Last week, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives called the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression, or EATS Act. It is designed to prohibit state and local governments from imposing laws and regulations that have the effect of dictating agricultural production practices outside their borders.
Representatives Ashley Hinson (R-IA-2) and Zach Nunn (R-IA-3) introduced the bill, which has companion legislation in the Senate titled the “Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Ac.,” It is sponsored by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) with support from other Senators, including Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
The EATS Act was prompted by California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts’ Question 3, both of which ban the sale of pork from hogs whose mothers were raised in housing that fails to meet the states’ arbitrary standards. It would prevent states like California or Massachusetts from passing laws that seek to regulate agricultural production practices on farms outside of the state.
According to the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the EATS Act restores the long-standing relationship between states and the federal government under the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which grants Congress the exclusive power to regulate trade between and among the states and restricts states from regulating commerce outside their borders.
NPPC supports finding a legislative solution, like the EATS Act, to Proposition 12 to prevent state and local governments from interfering with the production of agricultural products in other states.