GIPSA Rules Are Expected To Resurface In 2019

USDA is planning to revive a rulemaking process to balance the power between meatpacking companies and contract growers, more widely known as the GIPSA rules after the agency issuing the rules – the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).The department will revisit GIPSA regulations in its spring 2019 regulatory agenda, which sets out a list of priorities for the year. The 2019 plan was revealed at a Wednesday hearing in a case challenging the USDA decision to scrap the two rules, a case brought by advocacy group the Organization for Competitive Markets and legal nonprofit Democracy Forward.A Department of Justice attorney arguing on behalf of USDA told a panel of judges that he was authorized to say that the department intends to place a proposed rule on its upcoming regulatory agenda — a sign, he said, that USDA has not abandoned a congressional farm bill mandate to write regulations to aid farmers who do business with meatpacking companies.