News on Legal issues from the United States

Four major potato processing companies, McCain Foods, Cavendish Farms, Lamb Weston, and J.R. Simplot, are accused of price-fixing in a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court.

On Wednesday last week, the Oregon Senate adopted a resolution declaring an official state vegetable and yes, you guessed it, it is the Potato!

The United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is publishing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings

Potato processors are finding the advanced design of Dürr Megtec’s recently released Part.X PW Wet ElectroStatic Precipitator (WESP) to be an efficient and low maintenance solution to control particulate matter from frying exhaust.

The United States pressured Mexico on Wednesday to allow genetically modified crops into the country and to open up access to U.S.-grown potatoes. Trade talks were held Wednesday in Mexico City.

Groups encourage Mexico regulators to immediately begin the rulemaking process to allow for the importation of fresh U.S. potatoes throughout the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is extending deregulation to J.R. Simplot Company’s (Simplot) potato variety developed using genetic engineering, designated as Snowden Z6 (Z6 potato).

On February 17, 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court released a draft ruling that would overturn a 2017 lower court decision preventing the Mexican federal government from implementing regulations to allow the import of fresh US potatoes throughout the country.

In the United States, House and Senate just approved COVID Relief and FY21 Funding Bills. The National Potato Council reviews what these bills mean for the US Potato Sector.

The National Potato Council joined 30 agriculture organizations and businesses yesterday calling on the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to include agricultural businesses in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

J.R. Simplot and McCain Foods have spent the last few years battling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho over issues related to – unsurprisingly – potatoes, with each party asserting a design patent related to a spiraled potato.

The National Potato Council cheered the passage of the U.S.- Japan Agreement on Agricultural Trade by Japan’s Upper House.

US Farmer cooperative NORPAC Foods filed a motion in bankruptcy court Friday afternoon to sell its Quincy, Washington, plant for USD 93.5 million to Oregon Potato Company.

President Donald Trump formally signed the U.S.-Japan-Free Trade Agreement on Oct. 6. This agreement locks in tariff benefits with Japan that were previously negotiated under the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement but lost when the U.S. failed to ratify

Farmers, ranchers and many others involved in U.S. agriculture are welcoming an announcement of a mini-trade deal between the United States and Japan, a long-time, steady customer of U.S. ag products.

NORPAC Foods, Inc., a grower-owned fruit and vegetable cooperative founded in 1924, announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Oregon Potato Company (OPC) under which OPC will acquire substantially all of the Company's assets.

The National Potato Council joined with over 950 farm groups and agricultural
organizations in a letter urging Congress to immediately ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA).

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the maker of potato chips sold under the brand name Hawaiian, claiming the chips made in Washington State - and not on Hawaii - are misleading customers.