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General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 5398
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 462
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
REP. MICHEL, 146th Dist.
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE CONFINEMENT OF EGG -LAYING HENS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
That the general statutes be amended to provide that on and after 1
June 1, 2025, no farm owner or operator shall knowingly confine an egg-2
laying hen in an enclosure: (1) That is not a cage-free housing system; or 3
(2) that has less than the amount of usable floor space per hen required 4
by the 2017 edition of the United Egg Producers' Animal Husbandry 5
Guidelines for U.S. Egg-Laying Flocks: Guidelines for Cage-Free 6
Housing. Additionally, to provide that on or after June 1, 2025, no 7
business owner or operator shall knowingly sell or transport for sale in 8
Connecticut a shell egg or egg product that the business owner or 9
operator knows or should know was produced by an egg-laying hen 10
that was confined in a manner that conflicts with such standards. 11
Finally, to further provide that such standards do not apply to: (A) 12
Medical research; (B) examination, testing, individual treatment or 13
operation for veterinary purposes, but only if performed by or under 14
the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian; (C) transportation; (D) 15
state or county fair exhibitions, 4-H programs and similar exhibitions; 16 Proposed Bill No. 5398
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(E) slaughter in accordance with any applicable laws, rules and 17
regulations; (F) temporary periods for animal husbandry purposes for 18
no more than six hours in any twenty-four-hour period and no more 19
than twenty-four hours total in any thirty-day period; or (G) the 20
production in the state, sale in the state or transport for sale in the state, 21
of shell eggs by a farm owner or operator with annual shell egg 22
production from fewer than three thousand egg-laying hens if all shell 23
eggs sold in the state or transported for sale in the state by the farm 24
owner or operator are derived from fewer than three thousand egg-25
laying hens. 26
Statement of Purpose:
To promote food safety, protect public health and advance animal
welfare.