Agriculture Law Commons^™

Land Deals And The Law: Grievances, Human Rights, And Investor Protections, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land-based investments can create significant grievances for local individuals or communities, and host governments seeking to address those grievances must navigate a complicated landscape of legal obligations and pragmatic considerations. This briefing note, funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development, focuses on practical solutions for governments confronting grievances that arise from large-scale investments in agricultural or forestry projects. It accompanies a more in depth report on similar issues, entitled "Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human rights, and Investor Protections."

The briefing note considers such solutions in the context of governments’ legal obligations, particularly those imposed by international investment …

Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human Rights, And Investor Protections, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land-based investments can create significant grievances for local individuals or communities, and host governments seeking to address those grievances must navigate a complicated landscape of legal obligations and pragmatic considerations. This report, funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development, focuses on practical solutions for governments confronting grievances that arise from large-scale investments in agricultural or forestry projects.

The report considers such solutions in the context of governments’ legal obligations, particularly those imposed by international investment law, international human rights law, and investor-state contracts. Understanding the implications of this diverse range of legal obligations is particularly important in …

Guide To Land Contracts: Agricultural Projects, International Senior Lawyers Project, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Agricultural investment contracts can be complex, with complicated provisions that are difficult to understand. This Guide provides explanations for a range of common provisions, and includes a Glossary of legal and technical terms. It assists non-lawyers in better understanding agricultural investment contracts, such as those available on the Open Land Contracts repository.

The Guide was prepared by International Senior Lawyers Project staff and volunteers in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.

Transparency In Land-Based Investment: Key Questions And Next Steps, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Large-scale investments in agriculture and forestry are often shrouded in secrecy. In many cases, they are negotiated without the involvement of affected communities, approved through opaque decision-making procedures, and governed by legal agreements that are difficult both to access and to understand. This systemic lack of transparency impedes accountability and exacerbates ongoing disagreements about the real costs and benefits for investors, host countries, and their citizens.

Jointly authored by CCSI and the Open Contracting Partnership, this briefing note examines why contract disclosure and a contracting process that is open, accessible, and inclusive are important; what such transparency entails; and how …

Recommending Transparency In Land-Based Investment: A Summary Of Relevant Guidelines And Principles, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

An emerging consensus on the need for greater transparency in land-based investment is increasingly evident across various forums. This document consolidates recommendations regarding transparency featured in guidelines and principles published by international organizations, government agencies, and multilateral or multi-stakeholder groups. Viewed together, these recommendations offer insight on the evolving narrative on transparency in land-based investment, assist stakeholders in addressing the issue of transparency, and provide an informed starting point for further analysis.

Periodic Review In Natural Resource Contracts, Jacky Mandelbaum, Salli Anne Swartz, John Hauert

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Periodic contract review mechanisms, which are provisions in contracts that formally require parties to meet at particular intervals to review the terms of the contract, are mechanisms that may facilitate the process of negotiating contractual changes to accommodate changing circumstances over the term of extractive industries contracts. Through the review of existing extractive industries agreements, this article considers how such review mechanisms have been incorporated into existing contracts and the use of such mechanisms as a tool for maintaining good relationships between the parties. In addition, the article suggests a new approach to the drafting of these mechanisms by negotiating …

One Quest For Eleven Distinct Wine Regions: How Implementing Mediation Would Benefit The Ava Creation Process, Jayme Lehman

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article will address the petition process and its pitfalls and will provide a recommendation regarding changes that can be made in order to improve the system. Section II will first address the specific requirements that must be presented to the TTB when petitioning for a new or modified AVA. Section II will then discuss the options available to the TTB to address incoming petitions. Section III will examine the three areas of an AVA petition that can be the most problematic and will cite specific examples of those problem areas (with an emphasis on the Paso Robles petition). Section …

From Precision Agriculture To Market Manipulation: A New Frontier In The Legal Community, Neal Rasmussen

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Ahead Of The Curve: Promoting Land Tenure Security In Sub-Saharan Africa To Protect The Environment, Andrew R. Falk

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Insurance Coverage And Custom Farming, Chad G. Marzen

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Beware Of The Genetically Modified Crop: Applying Animal Liability Theory In Crop Contamination Litigation, Michael H. Carpenter Jr.

