negotiating sales and purchases of any agricultural commodity in interstate or foreign commerce for or on behalf of the vendor or the purchaser, except that no person shall be considered a broker if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(3) COMMISSION MERCHANT.—The term “commission merchant” means any person engaged in the business of receiving in interstate or foreign commerce any agricultural commodity for sale, on commission, or for or on behalf of another, except that no person shall be considered a commission merchant if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(4) DEALER.—The term “dealer” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of buying, selling, or marketing agricultural commodities in interstate or foreign commerce, except that no person shall be considered a dealer with respect to sales or marketing of any agricultural commodity of that person’s own raising; and no person shall be considered a dealer if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(5) INTEGRATOR.—The term “integrator” means an entity that contracts with farmers for grower services to raise chickens or hogs to slaughter size and weight. The integrator owns the chickens or hogs, supplies the feed, slaughters, and further processes the poultry or pork.

(6) PROCESSOR.—The term “processor” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of handling, preparing, or manufacturing (including slaughtering and food and beverage manufacturing) of an agricultural commodity, or the products of such agricultural commodity, for sale or marketing for human consumption, except that no person shall be considered a processor if the only sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(7) RETAILER.—The term “retailer” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) licensed as a retailer under the Perishable Agriculture Commodities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a(b)), except that no person shall be considered a retailer if the only sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000 per year.

Section 4: Moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers.

(a) In general.—

(1) Until the date referred to in paragraph (2) and except as provided in subsection (b)—

(A) no dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $160,000,000 shall merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting securities or assets of any other dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $16,000,000; and

(B) no dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $16,000,000 shall merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting securities or assets of any other dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $160,000,000 if the acquiring person would hold—

(i) 15 percent or more of the voting securities or assets of the acquired person; or

(ii) an aggregate total amount of the voting securities and assets of the acquired person in excess of $15,000,000.

(2) DATE.—The date referred to in this paragraph is the earlier of—

(A) the effective date of comprehensive legislation—

(i) addressing the problem of market concentration in the food and agricultural sector; and

(ii) containing a section stating that the legislation is comprehensive legislation as provided in section 101 of the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018; or

(B) the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

(b) Exemptions.—The classes of transactions described in section 7A(c) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(c)) are exempt from subsection (a).

(c) Avoidance.—Any transaction or other device entered into or employed for the purpose of avoiding the moratorium contained in subsection (a) shall be disregarded, and the application of the moratorium shall be determined by applying subsection (a) to the substance of the transaction.

Section 5: Establishment of Commission.

(a) Establishment.—There is established a (NPC) commission to be known as the Food and Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission (hereafter in this title referred to as the “Commission”).

(b) Purposes.—The purpose of the Commission is to—

(1) study the nature and consequences of concentration in America’s food and agricultural economy; and

(2) make recommendations on how to change underlying antitrust laws and other Federal laws and regulations to keep a fair and competitive agriculture marketplace for family farmers, other small and medium sized agriculture producers, generally, and the communities of which they are a part.

(c) Membership of Commission.—

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission (non-playable) shall be composed of 12 members as follows:

(A) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(B) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(2) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

(A) APPOINTMENTS.—Persons who are appointed under paragraph (1) shall be persons who—

(i) have experience in farming or ranching, expertise in agricultural economics and antitrust, or have other pertinent qualifications or experience relating to agriculture and food and agriculture industries; and

(ii) are not officers or employees of the United States.

(B) OTHER CONSIDERATION.—In appointing Commission members, every effort shall be made to ensure that the members—

(i) are representative of a broad cross sector of agriculture and antitrust perspectives within the United States; and

(ii) provide fresh insights to analyzing the causes and impacts of concentration in agriculture industries and sectors.

(d) Period of appointment; vacancies.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and the appointment shall be for the life of the Commission.

(2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(e) Initial meeting.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meeting.

(f) Meetings.—The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

(g) Chairperson and vice Chairperson.—The members of the Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the members of the Commission.

(h) Quorum.—A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(i) Voting.—Each member of the Commission shall be entitled to 1 vote, which shall be equal to the vote of every other member of the Commission.

