SENATE BILL 347

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; ENACTING THE CONFINEMENT OF EGG-LAYING HENS ACT; PROHIBITING CERTAIN CONFINEMENT OF EGG-LAYING HENS; PROHIBITING THE SALE OF EGGS FROM CONFINED HENS; PRESCRIBING PENALTIES.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act".

     SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] LEGISLATIVE DECLARATION.--In accordance with the legislature's authority to protect the health and welfare of consumers, promote food safety and advance animal welfare, the legislature finds and declares that the regulation of egg production on farms and of the sale of eggs and egg products will further these goals.

     SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act:

          A. "board" means the board of regents of New Mexico state university;

          B. "business owner" or "business operator" means a person that owns or controls the operations of a business;

          C. "cage-free housing system":

                (1) means an indoor or outdoor controlled environment for egg-laying hens to which all of the following apply:

                     (a) for an indoor environment, the egg-laying hens are free to roam unrestricted except by the following: 1) exterior walls; or 2) interior fencing used to contain the entire egg-laying hen flock within the building or subdivide flocks into smaller groups, if farm employees can walk through each contained or subdivided area to provide care to egg-laying hens and if each egg-laying hen has the minimum amount of usable floor space described in Paragraph (2) of Subsection B of Section 4 of the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act;

                     (b) egg-laying hens are provided enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors, including scratch areas, perches, nest boxes and dust bathing areas; and

                     (c) farm employees can provide care while standing within the egg-laying hens' usable floor space;

                (2) includes, to the extent that such systems comply with the requirements of this subsection, multi-tiered aviaries, partially slatted systems, single-level all-litter floor systems and any future systems that will comply with the requirements of this subsection; and

                (3) does not include systems commonly described as battery cages, colony cages, enriched cages, enriched colony cages, modified cages, convertible cages, furnished cages or similar cage systems;

          D. "department" means the New Mexico department of agriculture;

          E. "egg-laying hen" means a female domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose or guinea fowl kept for the purpose of commercial shell egg or egg products production;

          F. "egg products" means eggs of an egg-laying hen broken from the shells, intended for human food, whether in liquid, solid, dried or frozen form; whether raw or cooked; and with the yolks and whites in their natural proportions, or with the yolks and whites separated, mixed or mixed and strained; "egg products" does not include combination food products that are composed of more than egg products, sugar, salt, water, seasoning, coloring, flavoring, preservatives, stabilizers and similar food additives, such as pancake mixes, cake mixes, cookies, pizzas, cookie dough, ice cream or similar food products;

          G. "enclosure" means a structure used to confine an egg-laying hen;

          H. "farm" means the land, buildings, support facilities and other equipment that are wholly or partially used for the commercial production of animals or animal products used for food; "farm" does not include live animal markets or official plants at which mandatory inspection is maintained under the federal Egg Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Chapter 15;

          I. "farm owner" or "farm operator" means a person that owns or controls the operations of a farm;

          J. "multi-tiered aviary" means a cage-free housing system where egg-laying hens have unfettered access to multiple elevated platforms that provide the egg-laying hens with usable floor space both on top of and underneath the platforms;

          K. "partially slatted system" means a cage-free housing system where egg-laying hens have unfettered access to elevated flat platforms through which manure drops through the flooring to a pit or litter removal belt below;

          L. "sale" means a commercial sale by a person that sells an item covered by the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act, but does not include a sale at an official plant at which mandatory inspection is maintained under the federal Egg Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Chapter 15; as used in the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act, a sale shall be deemed to occur at the location where the buyer takes physical possession of the item being sold;

          M. "shell egg" means a whole egg of an egg-laying hen in its shell form, intended for use as human food;

          N. "single-level all-litter floor system" means a cage-free housing system bedded with litter where egg-laying hens have limited or no access to elevated flat platforms; and

          O. "usable floor space" means the total square footage of floor space provided to each egg-laying hen, as calculated by dividing the total square footage of floor space provided to egg-laying hens in an enclosure by the number of egg-laying hens in that enclosure; "usable floor space" includes both ground space and elevated level or nearly level flat platforms upon which hens can roost, but does not include perches or ramps.

     SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] PROHIBITIONS.--

          A. On or after July 1, 2022, a farm owner or farm operator shall not knowingly confine an egg-laying hen in an enclosure with less than one square foot of usable floor space per egg-laying hen.

