7 U.S.C. § 192
Section 192 · Unlawful practices enumerated
Amended 8 times on record
Applied in 70 court decisions — leading case Central Bank of Denver Na v. First Interstate Bank of Denver Na K (1994)
Most recently applied in Org. for Competitive Markets v. U.S. Department of Agriculture (December 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It shall be unlawful for any packer or swine contractor with respect to livestock, meats, meat food products, or livestock products in unmanufactured form, or for any live poultry dealer with respect to live poultry, to:
(a) Engage in or use any unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive practice or device; or
(b) Make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person or locality in any respect, or subject any particular person or locality to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect; or
(c) Sell or otherwise transfer to or for any other packer, swine contractor, or any live poultry dealer, or buy or otherwise receive from or for any other packer, swine contractor, or any live poultry dealer, any article for the purpose or with the effect of apportioning the supply between any such persons, if such apportionment has the tendency or effect of restraining commerce or of creating a monopoly; or
(d) Sell or otherwise transfer to or for any other person, or buy or otherwise receive from or for any other person, any article for the purpose or with the effect of manipulating or controlling prices, or of creating a monopoly in the acquisition of, buying, selling, or dealing in, any article, or of restraining commerce; or
(e) Engage in any course of business or do any act for the purpose or with the effect of manipulating or controlling prices, or of creating a monopoly in the acquisition of, buying, selling, or dealing in, any article, or of restraining commerce; or
(f) Conspire, combine, agree, or arrange with any other person (1) to apportion territory for carrying on business, or (2) to apportion purchases or sales of any article, or (3) to manipulate or control prices; or
(g) Conspire, combine, agree, or arrange with any other person to do, or aid or abet the doing of, any act made unlawful by subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of this section.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendment of Section
For termination of amendment by section 942 of Pub. L. 106–78, see Termination Date of 1999 Amendment note below.
Amendments
2002—Pub. L. 107–171, §10502(b)(1), substituted “packer or swine contractor” for “packer” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–171, §10502(b)(2)(A), inserted “, swine contractor,” after “other packer” in two places.
1999—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–78, §§912, 942, temporarily struck out “whatsoever” after “locality in any respect” and after “disadvantage in any respect”. See Termination Date of 1999 Amendment note below.
1991—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–237 substituted a comma for period after second reference to “dealer”.
1987—Pub. L. 100–173, §3(1), substituted “for any packer with respect to livestock, meats, meat food products, or livestock products in unmanufactured form, or for any live poultry dealer with respect to live poultry, to” for “with respect to livestock, meats, meat food products, livestock products in unmanufactured form, poultry, or poultry products for any packer or any live poultry dealer or handler to” in introductory provisions.
Par. (c). Pub. L. 100–173, §3(2), struck out reference to poultry handlers wherever appearing and substituted “such persons” for “such packers”.
1976—Pub. L. 94–410 struck out “in commerce” wherever appearing.
1958—Pub. L. 85–909 inserted “with respect to livestock, meats, meat food products, livestock products in unmanufactured form, poultry, or poultry products” after “unlawful”.
1935—Act Aug. 15, 1921, title V, §503, as added Aug. 14, 1935, inserted “or any live poultry dealer or handler” after “packer” wherever appearing.
Termination Date of 1999 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 106–78 to terminate 5 years after Oct. 22, 1999, see section 942 of Pub. L. 106–78, set out in a Livestock Mandatory Reporting note under section 1635 of this title.
Effective Date of 1987 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–173 effective 90 days after Nov. 23, 1987, see section 12 of Pub. L. 100–173, set out as a note under section 182 of this title.