I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3798 

To provide for a uniform national standard for the housing and treatment 

of egg-laying hens, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2012 

Mr. SCHRADER (for himself, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. FARR, and Mr. DENHAM) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To provide for a uniform national standard for the housing 

and treatment of egg-laying hens, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Egg Products Inspec5 tion Act Amendments of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HEN HOUSING AND TREATMENT STANDARDS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4 of the Egg Products 

8 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1033) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub10 section (c); 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d), 

2 (e), (f), and (g) as subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), 

3 and (k), respectively; 

4 (3) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as 

5 subsections (n) and (o), respectively; 

6 (4) by redesignating subsections (j), (k), and (l) 

7 as subsections (r), (s), and (t), respectively; 

8 (5) by redesignating subsections (m), (n), (o), 

9 (p), (q), (r), (s), (t), (u), (v), (w), (x), (y), and (z) 

10 as subsections (v), (w), (x), (y), (z), (aa), (bb), (cc), 

11 (dd), (ee), (ff), (gg), (hh), and (ii), respectively; 

12 (6) by inserting before subsection (c), as redes13 ignated by paragraph (1), the following new sub14 sections: 

15 ‘‘(a) The term ‘adequate environmental enrichments’ 

16 means adequate perch space, dust bathing or scratching 

17 areas, and nest space, as defined by the Secretary of Agri18 culture, based on the best available science, including the 

19 most recent studies available at the time that the Sec20 retary defines the term. The Secretary shall issue regula21 tions defining this term not later than January 1, 2017, 

22 and the final regulations shall go into effect on December 

23 31, 2018. 

24 ‘‘(b) The term ‘adequate housing-related labeling’ 

25 means a conspicuous, legible marking on the front or top 


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1 of a package of eggs accurately indicating the type of 

2 housing that the egg-laying hens were provided during egg 

3 production, in one of the following formats: 

4 ‘‘(1) ‘Eggs from free-range hens’ to indicate 

5 that the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 

6 products were derived were, during egg production— 

7 ‘‘(A) not housed in caging devices; and 

8 ‘‘(B) provided with outdoor access. 

9 ‘‘(2) ‘Eggs from cage-free hens’ to indicate that 

10 the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 

11 products were derived were, during egg production, 

12 not housed in caging devices. 

13 ‘‘(3) ‘Eggs from enriched cages’ to indicate that 

14 the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 

15 products were derived were, during egg production, 

16 housed in caging devices that— 

17 ‘‘(A) contain adequate environmental en18 richments; and 

19 ‘‘(B) provide the hens a minimum of 116 

20 square inches of individual floor space per 

21 brown hen and 101 square inches of individual 

22 floor space per white hen. 

23 ‘‘(4) ‘Eggs from caged hens’ to indicate that 

24 the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 


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1 products were derived were, during egg production, 

2 housed in caging devices that either— 

3 ‘‘(A) do not contain adequate environ4 mental enrichments; or 

5 ‘‘(B) do not provide the hens a minimum 

6 of 116 square inches of individual floor space 

7 per brown hen and 101 square inches of indi8 vidual floor space per white hen.’’; 

9 (7) by inserting after subsection (c), as redesig10 nated by paragraph (1), the following new sub11 sections: 

12 ‘‘(d) The term ‘brown hen’ means a brown egg-laying 

13 hen used for commercial egg production. 

14 ‘‘(e) The term ‘caging device’ means any cage, enclo15 sure, or other device used for the housing of egg-laying 

16 hens for the production of eggs in commerce, but does not 

17 include an open barn or other fixed structure without in18 ternal caging devices.’’; 

19 (8) by inserting after subsection (k), as redesig20 nated by paragraph (2), the following new sub21 sections: 

22 ‘‘(l) The term ‘egg-laying hen’ means any female do23 mesticated chicken, including white hens and brown hens, 

24 used for the commercial production of eggs for human 

25 consumption. 