          B. On or after July 1, 2024, a farm owner or farm operator shall not knowingly confine an egg-laying hen in an enclosure:

                (1) that is not a cage-free housing system; or

                (2) that has less than:

                     (a) one square foot of usable floor space per egg-laying hen in a cage-free housing system that provides egg-laying hens with unfettered access to vertical space, such as a multi-tiered aviary or a partially slatted system; or

                     (b) one and one-half square feet of usable floor space per egg-laying hen in a cage-free housing system that does not provide egg-laying hens with unfettered access to vertical space, such as a single-level all-litter floor system.

          C. On or after July 1, 2022, a business owner or business operator shall not knowingly sell or transport for sale in New Mexico shell eggs or egg products that the business owner or business operator knows or should know were produced by an egg-laying hen that was confined in a manner that conflicts with the standards set forth in Subsections A and B of this section.

     SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] EXEMPTIONS.--

          A. Subsections A and B of Section 4 of the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act shall not apply during:

                (1) medical research;

                (2) examination, testing, individual treatment or operation for veterinary purposes, but only if performed by or under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian;

                (3) transportation;

                (4) state or county fair exhibitions, 4-H programs and similar exhibitions;

                (5) slaughter in accordance with applicable laws and rules;

                (6) temporary periods for animal husbandry purposes for no more than six hours in any twenty-four-hour period and no more than twenty-four hours total in any thirty-day period; or

                (7) the production of breeder hatching eggs not intended for human consumption.

          B. The Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act shall not apply to the production in New Mexico, sale in New Mexico or transport for sale in New Mexico of shell eggs by a farm owner or farm operator with annual shell egg production from fewer than three thousand egg-laying hens if all shell eggs sold in New Mexico or transported for sale in New Mexico by the farm owner or farm operator are derived from fewer than three thousand egg-laying hens.

     SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.--It is an affirmative defense to any action to enforce the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act that a business owner or business operator relied in good faith upon a written certification by the supplier that the shell eggs or egg products were not derived from an egg-laying hen that was confined in a manner that conflicts with the standards set forth in Subsections A and B of Section 4 of that act.

     SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.--In addition to other remedies provided in the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act, the department may apply to a district court for an injunction restraining a person from violating or continuing to violate provisions of that act or from failing or refusing to comply with a rule promulgated pursuant to that act.

     SECTION 8. [NEW MATERIAL] CIVIL PENALTY.--A person who violates the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation.

     SECTION 9. [NEW MATERIAL] ENFORCEMENT.--

          A. The department, under the guidance and control of the board, shall be responsible for administering and enforcing the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act. A farm owner or farm operator shall allow the department access during regular business hours to the farm, vehicles and records pertinent to activities regulated pursuant to that act.

          B. The board is empowered to promulgate rules that are necessary to administer and enforce the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act, including rules governing the inspection of farms, shell eggs and egg products to ensure that shell eggs and egg products sold in New Mexico are produced in compliance with that act.

          C. The department may use a government or private inspection or process verification provider to ensure compliance with the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act. To rely on a government or private inspection or process verification provider, the department shall approve the specific private inspection or process verification provider as competent to ensure compliance with that act during both production and handling of shell eggs and egg products.

     SECTION 10. [NEW MATERIAL] CERTIFICATION.--

          A. To sell shell eggs or egg products, to offer to sell shell eggs or egg products or to transport shell eggs or egg products for sale within New Mexico:

                (1) a farm owner or farm operator shall obtain from the department a certificate that the shell eggs or egg products are produced in compliance with the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act; and

                (2) a business owner or business operator shall obtain a copy of the certificate issued pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this subsection from a farm owner or farm operator that the shell eggs or egg products comply with the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act. The business owner or business operator shall retain the copy and provide the copy to the department upon request.

          B. The department shall certify shell eggs and egg products as compliant with the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act if:

                (1) the enclosures for the egg-laying hens are inspected in accordance with the rules promulgated pursuant to Subsection B of Section 9 of that act; or

                (2) the department determines the shell eggs or egg products are accompanied with documentation proving the enclosures for the egg-laying hens have undergone government or private inspection and process verification services described in Subsection C of Section 9 of that act.

          C. The certification issued pursuant to this section expires at the end of the calendar year.

          D. The provisions of this section apply to the sale, an offer to sell or the transportation for sale of shell eggs and egg products in New Mexico occurring on or after July 1, 2022.

     SECTION 11. [NEW MATERIAL] OTHER LAWS.--The provisions of the Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act are in addition to, and not in lieu of, other laws protecting animal welfare. The Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens Act is not intended and should not be construed to limit any other state law or rule protecting the welfare of animals or to prevent a local governing body from adopting and enforcing its own animal welfare laws and regulations that are more stringent than that act.

     SECTION 12. SEVERABILITY.--If any part or application of the provisions of this act is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.

     SECTION 13. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2021.

- 11 -