A bi-partisan group of federal lawmakers have proposed legislation that would outlaw the export of horses for processing in Mexico and Canada as well as outlaw the export of U.S.-produced horsemeat for sale in foreign markets.

Horse processing has not taken place in the United States since 2007 when a combination of legislation and court decisions shuttered the last remaining horse processing plants in Illinois and Texas. Commercial U.S. horse slaughter became possible again in 2012 when Congress passed legislation that did not specifically deny the USDA the funding to carry out inspections at domestic horses processing plants. Since then, horse processing plants have been proposed in several states, including Wyoming and Missouri.

In December 2011, New Mexico businessman Rick De Los Santos submitted an application requesting the placement of USDA personnel to carry out horsemeat inspections at his Valley Meat Co., LLC plant in Roswell, N.M. USDA personnel subsequently conducted an application-related tour of De Los Santos’ plant, and earlier this month, the USDA announced it would process De Los Santos application for inspections. De Los Santos said that once his application is approved and inspections begin, processing at the Valley Meat plant could begin shortly. Products derived from the facility would be sold to a client in Mexico, De Los Santos said.

But a pair of bills introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on March 12 would forbid the export of meat derived from horses processed at a domestic plant such as the one De Los Santos proposes to open. The legislation would also forbid the export of horses from the United States to processing plants in Canada and Mexico