Sen. Tom Cotton wants to lower the costs of eggs by loosening regulations. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images)
"Arkansas consumers have paid higher egg prices and faced egg shortages because of bureaucratic red tape that forces farmers to throw out hundreds of millions of usable eggs each year," Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "My bill will cut these excessive regulations and lower egg prices."
The legislation would require that the Food and Drug Administration, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rewrite its egg rules so that eggs intended to be hatched could also enter into the food supply as a liquid egg product, effectively creating a regulatory glide path to bolster the number of eggs in the supply chain.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LAWSUIT CRACKS DOWN ON CALIFORNIA'S EGG PRODUCTION REGULATIONS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, Dec. 18, 2022. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency)
Trump ordered the USDA earlier this year to dump $1 billion into a plan to bolster the egg supply chain against avian flu, with a focus on biosecurity measures, farmer relief, vaccine research and increasing imports.
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There were a spate of lawsuits against egg producers for alleged price fixing this year and notably, the Trump administration sued the state of California for allegedly going against federal law and increasing egg prices with red tape.
But egg prices have trended downward since the record highs earlier this year. According to the USDA’s most recent egg markets overview, egg prices during the first week of December dropped overall, save in some markets like California. Large white eggs, for example, dropped by roughly 17% to an average of $1.91 per dozen eggs.
Sen. Tom Cotton wants to lower the cost of eggs by loosening certain regulations as the nation deals with growing affordability concerns. (iStock)
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cotton-moves-loosen-egg-rules-bid-boost-supply-ease-affordability-crunch