Nw. Selecta, Inc. v. Sec'y of the Dep't Agric. of P.R.

• Decision Date: 29 December 2022
• Docket Number: CIVIL 22-1092 (RAM)
• Parties: NORTHWESTERN SELECTA, INC. Plaintiff v. SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT AGRICULTURE OF PUERTO RICO, Ramon Gonzalez Beiro, and DEPUTY SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OF PUERTO RICO, Alex Muniz Lasalle. Defendants
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

NORTHWESTERN SELECTA, INC. Plaintiff
v.
SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT AGRICULTURE OF PUERTO RICO, Ramon Gonzalez Beiro, and DEPUTY SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OF PUERTO RICO, Alex Muniz Lasalle. Defendants

CIVIL No. 22-1092 (RAM)

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico

December 29, 2022

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

RAUL M. ARIAS-MARXUACH, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending the before the Court is Plaintiff's Urgent Motion Requesting Emergency Relief Due to Illegal Enforcement of Regulation 8 (“Motion Requesting Emergency Relief”). (Docket No. 35). For the following reasons, Plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of Regulation 8's labeling and marketing requirements is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

Northwestern Selecta, Inc.'s (“Plaintiff” or “NWS”) filed a Verified Complaint against the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture (“PRDA”), Ramon Gonzalez-Beiro and Alex Muniz-Lasalle, respectively (“Defendants”), seeking injunctive and declaratory relief from

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PRDA Market Regulation No. 8, registered with the Puerto Rico Department of State as Regulation No. 8764 titled “To Govern the Quality and Marketing of Poultry Meat in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” (“Regulation 8” or “Regulation No. 8764”). (Docket No. 1).

Plaintiff argues that Regulation 8, which purportedly governs the quality and marketing of poultry meat in Puerto Rico, is preempted by the Poultry Products Inspection Act (“PPIA”), 21 U.S.C. §§ 451-469, and the regulations promulgated thereunder by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (“FSIS”). Id. ¶¶ 1, 28, 31. NWS specifically challenges Articles XIV(A)(6) and XII(B) of PRDA's Regulation 8 for imposing requirements “in addition to, or different than” those established by the PPIA. Id. ¶ 31. Article XIV(A)(6) prohibits imported poultry from being labeled as “Keep Refrigerated or Frozen” despite the fact that FSIS regulation at 9 C.F.R. § 381.125(a) allows such labeling. Id. ¶¶ 32, 34. Similarly, Plaintiff asserts that Article XII(B) imposes additional “re-inspection” requirements beyond those established by PIPA and FSIS regulations. Id. ¶ 48-56.

Pursuant to this Court's order at Docket No. 6, the parties filed joint factual and document stipulations. (Docket No. 14-1). Plaintiff filed a Memorandum in Support of Request for Injunction and Defendants filed a brief in opposition. (Docket Nos. 23 and 24).

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Subsequently, NWS filed the present Motion Requesting Emergency Relief notifying the Court that the PDRA detained over 40,000 lbs of poultry products for containing the label “Keep refrigerated or frozen”. (Docket No. 35). Plaintiff asks the Court to issue the proposed permanent injunction as requested in the Verified Complaint or alternatively issue an order, i.e., preliminary injunction, barring the PRDA from enforcing Regulation 8's provisions regarding the labeling and packaging of poultry products until the Court issues a ruling resolving the case. Id. ¶¶ 11-12.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a) requires that courts must state the findings that support its decision in granting or refusing an interlocutory injunction. Having analyzed the relevant pleadings on the docket, and the stipulations filed by the parties, the Court makes the following findings of fact^[1]:

1. The NWS facilities located at 769 Calle C, Mario Julia Industrial Park, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00920 are certified as an “official establishment” by the United States Department of Agriculture. (Docket No. 14-1 ¶ 1).

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2. NWS imports fresh and frozen poultry products domestically from within the United States, as well as frozen poultry products from foreign countries. Id. ¶ 2.

3. PRDA detained fresh poultry products from within the U.S. by NWS bearing the label “Keep Refrigerated or Frozen” and did not allow NWS to distribute the products in Puerto Rico unless they were re-labeled with a label that reads “Keep Refrigerated” or “Keep Frozen.” Id. ¶ 5.

4. On December 7, 2021, the PRDA Deputy Secretary, through its inspectors, issued several Orders of Detention impounding over 7,000 pounds of fresh poultry products at the NWS facilities which had been imported from within the U.S. by NWS. The grounds for the Order of Detention were that the products were labeled as “Keep Refrigerated or Frozen” in violation of Article XIV(A)(6) of Regulation 8. Id. ¶ 6.

5. On June 30, 2021, Alex Muniz, acting as Deputy Secretary for Agro-Commercial Integrity, notified NWS that it had violated Regulation 8764, and its intent to fine NWS with $500.00 fines for each violation. Id. ¶ 13.

6. On July 1, 2021, the PRDA rescinded the detention orders. The detained product entered commerce. Id. ¶ 14.

7. On July 20, 2021, NWS filed a motion to reconsider with the PRDA where it argued, among other grounds that

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Regulation 8764 was preempted by Federal Law and regulations. Id. ¶

8. On August 19, 2021, the PRDA vacated without prejudice the notices of violations. Id. ¶

9. On August 30, 2021, the PRDA issued a notice of violation and an order to NWS to show cause why it should not be held in violation of Regulation 8764. Id. ¶

10.On September 14, 2021, NWS filed its motion showing cause where it argued, among other grounds, that Regulation 8764 was preempted by Federal Law and regulations. Id. ¶

11.On October 14, 2021, the PRDA issued a resolution and order that denied the motion showing cause and imposed the fines for each violation to Regulation 8764. Id. ¶

12.On November 15, 2021, NWS requested reconsideration with respect to the October 14, 2021 resolution and order, reiterating that the fines were preempted by federal law. Id. ¶

13.On January 10, 2022, the PRDA filed its answer to the administrative complaint. In it, PRDA asserted, among other things, that the administrative forum was “not the adequate forum” to resolve NWS's claims of federal preemption. Id. ¶ 21.

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14. On January 20, 2022, the PRDA's...