The City of New York sued the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (Department of Agriculture) over its handling of Local Law 202, the proposed foie gras ban the city passed in 2019. The litigation follows a lawsuit filed by two foie gras farms, Hudson Valley and La Belle, which challenged the ban in court in May 2022. In September 2022, a New York State Supreme Court judge issued a preliminary injunction and three months later, the Department of Agriculture referred to Local Law 202 as “unreasonably restrictive” in its assessment of the ordinance. In the instant case, the City of New York argues that the state agency lacks the authority to review Local Law 202 and is seeking a declaratory judgment that the agency’s determination was arbitrary and capricious.
[To accompany State Case Law Update "City of New York Seeks Declaratory Judgment that State Agriculture Department Overreached in its Review of Local Foie Gras Ban" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 175.]