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Genetically modified crops offer vast potential economic and social benefits to farmers and society, but also threaten the profits and harvests of conventional crop farmers through genetic crop contamination. On one hand, genetically modifled crops increase farming efficiency, decrease the cost offood, and provide solutions for global hunger. On the other hand, genetically modified crops may contaminate the crops of organic and conventional farmers through genetic drift, resulting in injury to both farmers and an apprehensive public. Litigation over crop contamination is an unsettled area of the law, even after four major crop contamination incidents. While courts have held that …

Drinking Water Protection And Agricultural Exceptionalism, Margot J. Pollans

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Providing safe drinking water is a basic responsibility of government. In the United States, local water utilities shoulder much of this burden, but federal drinking water law sets these utilities up to fail. The primary problem arises in the context of nonpoint source pollution, where federal drinking water law favors end-of-line clean up by water utilities over pollution prevention by farmers and other nonpoint source polluters. This system is both inefficient and unfair.

Although the Safe Drinking Water Act requires local utilities to provide safe water, it gives them few tools to engage in water pollution prevention and instead emphasizes …

Community Supported Agriculture: How Do Maryland Operators Manage Legal Risks?, Paul Goeringer, Mayhah Suri

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Protecting Kentucky's Honey Bees: What's Killing The Buzz, Why It Matters, And What We Can Do To Help, Christine M. Ficker

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Urban Commons As Property Experiment: Mapping Chicago's Farms And Gardens, Nate Ela

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Financing Local Food Factories, Stephen R. Miller

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Warehouse Receipts In United States Law – Summary For The Pacific-Rim, Drew L. Kershen

Faculty Articles

The Second Pacific-Rim Colloquium (January 2015) had its focus on the business structure for warehouses and warehouse receipts and discussions about creating an Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWR) system, particularly on an “open” or a “closed” system. The Colloquium identified two legal concepts – “negotiable” and “duly negotiated” – as the ultimate goals for a functioning EWR system. However, foundations for an EWR system must be in place before legal concepts can become functionally meaningful.

Don't Be Cruel (Anymore): A Look At The Animal Cruelty Regimes Of The United States And Brazil With A Call For A New Animal Welfare Agency, David N. Cassuto

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In the United States and around the world, animals exploited for human use suffer cruel and needless harm. The group bearing the brunt of this exploitation--agricultural animals--is routinely exempted from the largely ineffective and rarely enforced animal welfare and anti-cruelty regulations that exist today. This Article offers a comparative analysis of the agricultural animal welfare regimes of two countries with globally significant presence in the agriculture industry: the United States and Brazil. Even though the two countries approach agricultural animal welfare differently, they arrive at the same outcome: institutionalized indifference to animal suffering. To remedy the current regulatory structure, this …

Marketing Conserved Water, Mark Squillace, Anthony Mcleod

Publications

Water law scholars have long supported water markets for addressing critical water needs, especially in arid regions like the western United States, and that support seems to be growing among policymakers as well. But translating academic theories about water markets to the field has proved challenging. To be sure, water can be transferred from one use to another use in all western states, but water markets in those states are not presently capable of providing prospective buyers with a reliable source of water when and where they need it. The reasons are myriad, but are primarily related to the high …

Fda's Troubling Failures To Use Its Authority To Regulate Genetically Modified Foods, Leslie Francis, Robin Kundis Craig, Erika George

Faculty Scholarship

This Article concerns the particular regulatory responsibilities only of FDA. It sets to one side the possible regulatory authority of agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") or the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA"). This approach risks replicating the regulatory fracture introduced during the Reagan Administration and criticized by some scholars,¹⁵ but there is a great deal to say about current FDA practices. Out of similar considerations of space and focus, this Article also sets to one side many other important issues that surround GM foods: intellectual property rights; rights to free speech or commercial speech; fair trade …

Animal Farm: The E.U.'S Move Towards Progress And The U.S.'S Slide Towards Dystopia In Farm Animal Welfare, Dorothy Sluszka

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that the United States lags behind European countries in protecting animals used in agriculture, with inadequate regulations endangering public health and ignoring voter concerns. It advocates for the repeal of "ag-gag" laws and antitrust enforcement to dismantle the meat industry's monopoly, aligning with public policy and improving animal welfare standards.

2015 Federal Legislative Review, Alescia Dichmann

Animal Law Review

The American political newspaper, The Hill, named the 114th Congress as “the most diverse Congress ever set to take power.” This Congress has 108 female lawmakers, more than ever before, alongside 430 men as well as 46 African American and 33 Hispanic lawmakers. While this Congress has made strides in the diversity of its members, we have yet to see whether this Congress’s legislative activity will benefit animals. The fate of the proposed animal legislation discussed in this Review will ultimately be decided by the time this 114th Congress concludes in 2017.

