USDA, Justice Department seek better collaboration, will establish complaint portal on potential violations of competition laws.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland participates in a video conference with farmers, ranchers and meat processors held by U.S. President Joe Biden from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, U.S. Jan. 3, 2022. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
WASHINGTON — Think you see something that's not fair in the world of livestock marketing and processing?
You will soon have a place to file that complaint anonymously, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice.
As part of an announcement on a series of steps to ensure fair competition in the livestock industry, the two federal agencies are working together to launch an online complain portal within the next 30 days.
On Monday, Jan. 3, Attorney General Merrick Garland said those efforts "will include the launch of a centralized, accessible portal — a one-stop shop — to report complaints of potential violations of our competition laws, including the Sherman and the Clayton Acts as well as the Packers and Stockyards Act."
The two agencies say they are trying to better collaborate addressing those kinds of complaints and protect whistleblowers.
"Where complaints relate to antitrust violations, whistleblowers will be protected in many cases by the new employee and contractor anti-retaliation protections, which Congress passed in 2020," Garland...
; ; ; agreed to pay $17.07 million to settle federal allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices on Friday, marking the Justice Department's first resolution unde...