HOUSE AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL 46

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

AN ACT

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE; PROVIDING PROTECTION FOR FARMERS FROM LIABILITY OVER POSSESSION OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCTS; PROVIDING FOR COURT JURISDICTION FOR INFRINGEMENT CASES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PRODUCT--PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY--COURT JURISDICTION.--

          A. As used in this section:

                (1) "farmer" means a person who plants a crop, manages a crop or harvests a crop;

                (2) "genetically engineered product" means a product created through means in which the genetic material has been changed through modern biotechnology in a way that does not occur naturally by multiplication or natural recombination;

                (3) "manufacturer" means a person that develops, manufactures or sells a patented genetically engineered product;

                (4) "modern biotechnology" means the application of:

                     (a) in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection; or

                     (b) the fusion of cells, beyond the taxonomic family, that overcomes natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that is not a technique used in traditional breeding and selection; and

                (5) "technology use agreement" means an agreement between a manufacturer and a farmer that controls the right to plant a given genetically engineered seed, plant part or plant on a specific area of land for a certain period of time.

          B. If a genetically engineered product in which a manufacturer has patent rights is found in de minimus amounts or found to be unintentionally on the property owned or occupied by a farmer, the farmer is not liable to the manufacturer.

          C. Consistent with 28 U.S.C. Section 1400(b), an infringement case brought against a farmer who does not have a technology use agreement with a manufacturer shall be brought in the federal judicial district court where the farmer resides or in the federal judicial district court where the farmer is alleged to have committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business.

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