HB817: HB817 Georgia Meat Transparency and Source Verification Act; enact

Georgia law currently has no specific requirements for producers who market meat as grassfed, pasture-raised, or regenerative to prove those claims. This bill, called the Georgia Meat Transparency and Source Verification Act, would add a new section to Georgia's livestock dealer law (O.C.G.A. Article 1 of Chapter 6 of Title 4) requiring large meat producers, those with at least $1 million in annual sales, to keep birth and ownership records for their animals and disclose whether livestock were sold through auctions, culled, fed grain despite grassfed labels, or over five years old at slaughter. The bill also requires beef from cattle older than five to carry a label warning and undergo testing for diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease). Poultry producers with at least $250,000 in annual sales would have to test a portion of their flocks weekly for avian influenza and report positive cases immediately. Violations could bring civil penalties up to $10,000 and loss of the right to market under these labels. The law would take effect January 1, 2026.

• Requires large-scale meat producers (over $1 million in annual sales) to keep five years of records tracing livestock birth, ownership transfers, and compliance with USDA grassfed or pasture-raised standards.
• Mandates written disclosures at the point of sale, on packaging, and online stating whether animals were sold through auctions, culled, grain-fed despite labeling claims, or over five years old at slaughter.
• Requires beef from cattle over five years old to carry a specific warning label and undergo testing for abnormal prion proteins linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
• Requires large-scale poultry producers (over $250,000 in annual sales) to test at least 3 percent of live flocks weekly for avian influenza and immediately report and isolate positive cases.
• Requires producers selling multiple animal types under regenerative or pasture-based claims to track each species separately and provide QR codes or digital records verifying sourcing for online sales.
• Sets civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for repeat violations, plus possible suspension of a producer's ability to market under these labels.

The bill affects large-scale beef, pork, lamb, and goat producers earning over $1 million a year and poultry producers earning over $250,000 a year who market products as grassfed, pasture-raised, or regenerative. It also affects consumers who buy these labeled products and the state agriculture department, which enforces the new rules.

Consumers buying meat labeled grassfed or pasture-raised would gain access to disclosures about whether animals were auctioned, culled, grain-fed, or older at slaughter, and warnings about disease testing on older beef. Producers meeting the size thresholds would face new recordkeeping, testing, and labeling duties enforced through civil fines.

• Section 3 adds new Code Section 4-6-13 defining large-scale meat producer ($1 million annual sales) and large-scale poultry producer ($250,000 annual sales) thresholds triggering the law's requirements.
• Subsection (b) requires five years of retained records on livestock birth, ownership transfers, and compliance with USDA marketing standards, available to the department on request.
• Subsection (c) requires written disclosures on culling, auction sales, feed deviations, and age at slaughter, displayed at sale, on packaging, and online.
• Subsection (d) requires labeling and disease testing, including for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, for beef from cattle over five years old.
• Subsection (e) requires weekly avian influenza testing of at least 3 percent of poultry flocks by accredited labs, with immediate reporting and sales suspension for positive cases.
• Subsection (f) requires separate tracking for multispecies producers and QR code or digital sourcing verification for direct-to-consumer online sales.
• Subsection (g) sets civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a first offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses, plus possible revocation of marketing privileges.
• Section 4 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.

1. 2025-03-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-25House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-21House Hopper (House)

• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)Primary sponsor
• Steven Meeks (R, HD-178)
• Robert Dawson (D, HD-065)

• meat labeling
• food safety
• agriculture regulation
• avian influenza
• livestock producers