JBS/Swift Assessed $175,000 Civil Penalty

On Dec. 22, 2010, USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration entered into a consent decision with JBS USA, formerly known as Swift & Company and Swift Pork Company, Greeley, Colo.

JBS has been ordered to cease and desist from:

* Failing to disclose when missing Fat-O-Meat’er data has prevented JBS from calculating the lean percent of a particular pork carcass or carcasses in a seller’s lot; and

* Substituting an undisclosed lean value for pork carcasses with missing data when calculating carcass-merit payment for hogs delivered to JBS’ Worthington, Minn., Marshalltown, Iowa, and Louisville, Ky., processing plants.

JBS also has been assessed a civil penalty in the amount of $175,000 with $50,000 to be held in abeyance in accordance with the terms of the “Understanding Regarding Consent Decision” entered between the parties, according to USDA.

The Packers and Stockyards Act is a fair trade practice and payment protection law that promotes fair and competitive marketing environments for the livestock, meat, and poultry industries, USDA stated in a news release.

Source: USDA Packers and Stockyards Program

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