U.S. SENATE— U.S. Senator Steve Daines today reintroduced his bipartisan “New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act” which would allow Montana meat and poultry products inspected by the state’s Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) program to be sold across state lines.
“Montana farmers and ranchers work hard to produce high quality products for our state’s consumers. It’s absurd that meat products that have already been inspected and approved at federal standards can’t be sold across state lines,” Daines said. “This bipartisan legislation will reduce these burdensome barriers and make it easier for Montana’s ranchers to sell into new markets in surrounding states and find new customers.”
Currently, there are 27 states with inspection programs, certified by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), which meet or exceed federal inspection standards. However, products processed at these FSIS approved state MPI inspected facilities are not allowed to be sold across state lines.