Section 6: Duties of the Commission.

(a) In general.—The Commission shall be responsible for examining the nature, the causes, and consequences of concentration in America’s agricultural economy in the broadest possible terms.

(b) Issues To be addressed.—The study shall include an examination of the following matters:

(1) The nature and extent of concentration in the food and agricultural sector, including food production, manufacturing, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, retailing, and farm inputs such as machinery, fertilizer, and seeds.

(2) Current trends in concentration of the food and agricultural sector and what this sector is likely to look like in the near and longer term future.

(3) The effects of rising concentration on suppliers and farmers, including independent and contract farmers, with respect to—

(A) competition in markets for their products and services;

(B) income and benefit levels;

(C) income distribution;

(D) income volatility; and

(E) other material benefits.

(4) The impacts of this concentration upon rural communities, rural economic development, and the natural environment.

(5) The impacts of concentration in the seed industry on genetic diversity in farm fields and any related impacts on food security.

(6) The impacts of this concentration upon food shoppers, including the reasons that low farm prices have not resulted in corresponding drops in supermarket prices.

(7) Whether farming is approaching a scale that is larger than necessary from the standpoint of productivity.

( The effect of current laws and administrative practices in supporting and encouraging this concentration.

(9) Whether the existing antitrust laws provide adequate safeguards against, and remedies for, the impacts of concentration upon family farms, the communities they comprise, and the food shoppers of this Nation.

(10) Accurate and reliable data on the national and international markets shares of multinational agribusinesses, and the portion of their sales attributable to exports.

(11) Barriers that inhibit entry of new competitors into markets for the processing of agricultural commodities, such as the meat packing industry.

(12) The extent to which developments, such as packer ownership of livestock, formula pricing, marketing agreements, production contracting, forward contracting, and vertical integration tend to give processors, agribusinesses, integrators, and other buyers of agricultural commodities additional market power over farmers and suppliers in local markets.

(13) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.


Section 7: Powers of Commission.

(a) Hearings.—The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this title. The Commission shall hold at least one or more hearings in Washington, DC, and four in different agriculture regions of the United States.

(b) Information from Federal agencies.—The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(c) Postal services.—The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Section 8: Commission personnel matters.

(a) Compensation of members.—Each member of the Commission shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission.

(b) Travel expenses.—The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

(c) Staff.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive director and such other additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission.

(2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the Commission may fix the compensation of the executive director and other personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive director and other personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(d) Detail of government employees.—Any Federal Government employee shall be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.

(e) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services.—The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

Section 9: Authorization of appropriations.

There are authorized to be appropriated $2,500,000 annually to the Commission as required by this title to carry out the provisions of this title.

House of Representatives
Passed in the House of Representatives 5-0-0-4
X YE

[Dr. MB]

I'll sponsor the amendment. 24 hours for objections.

[YE]

Man, I was hoping someone less driven to policy would sponsor so that the amendment tracker would look more evenly balanced at the end of the session #SocalizeTheAmendments

[Dr. MB]

Amendment has been adopted.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

So final vote then?

[Dr. MB]

So final vote then?

Sounds good. 24 hours for objections I guess.

[Pericles]

A final vote has started on this bill, Senators have 72 hours to vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

[Peanut]

Aye.

[Pyro]

Aye

[ON Progressive]

Aye

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Aye


This has enough votes to pass, Senators have 24 hours to change their votes.

[Pericles]

This bill has passed, 4-0-0-2.
Aye; 4 (Peanut, PyroTheFox, ON Progressive, North Carolina Yankee)
Nay; 0
Abstaining; 0
Not voting; 2 (Devout Centrist, MB)

[Pericles]

A BILL

To impose a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, and to establish a commission to review large agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers, concentration, and market power.

Section 1: Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Food and Agricultural Merger Act of 2019”. It may also be cited as the "FAM Act".

Section 2: Findings.

