Mandatory price reporting is a term in United States agriculture policy. In the past, meat packers and processors were not required to report the prices they paid for the animals or the terms of sale. Rather, daily sales and price information was collected by the Agricultural Marketing Service from companies on a voluntary basis. AMS reporters also attended auctions to collect price information.
However, as more and more animals were sold under formula pricing, other contract, or captive supply arrangements, the open cash markets became less helpful as benchmarks. On the argument that such arrangements also enabled packers to more easily conceal potential anti-competitive practices, Congress passed the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-78, Title IX). This law requires large packers and importers to report prices and other transaction details to the Agricultural Marketing Service.