Agricultural News
USDA Secretary Vilsack Says Agency Will Perform Cost Benefit Analysis of GIPSA Rule
Tue, 14 Dec 2010 5:33:15 CST
The US Department of Agriculture will conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the so called "GIPSA Rule" that would significantly change the way livestock is marketed in the United States if adopted. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the analysis during a Monday Conference Call with Meat Industry officials. The National Chicken Council was one of the groups on the call- and their spokesman Richard Lobb told Dow Jones that this is the first time that they have heard USDA say they will conduct an extensive analysis.
Vilsack declined to speculate how long the review process would take, but said the rule as published June 22 was a draft and could be extensively changed before being finalized, the National Chicken Council reported in a news release after Monday’s teleconference.
Industry groups weighed in extensively with their concerns about the proposals during an extended comment period which ended Nov. 22, including criticizing the lack of an adequate economic analysis in the proposed rule.
“A serious and robust analysis of the economic impact of the proposed GIPSA rule is long overdue,” said NCC Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Bill Roenigk. “The rule will have a profound, far-reaching and costly impact on the poultry and livestock industries, and it should not have been put forth without an appropriate analysis of its impact on farmers and ranchers, industry, and consumers.”
A study commissioned by NCC pegged the cost to the broiler industry alone at more than $1 billion over five years. A study commission by the American Meat Institute pegged the cost at $14 billion in GDP and $1.36 billion in lost tax revenue. Several other livestock groups, including the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council, had Informa look at the proposed rule- click here for our earlier story on what Informa found in their analysis.
In early October, over a hundred members of the US House called on Secretary Vilsack to do a in depth cost- benefit analysis- click here for our story that has the letter and the full listing of members of Congress that signed the letter.
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