FACT SHEET: Packers and Stockyards Act “Harm to Competition” Legal Analysis
FACT SHEET: Packers and Stockyards Act “Harm to Competition” Legal Analysis
Congress enacted Section 202(a) and (b) of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) to prevent anticompetitive behavior in the meat packing industry. This purpose is reflected in the text of the PSA, which refers to “unfair,” “unjustly discriminatory,” and “deceptive” practices and “undue” and “unreasonable” preferences. 7 U.S.C. § 192(a) and (b). When the PSA was enacted, those terms had a settled antitrust meaning of activities that injure or are likely to injure competition. The PSA’s legislative history confirms that Congress intended to prohibit only those acts that harmed, or were likely to harm, competition. Allowing a plaintiff to make out a claim under Sections 202(a) or (b) without proving harm to competition would thwart Congress’s purposes.
