Bill Text: NY A11041 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Requires a farm owner or operator that produces shell eggs or liquid eggs for human consumption to confine egg-laying hens in a cage-free housing system.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-10-07 - referred to agriculture [A11041 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A11041-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          11041

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     October 7, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. L. Rosen-
          thal) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture

        AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to  provid-
          ing for cage-free egg production

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Legislative findings and  intent.  The  legislature  hereby
     2  finds the following:
     3    a.   According  to  the  Pew  Commission  on  Industrial  Farm  Animal
     4  Production, food animals that are treated  well  and  provided  with  at
     5  least  minimum  accommodation  of  their  natural behaviors and physical
     6  needs are healthier and safer for human consumption.
     7    b. A key finding from the World Health Organization and Food and Agri-
     8  cultural Organization of the United Nations Salmonella  Risk  Assessment
     9  was  that  reducing  flock prevalence results in a directly proportional
    10  reduction in human health risk.
    11    c. Egg-laying hens subjected to stress are more likely to have  higher
    12  levels  of pathogens in their intestines and the conditions increase the
    13  likelihood that consumers will be exposed to higher levels of food-borne
    14  pathogens.
    15    d. Salmonella is the most commonly diagnosed food-borne illness in the
    16  United States.
    17    e. It is the intent of the legislature to protect consumers  from  the
    18  deleterious,  health,  safety,  and  welfare  effects  of  the  sale and
    19  consumption of eggs derived from egg-laying hens  that  are  exposed  to
    20  significant  stress  and  may  result  in  increased exposure to disease
    21  pathogens including salmonella.
    22    § 2. The agriculture and markets  law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
    23  section 160-f to read as follows:
    24    §  160-f.  Cage-free  egg  production.  1.  Notwithstanding  any other
    25  provision of law:
    26    a. A farm owner or operator shall not confine or cause to be  confined
    27  an egg-laying hen in an enclosure other than a cage-free housing system.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15835-02-0

        A. 11041                            2

     1    b.  No person shall sell or contract to sell a shell egg or liquid egg
     2  for human consumption if the seller knows or should have known that  the
     3  shell  egg  or  liquid  egg is the product of an egg-laying hen that was
     4  confined in a manner that is inconsistent with the requirements of  this
     5  section,  regardless of whether the shell egg or liquid egg was produced
     6  in or out of the state.
     7    2. This section shall not apply to any of the following:
     8    a. Medical research;
     9    b. Examination, testing, individual treatment, or operation for veter-
    10  inary purposes by a licensed veterinarian;
    11    c. Transportation of an egg-laying hen;
    12    d. State or county fair exhibitions and similar exhibitions;
    13    e. 4-H programs administered by the National  Institute  of  Food  and
    14  Agriculture  of  the United States department of agriculture and similar
    15  youth programs;
    16    f. Slaughter of an egg-laying hen in accordance with  applicable  laws
    17  and regulations; or
    18    g. Temporary periods for animal husbandry purposes of no more than six
    19  hours in any twenty-four-hour period, and no more than twenty-four hours
    20  in any thirty-day period.
    21    3. For purposes of this section:
    22    a.  "Cage-free  housing  system" means an indoor or outdoor controlled
    23  environment for an egg-laying hen within which:
    24    (i) An egg-laying hen is free to roam unrestricted except by  exterior
    25  walls;
    26    (ii)  An  egg-laying hen is provided with, at a minimum, the amount of
    27  usable floor space per  hen  required  by  the  two  thousand  seventeen
    28  edition  of  the  united  egg producers' animal husbandry guidelines for
    29  United States egg-laying flocks: guidelines for cage-free production, or
    30  a subsequent version of such guidelines recognized by the department  in
    31  a rule or regulation which provides equal or more usable floor space per
    32  egg-laying hen.
    33    (iii)  An  egg-laying  hen is provided enrichments that allow a hen to
    34  exhibit natural behaviors, including, at a minimum, a  scratch  area,  a
    35  perch, a nest box, and a dust bathing area;
    36    (iv)  A farm employee can provide care while standing somewhere within
    37  a hen's usable floor space; and
    38    (v) Each egg-laying hen is provided unlimited access to  the  outdoors
    39  in a safe and secure environment that prevents access to predators.
    40    b.  "Commercial farm" means the land, building, and support facilities
    41  that are used for the commercial production of eggs intended  for  human
    42  consumption.
    43    c. "Egg-laying hen" means a female domesticated chicken, turkey, duck,
    44  goose, or guinea fowl kept for the purpose of egg production.
    45    d.  "Farm owner or operator" means any person who owns or controls the
    46  operation of a commercial farm.
    47    e. "Liquid egg" means an egg of an  egg-laying  hen  broken  from  the
    48  shells that is intended for human consumption, with the yolks and whites
    49  in  their  natural  proportions, or with the yolks and whites separated,
    50  mixed, or mixed and strained. Liquid eggs  do  not  include  combination
    51  food  products,  including  pancake  mixes, cake mixes, cookies, pizzas,
    52  cookie dough, ice cream, or similar processed or prepared food  products
    53  that are comprised of more than liquid eggs, sugar, salt, water, season-
    54  ing,  coloring,  flavoring, preservatives, stabilizers, and similar food
    55  additives.

        A. 11041                            3

     1    f. "Shell-egg" means a whole egg of an egg-laying  hen  in  its  shell
     2  form that is intended for human consumption.
     3    g.  "Usable floor space" means the total square footage of floor space
     4  provided to each egg-laying hen, calculated by dividing the total square
     5  footage of floor space in an enclosure by the number  of  hens  in  that
     6  enclosure  and  shall  include ground space and elevated level or nearly
     7  level platforms to accommodate egg flow upon which a hen can  roost  but
     8  shall not include any perch or ramp.
     9    4.  The  department shall inspect at reasonable times commercial farms
    10  engaged in the production of eggs  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the
    11  provisions of this section.
    12    5.  The  department shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are
    13  necessary and appropriate to carry out the provisions of this section.
    14    6. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil  penalty
    15  of  up  to five thousand dollars for the first violation and up to twen-
    16  ty-five thousand dollars for any subsequent violation. Any civil  penal-
    17  ties  collected  pursuant  to  this  section shall be paid to the animal
    18  population control fund established by section  ninety-seven-xx  of  the
    19  state finance law.
    20    7.  The  commissioner may institute such action at law or in equity as
    21  may appear necessary to enforce compliance with any provisions  of  this
    22  section  or of the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and, in
    23  addition to any other remedy under article  three  of  this  chapter  or
    24  otherwise, may apply for relief by injunction without being compelled to
    25  allege  or  prove  that  an  adequate remedy at law does not exist. Such
    26  application may be made to the supreme court in any district  or  county
    27  as provided in the civil practice law and rules, or to the supreme court
    28  in the third judicial district.
    29    8.   Nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  construed  to  affect  any
    30  protections afforded to animals under any other  provisions  of  law  or
    31  rules or regulations.
    32    9.  Nothing  in  this  section shall be construed to prevent any town,
    33  city, village or county in New York state from enacting a local  law  or
    34  ordinance  to  provide  for  the  humane  treatment of and prevention of
    35  cruelty to animals, provided, however, that no such law  shall  conflict
    36  with the provisions of this section.
    37    § 3. This act shall take effect twenty-four months after it shall have
    38  become  a  law.  Effective  immediately,  the addition, amendment and/or
    39  repeal of any rule or regulation necessary  for  the  implementation  of
    40  this  act  on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
    41  on or before such effective date.
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