“We fully respect the ability for all parties to communicate and share their views—with each other, with third parties, and with USDA,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “However, it is paramount that all parties respect different viewpoints and guard against coercive actions that compromise the free flow of facts and viewpoints into important agency actions.”
“We take the public comment process seriously and want all members of the public to freely express their views on our proposed regulations. I am very interested in hearing from those with knowledge of any party prohibiting the free expression of views during the public comment process,” said Secretary Vilsack.
Separately from the comment process under the proposed rule, we underscore that complaints of undue or unreasonable prejudices or disadvantages or retaliation can be reported through the USDA-DOJ joint complaint portal: farmerfairness.gov. Reports filed through the portal will be received by the Packers and Stockyards Division (PSD) of the USDA and DOJ, which may refer violations to the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General as appropriate. Tips, complaints or concerns through the USDA-DOJ joint complaint portal can be made anonymously and, if contact information is provided, confidentiality will be protected to the fullest extent possible under the law.
Individuals may also report potential tips, complaints, and concerns to PSD via the PSD Hotline at 1-833-Dial PSD (1-833-342-5773) or directly to the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General or 202-690-1202.
About the proposed rule:
The Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments rule proposes to require that live poultry dealers, including integrators, disclose key information to poultry growers regarding the financial returns the grower can expect from their business relationship with the dealer and information about inputs they receive, including a comparison of inputs received by other growers in the same tournament.
Source : usda.gov