A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions to: camarigg at uark.edu.
JUDICIAL: Includes FDA and water rights issues.
In Hasemann v. Gerber Prod. Co., No. 15-CV-2995 (MKB), 2016 WL 5477595 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2016), plaintiffs sued under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) and the Wisconsin Deceptive Trade Practices Act alleging defendant’s marketing misrepresented that its infant formula reduces risk infants will develop allergies, and that the formula is the “first and only infant formula FDA endorses to reduce risk of infants developing allergies.” Plaintiffs argued defendant’s failure to include the qualifying statement with its qualified health claim could, as the FDA concluded, “mislead a reasonable consumer.” Although the court found plaintiff’s allegations “sufficient to state a claim under FDUTPA,” they also concluded that “because this representation is misleading but not literally false, it is insufficient to state a claim under Wisconsin Statutes.”
In City of Eudora v. Rural Water Dist. No. 4, No. 14-2399-JAR-KGS, 2016 WL 5466356 (D. Kan. Sept. 29, 2016), plaintiff (city) wanted the court to grant it “the right to provide water service within certain disputed areas.” The case centered on a dispute about whether a water district was entitled to protection under a Kansas law prohibiting municipalities from “poaching rural water district’s customers while a USDA-guaranteed loan is in repayment.” A central issue for the court was whether Kansas law “permits rural water districts to take out federal loans, or guarantees, or both.” The court noted that “rural water districts ‘do not enjoy [statutory] protection unless state law authorizes the water district to incur federal obligations.’” Plaintiff argued it had the legal right “to transition water service from a rural water district following annexation by the city, if it chooses to do so.” On that issue, appellate court ruled plaintiff “may proceed accordingly to transition water services under Kansas law.”
REGULATORY: Includes ERS, FWS, FNS, FTZB, NIFC, NOAA, RBCS, and RUS rules and notices.
ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE: Notice USDA submitted collection requirement(s) to OMB for review. Title: National Food Study Pilot. Details here.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE:
Rule FWS will add 1 national wildlife refuge to the list of areas open for hunting, increase the hunting activities available at 12 other NWRs, open 1 refuge to fishing for the first time, and add pertinent refuge-specific regulations for other NWRs that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2016-2017 season. Info here.
Rule FWS announces a 12-month finding for the western glacier stonefly. Details here.
FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE: Notice inviting comment on a proposed information collection revising currently approved collection for the Child Nutrition Program Operations Study II. Info here.
FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD: Notice MTD Consumer Group, Inc., submitted a notification of proposed production activity to the FTZ Board for its facility in Verona, Mississippi, within FTZ 158. The facility produces lawn and garden equipment. Info here.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND CULTURE: Notice NIFC invites public comment on the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery” for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Details here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION: Rule NMFS apportions amounts of the non-specified reserve to the initial total allowable catch of Bering Sea Pacific ocean perch, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Kamchatka flounder, BSAI “other flatfish,” BSAI northern rockfish, BSAI skates, BSAI sculpins, and BSAI squids in the BSAI management area. Info here.
Notice NMFS will convene a workshop to solicit facts and information from experts to inform recovery planning for the Main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale Distinct Population Segment. Details here.
RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE:
Notice RBCS will request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program. Title: Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program. Info here.
Notice RBCS will request an extension for to a currently approved information collection for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP). Title: Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. Info here.
RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE: Notice USDA submitted information collection requirement(s) to Office of Management and Budget for review. Title: Broadband Grant Program. Details here.