Summary: This set of Oregon laws comprise the state's laws to regulate the conditions that egg-laying hens may be kept in. Under these laws, egg-laying hens must be kept in conditions that are designed to promote humane welfare standards and effective in preventing the spread of food-borne pathogens. Violators may be subject to a civil penalty of no more than $2,500 or have their egg handler's license revoked.
632.842. Relation to Animal Welfare Laws
632.845. Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens
632.847. Commerce in Eggs or Egg Products from Noncompliant Production
632.849. Production Exempt from Compliance
As used in ORS 632.835 to 632.850:
(1) “Commercial farm” means the land, buildings and support facilities that are used for the commercial production of animals or animal products used for food or fiber.
(2) “Commercial farm owner or operator” means any person who owns or controls the operation of a commercial farm. “Commercial farm owner or operator” does not mean a contractor, consultant or nonmanagement employee.
(3) “Egg” means an egg, in the shell, from an egg-laying hen.
(4) “Egg-laying hen” means any female domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose or guinea fowl that is kept for the purpose of egg production.
(5) “Egg products” has the meaning given that term in ORS 632.705, except that “egg products” does not include the following products when those products are prepared from inspected egg products or eggs and contain no more restricted eggs than are allowed in the official standards for United States Consumer Grade B shell eggs:
(a) Freeze-dried products;
(b) Imitation egg products;
(c) Egg substitutes;
(d) Dietary foods;
(e) Dried no-bake custard mixes;
(f) Eggnog mixes;
(g) Acidic dressings;
(h) Noodles;
(i) Milk and egg dips;
(j) Cake mixes;
(k) French toast; and
(L) Sandwiches containing eggs or egg products.
(6) “Enclosure” means any cage, crate or other structure used to confine an egg-laying hen.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2011, c. 436, § 1, eff. June 17, 2011, operative Jan. 1, 2012. O. R. S. § 632.835, OR ST § 632.835 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
The Legislative Assembly finds and declares that the regulation of egg production and of the sale of eggs and egg products, as described in ORS 632.835 to 632.850, is necessary to protect the health and welfare of consumers, to promote food safety, to advance animal welfare and to protect this state against the negative fiscal impacts associated with a lack of effective regulation of egg production and sales of eggs and egg products.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2019, c. 686, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2020. O. R. S. § 632.838, OR ST § 632.838 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
632.840. Adoption of rules; civil penalty; inspection of commercial farms; fees and charges; business plans; report to Legislative Assembly
(1) The State Department of Agriculture shall adopt rules regulating the manner in which egg-laying hens may be confined in an enclosure for purposes of ORS 632.835 to 632.850. The rules must:
(a) Be designed to promote humane welfare standards;
(b) Be effective in protecting consumers from food-borne pathogens;
(c) Require that enclosures constructed or otherwise acquired before January 1, 2012, meet standards equivalent to the requirements for certification established in the United Egg Producers’ Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks; and
(d) Require that enclosures constructed or otherwise acquired on or after January 1, 2012, meet standards equivalent to the requirements for certification of enriched colony facility systems established in the American Humane Association’s farm animal welfare certification program. In no event may the rules authorize confining an egg-laying hen in an enclosure that provides less than 116.3 square inches of individually usable floor space per hen.
(2) The department may impose a civil penalty pursuant to ORS 183.745, not to exceed $2,500, for violation of a provision of ORS 632.835 to 632.850.
(3) The department shall inspect at reasonable times commercial farms engaged in the production of eggs for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of ORS 632.835 to 632.850.
(4) The department may fix, assess and collect, or cause to be collected, from commercial farm owners or operators fees for the inspections performed by employees or agents of the department under subsection (3) of this section. The fees must have a uniform basis and must be in an amount reasonably necessary to cover the costs of the inspections and related administrative duties under ORS 632.835 to 632.850. The department shall adjust the fees under this subsection to meet any expenses necessary to carry out subsection (3) of this section and may prescribe a different fee scale for different localities. The department may prescribe a reasonable charge to be paid by commercial farm owners or operators for travel expenses and other related services if inspections under this section involve unusual cost to the department. Moneys from fees and charges collected by the department under this subsection must be deposited in the Department of Agriculture Service Fund and are continuously appropriated to the department to be used for the purpose of enforcing ORS 632.835 to 632.850.
