A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Join us TOMORROW, September 5th, at 12 noon (ET) for an Agricultural & Food Law Consortium webinar: Be In The Know: Legal Tips for Your Ag Start-Up. Details available here.
JUDICIAL:
In NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC., CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, and ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE, Plaintiffs, v. WILBUR ROSS, in his official capacity as Secretary of Commerce, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, CHRIS OLIVER, in his official capacity as Assistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, STEVEN MNUCHIN, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Treasury, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, and UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, Defendants, No. 18-00055, Slip Op. 18-100, 2018 WL 3866326 (Ct. Intl. Trade August 14, 2018), court granted plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction requiring Government to ban importation “of all fish and fish products from Mexican commercial fisheries that use gillnets within the vaquita’s range.” Government appealed, seeking to limit the scope of injunction. Court observed that “there is a real danger that the vaquita will disappear from the planet,” and ordered government to ban the importation from Mexico of “all shrimp, curvina, sierra, and chano fish and their products caught with gillnets inside the vaquita’s range.” Court concluded the import ban, per the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), is “effective immediately.”
LEGISLATIVE:
S. 3393: A bill to establish the Council on Rural Community Innovation and Economic Development. Text is now available.
S. 3397: A bill to promote conservation, improve public land, and provide for sensible development in Douglas County, Nevada. Text is now available.
S. 3394: A bill to establish a national mercury monitoring program. Text is now available.
H.R. 6040: Contra Costa Canal Transfer Act. Text for status Reported by House Committee (Aug 31, 2018) is now available.
REGULATORY: Includes FDA and NOAA notices.
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Notice FDA is announcing the fees we will assess for issuing export certificates for food for human consumption, with the exception of dietary supplements, medical foods, and foods for special dietary use. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011 authorizes us to charge fees to cover our costs associated with issuing export certificates for food. Details here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Notice Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information. Title: Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Vessel Information Family of Forms. Details here.
Notice Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information. Title: Reporting of Sea Turtle Incidental Take in Virginia Chesapeake Bay Pound Net Operations. Info here.