United States 117th Congress Status: In Committee 1 R cosponsors

HR 3835 — PRIME Act

Last action — Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.

Track this bill free

No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 117th Congress. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act This bill expands the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements. Under current law, the exemption applies if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee uses. The bill expands the exemption to include meat that is slaughtered and prepared at a custom slaughter facility in accordance with the laws of the state where the facility is located; and prepared exclusively for distribution to household consumers in the state or restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments in the state that either prepare meals served directly to consumers or offer meat and food products for sale directly to consumers in the state. The bill does not preempt any state law concerning (1) the slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaughter facility; or (2) the sale of meat or meat food products.

Bill Text

Sections of law this bill changes

1 section in 1 law

From the bill's own amending language, matched to the official United States Code (current through Public Law 119-121).

Meat inspection · 21 U.S.C. ch. 12 1 section
  • § 623 Exemptions from inspection requirements Amends

    21 U.S.C. § 623

    The law today

    (a) Personal slaughtering and custom slaughtering for personal, household, guest, and employee uses The provisions of this subchapter requiring inspection of the slaughter of animals and the preparation of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at establishments conducting such operations for commerce shall not apply to the slaughtering by any person of animals of his own raising, and the preparation by him and transportation in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals exclusively for use by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees; nor to the custom slaughter by any person, firm, or corporation of cattle, sheep, swine or goats delivered by the owner thereof for such slaughter, and the preparation by such slaughterer and transportation in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals, exclusively for use, in the household of such owner, by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees; nor to the custom preparation by any person, firm, or corporation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products, derived from the slaughter by any person of cattle, sheep, swine, or goats of his own raising, or from game animals, delivered by the owner thereof for such custom preparation, and transportation in commerce of such custom prepared articles, exclusively for use in the household of such owner, by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees: Provided, That in cases where such person, firm, or corporation engages in such custom operations at an establishment at which inspection under this subchapter is maintained, the Secretary may exempt from such inspection at such establishment any animals slaughtered or any meat or meat food products otherwise prepared on such custom basis: Provided further, That custom operations at any establishment shall be exempt from inspection requirements as provided by this section only if the establishment complies with regulations which the Secretary is hereby authorized to promulgate to assure that any carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products wherever handled on a custom basis, or any containers or packages containing such articles, are separated at all times from carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products prepared for sale, and that all such articles prepared on a custom basis, or any containers or packages containing such articles, are plainly marked “Not for Sale” immediately after being prepared and kept so identified until delivered to the owner and that the establishment conducting the custom operation is maintained and operated in a sanitary manner. (b) Territorial exemption; refusal, withdrawal, or modification The Secretary may, under such sanitary conditions as he may by regulations prescribe, exempt from the inspection requirements of this subchapter the slaughter of animals, and the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products, by any person, firm, or corporation in any Territory not organized with a legislative body solely for distribution within such Territory when the Secretary determines that it is impracticable to provide such inspection within the limits of funds appropriated for administration of this chapter and that such exemption will otherwise facilitate enforcement of this chapter. The Secretary may refuse, withdraw, or modify any exemption under this subsection in his discretion whenever he determines such action is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. (c) Pizzas containing meat food products (1) Under such terms and conditions as the Secretary shall prescribe through rules and regulations issued under section 624 of this title that may be necessary to ensure food safety and protect public health such as special handling procedures, the Secretary shall exempt pizzas containing a meat food product from the inspection requi...

    11 other bills also change this section · Follow it → Official text at uscode.house.gov ↗

How this bill changes current law

8 changes Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill exempts the slaughter of animals and preparation of carcasses at custom slaughter facilities from federal inspection requirements, subject to state law compliance.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (b)(1) The provisions of this title requiring inspection of the slaughter of animals and the preparation of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at establishments conducting such operations for commerce shall not apply to the slaughtering by any person of animals at a custom slaughter facility, and the preparation at such custom slaughter facility and transportation in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals if--

    This addition establishes a new exemption for animals slaughtered and processed at custom slaughter facilities.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (A) the slaughtering and preparation carried out at such custom slaughter facility is carried out in accordance with the law of the State in which the custom slaughter facility is located; and

    This requirement ensures that state laws govern the operations at custom slaughter facilities.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (B) the animals are so slaughtered and the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals are so prepared exclusively for distribution to--

    This stipulation clarifies that products must be distributed only within the state.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (i) household consumers within the State; and

    This specifies that distribution is limited to household consumers within the same state.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (ii) restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments located in such State that--

    This allows specific types of local establishments to receive meat products without federal inspection.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (I) are involved in the preparation of meals served directly to consumers; or

    This focuses on establishments preparing food for immediate consumption.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    (II) offer meat and meat food products for sale directly to consumers in the State.

    This allows establishments that sell meat products directly to consumers without federal inspection.

  • 21 U.S.C. 623

    paragraph (b) → paragraph (c)

    This updates the reference to the next paragraph following the new addition.

Action History

  1. Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Introduced in House

  4. Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (546)

546 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 546 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

agriculture
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HR 3835 do?
Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act This bill expands the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements. Under current law, the exemption applies if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee uses. The bill expands the exemption to include meat that is slaughtered and prepared at a custom slaughter facility in accordance with the laws of the state where the facility is located; and prepared exclusively for distribution to household consumers in the state or restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments in the state that either prepare meals served directly to consumers or offer meat and food products for sale directly to consumers in the state. The bill does not preempt any state law concerning (1) the slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaughter facility; or (2) the sale of meat or meat food products.
Who sponsors HR 3835?
HR 3835 is sponsored by Massie, Thomas (Republican).
What is the current status of HR 3835?
This bill died with 117th Congress. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track HR 3835?
Track HR 3835 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on HR 3835

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of HR 3835

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →