Food Labeling
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 17, 2023
Water Quality: North Dakota Federal Court Enjoins WOTUS Final Rule in 24 States 🌾
On April 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction immediately effective in 24 states against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) January 2023 WOTUS Final Rule in West Virginia v. U.S. EPA, No. 3:23-cv-00032. In addition to a previously-issued federal court injunction issued in Texas, effective in Texas and Idaho, the new injunction is effective in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 10, 2023
Water Quality: Stay Granted in Litigation on Petition to Compel Revision of Clean Water Act CAFO Regulations 🌾
On April 3, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit entered an order staying a petition for writ of mandamus filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by several environmental groups, pursuant to a joint stipulation filed by the parties in the case of Food & Water Watch, et al v. USEPA, No. 22-70226. According to the terms of the stay, EPA must respond by August 15, 2023 to a 2017 petition asking the agency […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 3, 2023
Water Quality: U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Hear Appeal Interpreting Citizen Suit Authority Under Clean Water Act 🌾
On January 30, 2023, Dakota Finance LLC (dba Arabella Farms) filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case which may provide clarity to the applicability of the Clean Water Act (CWA)’s authority to pursue citizen suits when a state agency has already commenced enforcement action under a state law “comparable to” the Clean Water Act’s administrative penalty provisions. Dakota Finance LLC, dba Arabella Farm, et al. v. Naturaland Trust, et al. No. 22-720. […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 20, 2023
WOTUS: Twenty-Four States File New Complaint Against EPA Challenging New WOTUS Rule 🌾
On February 16, 2023, a coalition of twenty-four states filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota Eastern Division against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the new final rule defining “the Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). West Virginia et. al. v. Environmental Protection Agency et al., No. 3:23-cv-00032. The complaint alleges that the final rule regulatorily interprets WOTUS too broadly under the Clean Water Act (CWA), U.S.C. § […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 13, 2023
Biotechnology: U.S. Trade Representative Announces USMCA Technical Consultations On Mexican GMO Corn Ban 🌾
On March 6, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it is requesting technical consultations with Mexico “regard[ing] certain Mexican measures concerning products of agricultural biotechnology,” i.e., Mexico’s February 13, 2023, decree prohibiting import of genetically modified corn for human consumption. USTR initiates the technical consultations under Article 9.19 of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Chapter of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). According to a statement issued by USDA Secretary Vilsack, the United States “remain[s] firm in […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 16, 2023
Organic Agriculture: DOJ Indicts Multiple Companies and Individuals for Organic Fraud 🌾
On January 6, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of two Dubai-based agricultural companies and three Turkish residents for conspiring to export non-organic grain labeled as “organic” into the United States. The defendants are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, and wire fraud. According to the announcement, in 2016, the defendants “shipped 16,250 [metric tons] of non-organic soybeans falsely labeled as ‘organic’ from Turkey to the United States where they were sold for over $10 million.” The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending October 21, 2022
Animal Welfare: Utah State Jury Finds Animal Activist Not Guilty of Burglary and Theft for Taking Two Piglets from Smithfield-Owned Swine Operation 🌾
On October 8, 2022, a Utah state court jury found Wayne Hsiung not guilty of theft and burglary for removing two piglets from a swine production facility owned and operated by Smithfield Foods’ Circle Four Farms while conducting an undercover investigation of the facility in March 2017. Utah v. Hsiung, No. 181500061 (5th Dist. Utah). Hsiung, a member of the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, was indicted and arrested in May 2018, although […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending August 19, 2022
National Agriculture Policy: Inflation Reduction Act Signed Into Law
On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law H.R.5376, known as the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” which appropriates $750 billion through 2031 for numerous federal programs, prioritizing renewable energy, climate, and healthcare initiatives. The Act allocates approximately $38 billion for agriculture and rural development, down from the previous November 2021 version of the bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, which would have provided $80 billion for agricultural programs. The 2022 Act includes
- $19.5 billion for conservation programs—$8.45 billion of which prioritizes diet […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending July 22, 2022
Antitrust: Federal Poultry Processing Wage Suppression Suit Alleging National Conspiracy Survives Motions to Dismiss 🌾
On July 19, 2022, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued an opinion on five motions to dismiss the third amended complaint in this 2019 putative class action case titled Judy Jein, et al. v. Perdue Farms, Inc., et al. No. 19-2521 (USDC MD), based upon Sherman Act antitrust violations on behalf of workers at various poultry processing plants. The class action alleges that the defendant manufacturers conspired to depress wages and share compensation data in order to do so. The twenty-six […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending June 3, 2022
Food Policy: USDA Announces “Framework to Transform Food Systems” 🌾
On June 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced details of a set of actions collectively called a “Food Systems Transformation” framework, funded by American Rescue Plan Act and other pandemic relief legislation, to serve the purposes announced in Executive Order 14017 (America’s Supply Chains) and “to benefit consumers, producers and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers.” The initial announcement outlined over $3 billion of investment in at least 16 USDA programs to […]