Congress finds that the concentration in the food and agricultural economy, including mergers, acquisitions, and other combinations and alliances among suppliers, packers, integrators, other food processors, distributors, and retailers has been accelerating at a rapid pace since the 1980s, and particularly since the 2007 through 2009 recession.

Section 3. Definitions.

In this Act:

(1) AGRICULTURAL INPUT SUPPLIER.—The term “agricultural input supplier” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of selling, in interstate or foreign commerce, any product to be used as an input (including seed, germ plasm, hormones, antibiotics, fertilizer, and chemicals, but excluding farm machinery) for the production of any agricultural commodity, except that no person shall be considered an agricultural input supplier if sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(2) BROKER.—The term “broker” means any person engaged in the business of negotiating sales and purchases of any agricultural commodity in interstate or foreign commerce for or on behalf of the vendor or the purchaser, except that no person shall be considered a broker if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(3) COMMISSION MERCHANT.—The term “commission merchant” means any person engaged in the business of receiving in interstate or foreign commerce any agricultural commodity for sale, on commission, or for or on behalf of another, except that no person shall be considered a commission merchant if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(4) DEALER.—The term “dealer” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of buying, selling, or marketing agricultural commodities in interstate or foreign commerce, except that no person shall be considered a dealer with respect to sales or marketing of any agricultural commodity of that person’s own raising; and no person shall be considered a dealer if the only sales of such commodities are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(5) INTEGRATOR.—The term “integrator” means an entity that contracts with farmers for grower services to raise chickens or hogs to slaughter size and weight. The integrator owns the chickens or hogs, supplies the feed, slaughters, and further processes the poultry or pork.

(6) PROCESSOR.—The term “processor” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) engaged in the business of handling, preparing, or manufacturing (including slaughtering and food and beverage manufacturing) of an agricultural commodity, or the products of such agricultural commodity, for sale or marketing for human consumption, except that no person shall be considered a processor if the only sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000,000 per year.

(7) RETAILER.—The term “retailer” means any person (excluding agricultural cooperatives) licensed as a retailer under the Perishable Agriculture Commodities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a(b)), except that no person shall be considered a retailer if the only sales of such products are for a value less than $10,000 per year.

Section 4: Moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers.

(a) In general.—

(1) Until the date referred to in paragraph (2) and except as provided in subsection (b)—

(A) no dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $160,000,000 shall merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting securities or assets of any other dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $16,000,000; and

(B) no dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $16,000,000 shall merge or acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting securities or assets of any other dealer, processor, commission merchant, agricultural input supplier, broker, or operator of a warehouse of agricultural commodities or retailer with annual net sales or total assets of more than $160,000,000 if the acquiring person would hold—

(i) 15 percent or more of the voting securities or assets of the acquired person; or

(ii) an aggregate total amount of the voting securities and assets of the acquired person in excess of $15,000,000.

(2) DATE.—The date referred to in this paragraph is the earlier of—

(A) the effective date of comprehensive legislation—

(i) addressing the problem of market concentration in the food and agricultural sector; and

(ii) containing a section stating that the legislation is comprehensive legislation as provided in section 101 of the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018; or

(B) the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

(b) Exemptions.—The classes of transactions described in section 7A(c) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(c)) are exempt from subsection (a).

(c) Avoidance.—Any transaction or other device entered into or employed for the purpose of avoiding the moratorium contained in subsection (a) shall be disregarded, and the application of the moratorium shall be determined by applying subsection (a) to the substance of the transaction.

Section 5: Establishment of Commission.

(a) Establishment.—There is established a NPC commission to be known as the Food and Agriculture Concentration and Market Power Review Commission (hereafter in this title referred to as the “Commission”).

(b) Purposes.—The purpose of the Commission is to—

(1) study the nature and consequences of concentration in America’s food and agricultural economy; and

(2) make recommendations on how to change underlying antitrust laws and other Federal laws and regulations to keep a fair and competitive agriculture marketplace for family farmers, other small and medium sized agriculture producers, generally, and the communities of which they are a part.