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1 ‘‘(m) The term ‘existing caging device’ means any 

2 caging device that was continuously in use for the produc3 tion of eggs in commerce up through and including De4 cember 31, 2011.’’; 

5 (9) by inserting after subsection (o), as redesig6 nated by paragraph (3), the following new sub7 sections: 

8 ‘‘(p) The term ‘feed-withdrawal molting’ means the 

9 practice of preventing food intake for the purpose of in10 ducing egg-laying hens to molt. 

11 ‘‘(q) The term ‘individual floor space’ means the 

12 amount of total floor space in a caging device available 

13 to each egg-laying hen in the device, which is calculated 

14 by measuring the total floor space of the caging device 

15 and dividing by the total number of egg-laying hens in 

16 the device.’’; 

17 (10) by inserting after subsection (t), as redes18 ignated by paragraph (4), the following new sub19 section: 

20 ‘‘(u) The term ‘new caging device’ means any caging 

21 device that was not continuously in use for the production 

22 of eggs in commerce on or before December 31, 2011.’’; 

23 and 

24 (11) by inserting at the end the following new 

25 subsections: 


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1 ‘‘(jj) The term ‘water-withdrawal molting’ means the 

2 practice of preventing water intake for the purpose of in3 ducing egg-laying hens to molt. 

4 ‘‘(kk) The term ‘white hen’ means a white egg-laying 

5 hen used for commercial egg production.’’. 

6 (b) HOUSING AND TREATMENT OF EGG-LAYING

7 HENS.—The Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 

8 1031 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 7 the 

9 following new sections: 

10 ‘‘§ 7A. Housing and treatment of egg-laying hens 

11 ‘‘(a) ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) EXISTING CAGING DEVICES.—All existing 

13 caging devices must provide egg-laying hens housed 

14 therein, beginning 15 years after the date of enact15 ment of the Egg Products Inspection Act Amend16 ments of 2012, adequate environmental enrichments. 

17 ‘‘(2) NEW CAGING DEVICES.—All new caging 

18 devices must provide egg-laying hens housed therein, 

19 beginning nine years after the date of enactment of 

20 the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 

21 2012, adequate environmental enrichments. 

22 ‘‘(3) CAGING DEVICES IN CALIFORNIA.—All 

23 caging devices in California must provide egg-laying 

24 hens housed therein, beginning December 31, 2018, 

25 adequate environmental enrichments. 


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1 ‘‘(b) FLOOR SPACE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) EXISTING CAGING DEVICES.—All existing 

3 cages devices must provide egg-laying hens housed 

4 therein— 

5 ‘‘(A) beginning four years after the date of 

6 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

7 Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 

8 15 years after the date of enactment of the Egg 

9 Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, 

10 a minimum of 76 square inches of individual 

11 floor space per brown hen and 67 square inches 

12 of individual floor space per white hen; and 

13 ‘‘(B) beginning 15 years after the date of 

14 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

15 Amendments of 2012, a minimum of 144 

16 square inches of individual floor space per 

17 brown hen and 124 square inches of individual 

18 floor space per white hen. 

19 ‘‘(2) NEW CAGING DEVICES.—Except as pro20 vided in paragraph (3), all new caging devices must 

21 provide egg-laying hens housed therein— 

22 ‘‘(A) beginning three years after the date 

23 of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection 

24 Act Amendments of 2012 and until the date 

25 that is six years after the date of enactment of 


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1 the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments 

2 of 2012, a minimum of 90 square inches of in3 dividual floor space per brown hen and 78 

4 square inches of individual floor space per white 

5 hen; 

6 ‘‘(B) beginning six years after the date of 

7 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

8 Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 

9 nine years after the date of enactment of the 

10 Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 

11 2012, a minimum of 102 square inches of indi12 vidual floor space per brown hen and 90 square 

13 inches of individual floor space per white hen; 

14 ‘‘(C) beginning nine years after the date of 

15 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

16 Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 

17 12 years after the date of enactment of the Egg 

18 Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, 

19 a minimum of 116 square inches of individual 

20 floor space per brown hen and 101 square 

21 inches of individual floor space per white hen; 