2015 State Legislative Review, Malorie Sneed, Jessica Brockway

Animal Law Review

The past year’s state legislative sessions and court dockets bore witness to a wide variety of initiatives concerning animal welfare and animal issues more generally. The increasing prevalence of ag-gag bills continued in 2015, as Colorado attempted to pass a mandatory reporting bill and North Carolina passed its own ag-gag bill that applied to all businesses, not just agricultural facilities, over the governor’s veto. Animal welfare advocates had reason to celebrate this year, however, when the district court of Idaho overturned its ag-gag bill on constitutional grounds. Tennessee, in amending its “Good Samaritan” law to extend coverage to animals trapped …

Agroterrorism, Resilience, And Indoor Farming, Nathalie N. Prescott

Animal Law Review

Agroterrorism poses a significant threat to food supplies and the stability of agricultural markets. The industrialization of agricultural has substantially improved productivity and efficiency, but has also contributed to the sector’s declining resilience— the ability to withstand and adapt to stress and change. Consequently, agriculture has become increasingly vulnerable to possible agroterrorist attacks. However, by working to increase biodiversity and minimize the connected and concentrated nature of agricultural production, the industry can lower its vulnerability to attack. Indoor agriculture may be one way to accomplish this goal. This Article describes indoor agriculture, explains the concept of agroterrorism, and explores the …

Breaking The Silence: The Veterinarian’S Duty To Report, Martine Lachance

Animal Sentience

Animals, like children and disabled elders, are not only the subjects of abuse, but they are unable to report and protect themselves from it. Veterinarians, like human physicians, are often the ones to become aware of the abuse and the only ones in a position to report it when their human clients are unwilling to do so. This creates a conflict between professional confidentiality to the client and the duty to protect the victim and facilitate prosecution when the law has been broken. I accordingly recommend that veterinarian associations make reporting of abuse mandatory.

A New Governance Recipe For Food Safety Regulation, Alexia Brunet Marks

Publications

Although food safety is a significant and increasing global health concern, international economic law does not adequately address today’s global food safety needs. While most countries rely on a collection of formalized legal rules to protect food safety, these rules too often fall short. As fiscal constraints impede raising the number of border inspections, formal international commitments (treaties) frequently limit governmental efforts to raise food safety standards. Private companies, meanwhile, can readily adopt higher standards to meet consumer demands and supply chain needs, thus demonstrating more nimbleness and flexibility in adopting the highest food safety standards available. Can countries learn …

Uncloaking The Secrecy Behind Large-Scale Land Deals, Jesse Coleman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Large-scale investments in agriculture and forestry have far-reaching implications for the lives of affected individuals and communities. They are also an integral part of efforts by national governments to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improve the governance of land resources. Despite their significance, these “land deals” and the contracts that govern them are often cloaked in secrecy, removed from relevant spheres of public scrutiny and debate.

Sickeningly Sweet: Analysis And Solutions For The Adverse Dietary Consequences Of European Agricultural Law, Emile K. Aguirre

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Sixty-nine percent of adults in the United States, sixty-four percent in the United Kingdom, and over one-third worldwide are overweight or obese. These staggering figures continue to grow, with accompanying emotional, physical, and economic consequences, both for individuals and society as a whole. The role law plays in facilitating this global trend is significant, and yet puzzlingly, little recognized or understood The current food system is profoundly structurally flawed: it establishes unhealthy dietary behaviors as the default option for consumers. This Article is the first to examine how agricultural law has facilitated these unhealthier diets for the past fifty years, …

Mediating The Gm Foods Debate: Lessons From The Enduring Conflict Framework, Lisa F. Clark, Michaela J. Keet, Camille D. Ryan

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Critics of the commercialization of Genetically Modified (GM) foods in Canada and the United States oppose the economic and political forces that create and approve the technology: the industry that develops it and the governments that approve its use. The conventional narrative pits the concerned public, labeled "anti-GM," against the "pro-GM" interests of industry supported by business-friendly governments. Based on this binary view of the interests and motivations of stakeholders, conflict between government and industry appears minimal and regulatory frameworks for genetically engineered crops look as though they are primarily designed to facilitate those technologies. This paper refocuses the current …

Raisin' Contentions: A Farmer's Grapes Of Wrath And The Ninth Circuit's Questionable Takings Analysis In Horne V. U.S. Dept. Of Agriculture, Drew S. Mcgehrin

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.