SENATE BILL 576

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

AN ACT

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE; EXEMPTING NATIVE CHILE PEPPER VARIETIES FROM THE PROHIBITIONS OF THE NEW MEXICO CHILE ADVERTISING ACT.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 25-11-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2011, Chapter 57, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "25-11-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act:

          A. "board" means the board of regents of New Mexico state university; [and]

          B. "chile pepper" means the fruit from Capsicum annuum; and

          C. "native chile pepper" means landrace varieties of Capsicum annuum that have become adapted to a local or regional environment through enduring agricultural practices."

     SECTION 2. Section 25-11-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2011, Chapter 57, Section 3, as amended by Laws 2013, Chapter 85, Section 2 and by Laws 2013, Chapter 211, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "25-11-3. UNLAWFUL ADVERTISING, LABELING OR SELLING OF NON-NEW MEXICO CHILE.--

          A. It is unlawful for a person to:

                 (1) knowingly advertise, describe, label or offer for sale chile peppers as New Mexico chile, or to advertise, describe, label or offer for sale a product as containing New Mexico chile, unless the chile peppers or chile peppers in the product were grown in New Mexico; or

                (2) knowingly advertise, describe, label or offer for sale chile peppers, or a product containing chile peppers, using the name of any city, town, county, village, pueblo, mountain, river or other geographic feature or features located in New Mexico in a misleading or deceptive manner that states or reasonably implies that the chile peppers are, or the product contains, New Mexico chile, unless the chile peppers or chile peppers in the product were grown in New Mexico.

          B. The prohibitions in this section do not apply to a person whose business name, brand name or trademark was used in advertising, product descriptions, labels or offers for sale and was established prior to the effective date of the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act; provided that, on and after July 1, 2013, the person, in all advertising, descriptions and labels containing that business name, brand name or trademark, shall include in a prominent location and in a prominent typeface a disclaimer stating "NOT GROWN IN NEW MEXICO" if the product contains chile peppers that were not grown in New Mexico.

          C. The prohibitions in this section do not apply to a restaurant that describes a menu item using a geographic name provided for in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of this section; provided that the origin of any chile in the menu item is not misrepresented.

          D. The prohibitions of this section do not apply to the advertising, description, labeling or selling of New Mexico native chile pepper varieties, or a product containing New Mexico native chile pepper varieties, which are also known as "chile nativo" or "pueblo chile" varieties."

     SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2015.

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