22 ‘‘(D) beginning 12 years after the date of 

23 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

24 Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 

25 15 years after the date of enactment of the Egg 


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1 Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, 

2 a minimum of 130 square inches of individual 

3 floor space per brown hen and 113 square 

4 inches of individual floor space per white hen; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(E) beginning 15 years after the date of 

7 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

8 Amendments of 2012, a minimum of 144 

9 square inches of individual floor space per 

10 brown hen and 124 square inches of individual 

11 floor space per white hen. 

12 ‘‘(3) CALIFORNIA CAGING DEVICES.—All caging 

13 devices in California must provide egg-laying hens 

14 housed therein— 

15 ‘‘(A) beginning January 1, 2015, and 

16 through December 31, 2020, a minimum of 134 

17 square inches of individual floor space per 

18 brown hen and 116 square inches of individual 

19 floor space per white hen; and 

20 ‘‘(B) beginning January 1, 2021, a min21 imum of 144 square inches of individual floor 

22 space per brown hen and 124 square inches of 

23 individual floor space per white hen. 

24 ‘‘(c) AIR QUALITY.—Beginning two years after the 

25 date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 


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1 Amendments of 2012, an egg handler shall provide all egg2 laying hens under his ownership or control with acceptable 

3 air quality, which does not exceed more than 25 parts per 

4 million of ammonia during normal operations. 

5 ‘‘(d) FORCED MOLTING.—Beginning two years after 

6 the date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

7 Amendments of 2012, no egg handler may subject any 

8 egg-laying hen under his ownership or control to feed9 withdrawal or water-withdrawal molting. 

10 ‘‘(e) EUTHANASIA.—Beginning two years after the 

11 date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

12 Amendments of 2012, an egg handler shall provide, when 

13 necessary, all egg-laying hens under his ownership or con14 trol with euthanasia that is humane and uses a method 

15 deemed ‘Acceptable’ by the American Veterinary Medical 

16 Association. 

17 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON NEW UNENRICHABLE

18 CAGES.—No person shall build, construct, implement, or 

19 place into operation any new caging device for the produc20 tion of eggs to be sold in commerce unless the device— 

21 ‘‘(1) provides the egg-laying hens to be con22 tained therein a minimum of 76 square inches of in23 dividual floor space per brown hen or 67 square 

24 inches of individual floor space per white hen; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) is capable of being adapted to accommo2 date adequate environmental enrichments. 

3 ‘‘(g) EXEMPTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) RECENTLY-INSTALLED EXISTING CAGING

5 DEVICES.—The requirements contained in sub6 sections (a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) shall not apply to any 

7 existing caging device that was first placed into op8 eration between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 

9 2011. This exemption shall expire 18 years after the 

10 date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection 

11 Act Amendments of 2012, at which time the require12 ments contained in subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) 

13 shall apply to all existing caging devices. 

14 ‘‘(2) HENS ALREADY IN PRODUCTION.—The re15 quirements contained in subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), 

16 (b)(1)(B), and (b)(2) shall not apply to any caging 

17 device containing egg-laying hens who are already in 

18 egg production on the date that such requirement 

19 takes effect. This exemption shall expire on the date 

20 that such egg-laying hens are removed from egg pro21 duction. 

22 ‘‘(3) SMALL PRODUCERS.—Nothing contained 

23 in this section shall apply to an egg handler who 

24 buys, sells, handles, or processes eggs or egg prodVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:14 Jan 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3798.IH H3798

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1 ucts solely from one flock of not more than 3,000 

2 egg-laying hens. 

3 ‘‘§ 7B. Phase-in conversion requirements 

4 ‘‘(a) FIRST CONVERSION PHASE.—As of six years 

5 after the date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspec6 tion Act Amendments of 2012, at least 25 percent of the 

7 egg-laying hens in commercial egg production shall be 

8 housed either in new caging devices or in existing caging 

9 devices that provide the hens contained therein with a 

10 minimum of 102 square inches of individual floor space 

11 per brown hen and 90 square inches of individual floor 

12 space per white hen. 