(c) Membership of Commission.—

(1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission (non-playable) shall be composed of 12 members as follows:

(A) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(B) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(C) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the Chairs of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(D) Three persons, one of whom shall be a person currently engaged in farming or ranching, shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee on Agriculture and of the Committee on the Judiciary.

(2) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

(A) APPOINTMENTS.—Persons who are appointed under paragraph (1) shall be persons who—

(i) have experience in farming or ranching, expertise in agricultural economics and antitrust, or have other pertinent qualifications or experience relating to agriculture and food and agriculture industries; and

(ii) are not officers or employees of the United States.

(B) OTHER CONSIDERATION.—In appointing Commission members, every effort shall be made to ensure that the members—

(i) are representative of a broad cross sector of agriculture and antitrust perspectives within the United States; and

(ii) provide fresh insights to analyzing the causes and impacts of concentration in agriculture industries and sectors.

(d) Period of appointment; vacancies.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and the appointment shall be for the life of the Commission.

(2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(e) Initial meeting.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meeting.

(f) Meetings.—The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

(g) Chairperson and vice Chairperson.—The members of the Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the members of the Commission.

(h) Quorum.—A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(i) Voting.—Each member of the Commission shall be entitled to 1 vote, which shall be equal to the vote of every other member of the Commission.

Section 6: Duties of the Commission.

(a) In general.—The Commission shall be responsible for examining the nature, the causes, and consequences of concentration in America’s agricultural economy in the broadest possible terms.

(b) Issues To be addressed.—The study shall include an examination of the following matters:

(1) The nature and extent of concentration in the food and agricultural sector, including food production, manufacturing, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, retailing, and farm inputs such as machinery, fertilizer, and seeds.

(2) Current trends in concentration of the food and agricultural sector and what this sector is likely to look like in the near and longer term future.

(3) The effects of rising concentration on suppliers and farmers, including independent and contract farmers, with respect to—

(A) competition in markets for their products and services;

(B) income and benefit levels;

(C) income distribution;

(D) income volatility; and

(E) other material benefits.

(4) The impacts of this concentration upon rural communities, rural economic development, and the natural environment.

(5) The impacts of concentration in the seed industry on genetic diversity in farm fields and any related impacts on food security.

(6) The impacts of this concentration upon food shoppers, including the reasons that low farm prices have not resulted in corresponding drops in supermarket prices.

(7) Whether farming is approaching a scale that is larger than necessary from the standpoint of productivity.

( The effect of current laws and administrative practices in supporting and encouraging this concentration.

(9) Whether the existing antitrust laws provide adequate safeguards against, and remedies for, the impacts of concentration upon family farms, the communities they comprise, and the food shoppers of this Nation.

(10) Accurate and reliable data on the national and international markets shares of multinational agribusinesses, and the portion of their sales attributable to exports.

(11) Barriers that inhibit entry of new competitors into markets for the processing of agricultural commodities, such as the meat packing industry.

(12) The extent to which developments, such as packer ownership of livestock, formula pricing, marketing agreements, production contracting, forward contracting, and vertical integration tend to give processors, agribusinesses, integrators, and other buyers of agricultural commodities additional market power over farmers and suppliers in local markets.

(13) Such related matters as the Commission determines to be important.


Section 7: Powers of Commission.

(a) Hearings.—The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this title. The Commission shall hold at least one or more hearings in Washington, DC, and four in different agriculture regions of the United States.

(b) Information from Federal agencies.—The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(c) Postal services.—The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Section 8: Commission personnel matters.

(a) Compensation of members.—Each member of the Commission shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission.

(b) Travel expenses.—The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

(c) Staff.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive director and such other additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission.

(2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the Commission may fix the compensation of the executive director and other personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive director and other personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(d) Detail of government employees.—Any Federal Government employee shall be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.

(e) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services.—The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

Section 9: Authorization of appropriations.

There are authorized to be appropriated $2,500,000 annually to the Commission as required by this title to carry out the provisions of this title.

House of Representatives
Passed in the House of Representatives 5-0-0-4
X YE
People's Regional Senate
Passed 4-0-0-2 in the Atlasian Senate Assembled