7 U.S.C. § 198a — Swine packer marketing contracts offered to producers

(a) In general: If Congress provides the money, the Secretary of Agriculture must build and keep a library or catalog listing every type of contract that meatpackers offer to swine (hog) producers for buying all or part of their hogs. This includes hogs already purchased or promised for future delivery, and it must include every extra payment ("noncarcass merit premium") tied to meat quality. (b) Availability: The Secretary must share this contract information with hog producers and other interested people. This includes telling them, as close to real time as practical, which contract types each individual packer is currently offering and willing to accept. (c) Confidentiality: The reporting rules in (a) and (b) must still follow the confidentiality protections found in section 1636 of this title, which limits what identifying business information can be revealed. (d) Information collection: (1) In general: The Secretary must (A) require each packer to file or otherwise report what types of purchase contracts it offers, and (B) publish that information in a monthly report for hog producers and other interested people. (2) Contracted swine numbers: Each packer must give the Secretary information for the monthly report, and the Secretary must collect and publish: (A) the types of contracts each packer currently has; (B) any contract terms that let the number of hogs delivered grow over the next 6 months and next 12 months; (C) an estimate of the total number of hogs already promised for delivery to all packers over the next 6 and 12 months, broken down by region and contract type; and (D) an estimate of the maximum number of hogs that could possibly be delivered in that time under those growth terms, also broken down by region and contract type. (e) Violations: It is illegal for a packer to willfully refuse to give the Secretary accurate required information, or to willfully refuse to follow any requirement of this section. (f) Authorization of appropriations: Congress may provide whatever money is needed to carry out this section.