The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is delaying the effective date of a rule by 60 days, and extending the comment period by 30 days, for three recent regulations, the Farmer Fair Practices Rules, published in the Federal Register Dec. 20, 2016. These actions are being taken in accordance with guidance issued Jan. 20, 2017, to ensure the new policy team has an opportunity to review the rules. This is similar to procedures issued by previous administrations.
The Scope of Sections 202(a) and (b) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, an interim final rule, will have its effective date delayed by 60 days, and the comment period extended by 30 days.
The Unfair Practices and Undue Preferences in Violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act, and the Poultry Grower Ranking Systems, both proposed rules, will have their comment periods extended by 30 days from the original Feb. 21 closing dates for comments.
All three Farmer Fair Practices documents are scheduled for public display Monday, February 6 and will be published on Tuesday, February 7. The comment periods for all three is extended to March 24, and the effective date for the interim final rule is delayed to April 22.
For additional information about the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration visit the GIPSA website.