13 ‘‘(b) SECOND CONVERSION PHASE.—As of 12 years 

14 after the date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspec15 tion Act Amendments of 2012, at least 55 percent of the 

16 egg-laying hens in commercial egg production shall be 

17 housed either in new caging devices or in existing caging 

18 devices that provide the hens contained therein with a 

19 minimum of 130 square inches of individual floor space 

20 per brown hen and 113 square inches of individual floor 

21 space per white hen. 

22 ‘‘(c) FINAL CONVERSION PHASE.—As of December 

23 31, 2029, all egg-laying hens confined in caging devices 

24 shall be provided adequate environmental enrichments and 

25 a minimum of 144 square inches of individual floor space 


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1 per brown hen and 124 square inches of individual floor 

2 space per white hen. 

3 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) At the end of six years after the date of 

5 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

6 Amendments of 2012, the Secretary shall determine, 

7 after having reviewed and analyzed the results of an 

8 independent, national survey of caging devices con9 ducted in 2018, whether the requirements of sub10 section (a) have been met. If the Secretary finds 

11 that the requirements of subsection (a) have not 

12 been met, then beginning January 1, 2020, the floor 

13 space requirements (irrespective of the date such re14 quirements expire) related to new caging devices 

15 contained in subsection (b)(2)(B) of section 7A shall 

16 apply to existing caging devices placed into operation 

17 prior to January 1, 1995. 

18 ‘‘(2) At the end of 12 years after the date of 

19 enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 

20 Amendments of 2012, and again after December 31, 

21 2029, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

22 on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 

23 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For24 estry of the Senate a report on compliance with sub25 sections (b) and (c). 


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1 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 12, the remedies 

2 provided in this subsection shall be the exclusive 

3 remedies for violations of this section.’’. 

4 (c) INSPECTIONS.—Section 5 of the Egg Products In5 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 1034) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

7 requirements with respect to housing, treatment, 

8 and house-related labeling)’’ after ‘‘as he deems ap9 propriate to assure compliance with such require10 ments’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (e)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’; 

15 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

16 (B) as subparagraph (C); 

17 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

18 (A) the following new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(B) are derived from egg-laying hens 

20 housed and treated in compliance with section 

21 7A; and’’; and 

22 (iv) in subparagraph (C), as redesig23 nated by clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘adequate 

24 housing-related labeling and’’ after ‘‘con25 tain’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘In the 

2 case of a shell egg packer’’ and inserting ‘‘In 

3 the cases of an egg handler with a flock of more 

4 than 3,000 egg-laying hens and a shell egg 

5 packer’’; 

6 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘(other 

7 than requirements with respect to housing, 

8 treatment, and housing-related labeling)’’ after 

9 ‘‘to ensure compliance with the requirements of 

10 paragraph (1)’’; and 

11 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘with a 

12 flock of not more than 3,000 layers.’’ and in13 serting ‘‘who buys, sells, handles, or processes 

14 eggs or egg products solely from one flock of 

15 not more than 3,000 egg-laying hens.’’. 

16 (d) LABELING.—Section 7 of the Egg Products In17 spection Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 1036) is amended in sub18 section (a) by inserting ‘‘adequate housing-related label19 ing,’’ after ‘‘plant where the products were processed,’’. 

20 (e) LIMITATION ON EXEMPTIONS BY SECRETARY.— 

21 Section 15 of the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970 

22 (21 U.S.C. 1044) is amended in subsection (a) by insert23 ing ‘‘, not including subsection (c) of section 8,’’ after ‘‘ex24 empt from specific provisions’’. 


