The office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris will appeal the January 2015 decision overturning the state’s ban on foie gras, according to a notice of appeal filed in California federal court. Association des Éleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 12 5735 (U.S. Dist. Ct., C.D. Cal., notice of appeal filed February 4, 2015). The prohibition was found to impose “[m]arking, labeling, packaging, or ingredient requirements” that interfered with the free flow of poultry products in violation of the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act. The AG’s 1-page notice of appeal cited no arguments supporting its challenge. Additional details about the district court decision appear in Issue 550 of this Update. Issue 554
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A California federal court has held that the state law prohibiting the sale of foie gras resulting from the forcefeeding of ducks or geese is preempted by a federal law regulating the distribution and sale of poultry products. Association des Éleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 12-5735 (C.D. Cal., order entered January 7, 2015). The Ninth Circuit previously affirmed a lower court’s denial of a temporary injunction sought by the plaintiffs based on a failure to show a likelihood of success on the merits of their vagueness or commerce clause challenges. Additional information about the Ninth Circuit ruling appears in Issue 497 of this Update, and details about the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari to review that decision appear in Issue 542. The court first found that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the ban despite that defendant Kamala Harris, in her capacity as state attorney…
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has denied a petition seeking review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding a California law prohibiting the sale of commodities, such as foie gras, produced by “force feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird’s liver beyond normal size.” Association des Éleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 13-1313 (U.S., certiorari denied October 14, 2014). Details about the Ninth Circuit decision appear in Issue 497 of this Update. Among other matters, the Ninth Circuit had found that a number of the issues presented by the plaintiffs were premature because they had appealed the denial of a motion for preliminary injunction. The question that out-of-state fois gras producers presented to SCOTUS was “[w]hether the Commerce Clause allows California to impose a complete ban on the sale of wholesome, USDA-approved poultry products from other States and countries—in this case, foie…
Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is currently engaged in a campaign to ban foie gras production throughout the European Union (EU). Writing in the September 17, 2014, issue of The Parliament Magazine, PETA UK Director Mimi Bekhechi urges readers to sign a letter to EU officials calling on them to stop the production of foie gras, produced by force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers, in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, and Spain. Bekhechi cites scientific evidence as clear proof “that the production of foie gras is not only cruel but also incompatible with the European Commission’s regulations on food production.” According to PETA, more than 200,000 individuals have already signed the letter. PETA also claims that “many animals on foie gras farms are kept in cramped cages that do not comply with Council of Europe recommendations.” Issue 538
Briefing has been completed before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on a petition seeking review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding California’s prohibition on the sale of food produced by force feeding birds to enlarge the liver beyond normal size. Association des Éleveur de Canards des d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 13-1313 (U.S., distributed for Sept. 29, 2014, conference on July 16). Additional details about the Ninth Circuit’s ruling appear in Issue 497 of this Update. Joining the Canadian and New York foie gras producers that filed the certiorari petition are the attorneys general (AGs) of 13 states. Their amici curiae brief claims that the petition presents an issue of “exceptional importance to the preservation of state sovereignty,” namely, that the lower court’s decision “allows the states to engage in economic isolationism, set themselves against one another, and balkanize the nation, thus giving rise to trade wars…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling denying the request for a preliminary injunction to halt the application of a California statute that forbids the sale of products resulting from force feeding a bird to enlarge its liver and prohibits force feeding birds to enlarge their livers beyond normal size. Association des Éleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec v. Harris, No. 12-56822 (9th Cir., decided August 30, 2013). While the court dismissed the governor and state as defendants on the basis of immunity, it agreed with the district court that the state attorney general was not immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment. Additional information about the lawsuit appears in issues 446 and 454 of this Update. Because the court found that the plaintiffs, out-of-state foie gras producers and a California restaurant that sold the product before the law took effect, were not likely…
A federal court in California has decided that some consumer-fraud claims brought by an animal rights group and a company that makes vegan faux foie gras against Hudson Valley Foie Gras (HVFG) over statements that the defendant’s product is “the humane choice” may proceed. Animal Legal Def. Fund v. HVFG, L.L.C., No. 12-5809 (N.D. Cal., order entered April 12, 2013). While California prohibits the production of foie gras, which involves force-feeding ducks, the law does not prevent out-of-state producers, such as New York-based HVFG, from marketing in the state or shipping its product there. While the court reportedly acknowledged that a definition for “humane” is “hard to pin down,” it found that the plaintiffs might be able to prove use of the term by HVFG false if the production process is shown to cause ducks an undue amount of pain. The court dismissed the Animal Legal Defense Fund from the lawsuit…
A federal court in California has dismissed with prejudice a complaint filed by groups concerned about ducks force-fed to produce foie gras against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), seeking to compel FSIS to ban force-fed foie gras from the human food supply as adulterated and diseased. Animal League Def. Fund v. USDA, No. 12-4028 (U.S. Dist. Ct., C.D. Cal., decided March 22, 2013). FSIS denied a petition to take such action, and the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit to challenge the legality of that denial under the Administrative Procedure Act. According to the court, while an agency’s denial of a petition for rulemaking can be challenged in court, the plaintiffs here did not ask FSIS to promulgate a new rule. “Though titled ‘PETITION FOR RULEMAKING,’ Plaintiffs’ request seeks to ban force-fed foie gras under existing law and regulations: it is not a…
French MEP Francoise Castex has reportedly condemned California’s statewide ban on the production and sale of any product that is “the result of force-feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging its liver beyond normal size,” calling the prohibition on foie gras “a battle for Europe.” After a recent attempt by producers to enjoin the 2004 law failed in federal court, Castex convened a news conference in European Parliament where she eviscerated the legislation as “very negative” and a violation of international trade rules. “There are five member states where foie gras is produced, not just France,” she said, referring to Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Spain. According to Castex, the foie gras sector comprises 30 percent of the local economy in her own region of France, which has already hired an attorney to represent the country in a legal challenge to the United States. Her remarks also drew support from…
The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) has filed a putative class action against a large-scale, California-based egg producer alleging that it falsely represents that the eggs are laid by hens “raised in wide open spaces in Sonoma Valley.” ALDF v. Judy’s Family Farm Organic Eggs, No. ___ (Cal. Super. Ct., filed October 1, 2012). According to ALDF, the hens are actually “crammed in covered sheds with no outdoor access.” The animal rights group alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. The organization cites Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which discussed the defendant and its parent company, also named in the suit, as follows: “Who could begrudge a farmer named Judy $3.49 for a dozen organic eggs she presumably has to get up at dawn each morning to gather? Just how big and sophisticated an operation Petaluma Eggs really is I was never able to…
