Press Releases
North American Meat Institute Applauds Passage of Ocean Shipping Reform Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today applauded the House of Representatives for passing a bipartisan bill to address unreasonable ocean carrier practices undermining the competitiveness of American exporters, including the meat and poultry industry. The bill , the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), now goes to the President to be signed into law. The Meat Institute also thanks Representatives John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) for their leadership on the House version of the bill.
Meat Institute to SCOTUS: Prop 12 Unconstitutional
WASHINGTON, DC - In an Amicus Brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today urged the Court to reverse a lower court's judgement upholding California's Proposition 12 (Prop 12 or the law).
"A fundamental premise of our federal system is that each State is a sovereign laboratory of democracy, but only within its own borders," the Meat Institute said in its brief. "As a result, the Constitution denies California the authority to dictate the conditions under which farm animals must be housed outside California's borders.
"Nor may California erect trade barriers whose purpose and effect are to regulate commerce outside the State."
The brief was filed in support of the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation in their case against Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
North American Meat Institute: Special Investigator to Cost Taxpayer $9 Million; is Redundant
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 7606, the Lower Food and Fuel Cost Act, a bill that establishes a special investigator for meat and poultry at the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
"We are disappointed the House voted to waste $9 million in taxpayer dollars on a redundant special investigator when that money would be much better spent helping Americans seeking assistance from record inflation," said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. "This bill simply replicates the authorities already granted to USDA and the Department of Justice to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and creates an expensive new government office."
