7 U.S.C. § 1636 — General provisions

(a) Confidentiality. The Secretary must make information, statistics, and documents obtained from or submitted by packers, retail entities, and others under this subchapter available to the public in a way that preserves the confidentiality of (1) people’s identities, including contract parties, and (2) proprietary business information. (b) Disclosure by Federal employees. (1) Unless paragraph (2) applies, a United States officer, employee, or agent may not, without the packer’s or other concerned person’s consent, disclose in any way facts or information about that person’s business learned through required reporting. (2) The Secretary may disclose information to Agriculture Department agents or employees doing official duties under this subchapter; as directed by the Secretary or Attorney General for enforcement; or through a court with jurisdiction. (3) Despite any other law, facts or information obtained under this subchapter may not be disclosed under 5 U.S.C. § 552. (c) Reporting by packers. A packer must report all required information for each individual lot. (d) Regional reporting and aggregation. The Secretary may make the information public only in a way that (1) publishes it nationally and on a regional or statewide basis as appropriate, (2) does not reveal the reporting person’s identity, and (3) follows the Secretary’s aggregation guidelines. (e) Adjustments. Before publishing required information, the Secretary may reasonably adjust packers’ reports for price abnormalities or other unusual or unique events that the Secretary determines would distort the published information to the disadvantage of producers, packers, or other market participants. (f) Verification. The Secretary must take actions considered necessary to verify the accuracy of information submitted or reported under subparts B, C, or D. (g) Electronic reporting and publishing. (1) To the maximum practicable extent, the Secretary must provide for electronic reporting and publication. (2)(A) The Secretary must develop and operate an improved electronic publishing system to distribute collected information. It must be understandable to producers, packers, and other market participants; meet this subchapter’s deadlines; use charts and graphs when appropriate; show comparisons with earlier reporting periods when appropriate; and be updated as soon as practicable after reporting. (B) The Secretary must run a market-news education program teaching the public and people in the livestock and meat industries how to use that system and interpret and understand the information it provides. (h) Weekend and holiday activities. (1) Livestock committed to, purchased, sold, or slaughtered by a packer on a weekend or holiday must be reported by the packer, to the extent this subchapter requires, and by the Secretary on the next reporting day. (2) A packer need not report those actions more than once on that next reporting day. (i) Effect on other laws. Nothing here, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999, or that Act’s amendments limits or changes the Secretary’s authority to (1) administer or enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. § 181 et seq.); (2) administer, enforce, or collect voluntary reports under this chapter or another law; or (3) obtain documentary evidence under 15 U.S.C. §§ 49 and 50.