Campbell v. Hussey, 368 U.S. 297 (1961)

Campbell v. Hussey

No. 42

Argued November 14-15, 1961
Decided December 18, 1961
368 U.S. 297

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

Syllabus

By the Federal Tobacco Inspection Act, Congress provided for the establishment of uniform standards of classification and inspection of tobacco for the protection of interstate commerce and authorized the Secretary of Agriculture

to establish standards for tobacco by which its type, grade, size, condition, or other characteristics may be determined, which standards shall be the official standards of the United States.

Pursuant thereto, the Secretary prescribed by regulation that

Tobacco which has the same characteristics and corresponding qualities, colors, and lengths shall be treated as one type, regardless of any factors of historical or geographical nature which cannot be determined by an examination of the tobacco.

The regulations define type 14 as

That type of flue-cured tobacco commonly known as Southern Flue-cured or New Belt of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, produced principally in the southern section of Georgia and to some extent in Florida and Alabama.

When the tobacco is offered for sale, the federal regulations require that it be identified by a blue tag which states the type and grade thereof. A Georgia law requires type 14 tobacco grown in Georgia to be identified by a white tag.

Held: the federal law preempts the field and excludes state regulation, even though the latter does no more than supplement the former. Therefore, the Georgia statute requiring type 14 tobacco to be identified with a white tag when it is grown in Georgia is unconstitutional. Pp. 298-302.

189 F. Supp. 54, affirmed.