(5)(a) Upon renewal of an egg handler’s license described in ORS 632.715 or a commercial egg breaker’s permit described in ORS 632.730, a commercial farm owner or operator that is engaged in the commercial production of eggs in this state shall provide the department with a business plan describing the manner by which the commercial farm intends to comply with the aspirational goals established by the Legislative Assembly in section 8a, chapter 436, Oregon Laws 2011, and the rules adopted pursuant to the amendments to this section by section 9, chapter 436, Oregon Laws 2011. Notwithstanding ORS 192.345 or 192.355, the business plan is a public record subject to full disclosure.
(b) The department shall report annually to the Legislative Assembly on the rate at which commercial farm owners or operators that are engaged in the commercial production of eggs in this state are complying with the business plans submitted to the department under paragraph (a) of this subsection.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2011, c. 436, § 4, eff. June 17, 2011, operative Jan. 1, 2012. Amended by Laws 2011, c. 436, § 5, eff. June 17, 2011, operative Jan. 1, 2015; Laws 2011, c. 436, § 7, eff. June 17, 2011, operative Jan. 1, 2017. O. R. S. § 632.840, OR ST § 632.840 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
632.842. Relation to animal welfare laws
ORS 632.835 to 632.850 are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any laws protective of animal welfare. ORS 632.835 to 632.850 do not limit any other Oregon laws or rules protecting the welfare of animals or prohibit the adoption or enforcement of animal welfare laws or regulations by a local government as defined in ORS 174.116.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2019, c. 686, § 4, eff. Jan. 1, 2020. O. R. S. § 632.842, OR ST § 632.842 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
632.845. Confinement of egg-laying hens
A commercial farm owner or operator may not confine an egg-laying hen in an enclosure that fails to comply with the rules adopted by the State Department of Agriculture under ORS 632.840.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2011, c. 436, § 2, eff. June 17, 2011, operative Jan. 1, 2012. O. R. S. § 632.845, OR ST § 632.845 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
632.847. Commerce in eggs or egg products from noncompliant production
(1) Except as provided under subsection (2) of this section, a person may not buy, sell, offer to buy or sell, transport or offer to transport in intrastate commerce, or accept receipt of, an egg or egg product that was not produced in compliance with ORS 632.845.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to a sale of eggs or egg products at an official plant, as defined in 21 U.S.C. 1033, where mandatory inspection is maintained under the federal Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031 et seq.). For purposes of this subsection, sale occurs at the location where the buyer takes physical possession of the eggs or egg products.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2019, c. 686, § 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2020, operative Jan. 1, 2024. O. R. S. § 632.847, OR ST § 632.847 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
632.849. Production exempt from compliance
ORS 632.835 to 632.850 do not apply to:
(1) A commercial farm owner or operator with annual egg production from a flock of not more than 3,000 egg-laying hens; or
(2) Eggs produced by a commercial farm owner or operator described in subsection (1) of this section.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2019, c. 686, § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2020. O. R. S. § 632.849, OR ST § 632.849 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.
632.850. Sale of eggs or egg products that are products of egg-laying hens in noncompliant enclosures prohibited
A person may not sell eggs or egg products that the person knows, or reasonably should know, are the product of an egg-laying hen that has been confined, during the production of the eggs, in an enclosure that fails to comply with the rules adopted by the State Department of Agriculture under ORS 632.840.
CREDIT(S)
Added by Laws 2011, c. 436, § 3, eff. June 17, 2011, operative Jan. 1, 2012. Editors’ Notes REPEAL <This section repealed by Laws 2019, c. 686, § 12, operative Jan. 1, 2024.> O. R. S. § 632.850, OR ST § 632.850 Current through laws of the 2023 Regular Session of the 82nd Legislative Assembly, which convened January 17, 2023 and adjourned sine die June 25, 2023, in effect through June 29, 2023, pending classification of undesignated material and text revision by the Oregon Reviser. See ORS 173.160.