Opinion ID: 713999
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Egg Products Inspection Act and Section X(F)

Text: 3 Although not a state, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is subject to the constraints of the Dormant Commerce Clause to the same degree as are the states. Trailer Marine Transp. Corp. v. Rivera Vazquez, 977 F.2d 1, 7 (1st Cir.1992). In the proceedings below, the district court ruled that the regulation in question, Puerto Rico Market Regulation Number 3, section X(F), was an impermissible burden on interstate commerce hence invalid under the Dormant Commerce Clause. Section X(F) requires the labeling of eggs imported from elsewhere in the United States into Puerto Rico: 4 Imported eggs to be marketed in Puerto Rico shall have the letters from the state of origin if produced in a state of the United States using the initials established by the United States Postal Service, ... stamped on each egg, as established by the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 USC 1031, Section 23 b, 2). 5 Puerto Rico Market Regulation Number 3, section X(F). Section X(F) purports to have been promulgated in conformity with the Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA), which provides that: 6 no State or local jurisdiction other than those in noncontiguous areas of the United States may require labeling to show the State or other geographical area of production or origin. 7 21 U.S.C. § 1052(b)(2) (emphasis supplied). Puerto Rico is, of course, one of the noncontiguous jurisdictions excepted from the statute's prohibition against egg-labeling. 8 This appeal presents two main questions: (1) whether section X(F) of Puerto Rico's Market Regulation Number 3 was, in effect, Congressionally authorized, so as to be beyond the reach of the constraints of the Dormant Commerce Clause; and (2) if the Dormant Commerce Clause is applicable, whether section X(F) impermissibly burdens interstate commerce. We address each of these issues.