To Repeal The Arkansas Catfish Processor Fair Practices Act Of 1987.
SB407 repeals the Arkansas Catfish Processor Fair Practices Act of 1987, which currently governs how catfish processors in Arkansas register with the Department of Agriculture, pay producers, weigh product, and handle disputes over payment and delivery. The bill removes the entire chapter from the Arkansas Code, including provisions that require processor registration, bonding or other security for larger processors, prompt payment rules, weighing and ticketing requirements, and enforcement tools such as civil penalties, injunctions, and receivership procedures.
In place of the repealed chapter, the bill also makes conforming changes to state revenue law by removing the specific reference to catfish processor civil penalties as a special revenue source and updating the Livestock and Poultry Special Revenue Fund provisions to reflect the repeal. As a result, the Department of Agriculture would lose the statutory framework it used to regulate catfish processor transactions and protect catfish producers under this act, and producers would no longer have these specific statutory remedies and protections under Title 2, Chapter 6.
The bill substantially changes Arkansas law by eliminating an entire regulatory scheme for the catfish processing industry. It removes statutory duties for catfish processors, including registration, financial disclosure, bonding, payment timing, weighing standards, and Department of Agriculture oversight, and it repeals the associated civil penalty revenue provision. The repeal also narrows the Department’s authority to suspend registrants, pursue receivership, and enforce producer-payment protections under this chapter.
The voting record suggests the bill was broadly supported and not controversial in floor action, passing the Senate 34-0 and the House 95-0 on third reading. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate organized opposition or support beyond the unanimous votes. The available history points to a consensus measure rather than a contested policy change.
The main policy issue inherent in the bill is the removal of long-standing protections for catfish producers and oversight of processors. Potentially affected parties include catfish producers, processors, secured lenders, and the Department of Agriculture, because the repeal ends the specific statutory payment, bonding, and receivership remedies that protected producers from nonpayment or insolvency. Even so, the unanimous votes indicate that any concerns about losing those protections did not translate into recorded legislative opposition in the available history.