Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) in reintroducing the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act, a bill to make it easier for livestock producers to provide their product to consumers. The legislation would expand intrastate distribution of custom-slaughtered meat to consumers and purchasers, while not preempting any state laws concerning the slaughter or sale of meat products.
“Making it easier for local producers to get their product to market strengthens our food supply chain,” said Senator Cramer. “In the United States, 80 percent of meat is processed by four companies, two of which are foreign-owned. Legislation like the PRIME Act would help bolster our food supply and prevent unexpected disasters like COVID-19 or cyberattacks by foreign actors from further disrupting it.”
The reintroduction of the PRIME Act follows a recent ransomware attack which forced the world’s largest meat processor to shut down nine U.S. plants and disrupted production at other facilities. Senator Cramer cosponsored this legislation in the 116th Congress.
Senators Cramer, King, and Paul are joined on this legislation by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Mike Lee (R-UT).