A coalition of 16 State Attorneys General sent letters to Congressional leadership regarding the EATS Act. Sponsors of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act have positioned the bill as a regulatory solution, but it will undermine states’ rights to regulate agriculture within their local jurisdictions and nullify numerous state and local laws that already exist.
Those hundreds of laws that would be invalidated support family beef, dairy, egg, and pork producers, as well as hundreds of laws related to food safety and invasive pest control. The letter states that, “For over 200 years, state and local governments have been responsible for ensuring that there is a safe and healthy food supply for their consumers and that locally sold farm products are governed by locally accountable elected officials.”
Groups like the Organization for Competitive Markets and Competitive Markets Action say the Act would up-end the crucial balance between state and federal authority.