To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to allow interstate shipment of meat and meat food products inspected and passed under qualifying State programs.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7818 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7818 To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to allow interstate shipment of meat and meat food products inspected and passed under qualifying State programs. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 5, 2026 Mr. Burchett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to allow interstate shipment of meat and meat food products inspected and passed under qualifying State programs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``American Meat Freedom Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) State meat inspection programs are authorized under section 301 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661) if the Secretary of Agriculture determines that such programs impose requirements ``at least equal to'' those imposed under Federal inspection. (2) Ranchers and small-scale meat producers operating under compliant State inspection programs are currently limited in their ability to access interstate markets. (3) Allowing interstate shipment of meat and meat food products inspected under qualifying State programs will-- (A) expand market access for small and mid-sized ranchers; (B) increase competition in meat processing; (C) strengthen domestic food supply resilience; and (D) maintain food safety standards equivalent to Federal inspection. SEC. 3. INTERSTATE SHIPMENT OF STATE-INSPECTED MEAT. (a) Amendments.--Section 301(a)(1) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661(a)(1)) is amended-- (1) by striking ``solely for distribution within such State''; and (