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1 (f) IMPORTS.—Section 17 of the Egg Products In2 spection Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 1046) is amended in 

3 paragraph (2) of subsection (a) by striking ‘‘subdivision 

4 thereof and are labeled and packaged’’ and inserting ‘‘sub5 division thereof; and no eggs or egg products capable of 

6 use as human food shall be imported into the United 

7 States unless they are produced, labeled, and packaged’’. 

8 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT OF HEN HOUSING AND TREATMENT 

9 STANDARDS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the Egg Products In11 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 1037) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), 

13 and (f) as subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g), respec14 tively; 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(c)(1) No person shall buy, sell, or transport, or 

18 offer to buy or sell, or offer or receive for transportation, 

19 in any business or commerce any eggs or egg products 

20 derived from egg-laying hens housed or treated in violation 

21 of any provision of section 7A. 

22 ‘‘(2) No person shall buy, sell, or transport, or 

23 offer to buy or sell, or offer or receive for transpor24 tation, in any business or commerce any eggs or egg 

25 products derived from egg-laying hens unless the 


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1 container or package, including any immediate con2 tainer, of the eggs or egg products, beginning one 

3 year after the date of enactment of the Egg Prod4 ucts Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, contains 

5 adequate housing-related labeling. 

6 ‘‘(3) No person shall buy, sell, or transport, or 

7 offer to buy or sell, or offer or receive for transpor8 tation, in any business or commerce, in California, 

9 any eggs or egg products derived from egg-laying 

10 hens unless the egg-laying hens are— 

11 ‘‘(A) provided— 

12 ‘‘(i) beginning January 1, 2015, and 

13 through December 31, 2020, a minimum 

14 of 134 square inches of individual floor 

15 space per brown hen and 116 square 

16 inches of individual floor space per white 

17 hen; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) beginning January 1, 2021, a 

19 minimum of 144 square inches of indi20 vidual floor space per brown hen and 124 

21 square inches of individual floor space per 

22 white hen; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provided, beginning December 31, 

24 2018, adequate environmental enrichments.’’; 

25 and 


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1 (3) in subsection (e), as redesignated by para2 graph (1), by inserting ‘‘7A,’’ after ‘‘section’’. 

3 (b) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF

4 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.—Section 13 of the Egg 

5 Products Inspection Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 1042) is 

6 amended by inserting ‘‘(with respect to violations other 

7 than those related to requirements with respect to hous8 ing, treatment, and housing-related labeling) the’’ after 

9 ‘‘Before any violation of this chapter is reported by the 

10 Secretary of Agriculture or’’. 

11 SEC. 4. STATE AND LOCAL AUTHORITY. 

12 Section 23 of the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 

13 U.S.C. 1052) is amended— 

14 (a) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as sub15 sections (d) and (e), respectively; 

16 (b) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 

17 subsection: 

18 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION AGAINST ADDITIONAL OR DIF19 FERENT REQUIREMENTS THAN FEDERAL REQUIRE20 MENTS RELATED TO MINIMUM SPACE ALLOTMENTS FOR

21 HOUSING EGG-LAYING HENS IN COMMERCIAL EGG PRO22 DUCTION.—Requirements within the scope of this chapter 

23 with respect to minimum floor space allotments or enrich24 ments for egg-laying hens housed in commercial egg pro25 duction which are in addition to or different than those 


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1 made under this chapter may not be imposed by any State 

2 or local jurisdiction. Otherwise the provisions of this chap3 ter shall not invalidate any law or other provisions of any 

4 State or other jurisdiction in the absence of a conflict with 

5 this chapter.’’; and 

6 (c) by inserting after subsection (e), as redesignated 

7 by subsection (a), the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(f) ROLE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD

9 AND AGRICULTURE.—With respect to eggs produced, 

10 shipped, handled, transported or received in California 

11 prior to the date that is 18 years after the date of enact12 ment of the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 

13 2012, the Secretary shall delegate to the California De14 partment of Food and Agriculture the authority to enforce 

15 sections 7A(a)(3), 7A(b)(3), 8(c)(3), and 11.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 This Act shall take effect upon enactment. 

Æ 


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