Agricultural News
No Regulations Available for Producers, Yet Prop. 12 Takes Effect Jan. 1, 2022
Wed, 08 Dec 2021 14:44:59 CST
In California, the Farm Animal Confinement Proposition, commonly known as Proposition 12, is supposed to bring some big changes to the way egg-laying hens, veal calves and breeding pigs are housed, starting Jan. 1, 2022. Only, the state is still taking comments on the proposed rulemaking, which is set to end Dec. 17, 2021.
Michael Formica, assistant vice president and general counsel for the National Pork Producers Council, said there is little-to-no chance regulations will be finalized before the new year. That leaves a lot for interpretation for not only California producers, but producers who sell their affected products to Californians.
"NPPC has been working really hard, spending a lot of time in California trying to develop regulations that we can live with," Formica said.
Proposition 12 was voted for by Californians in the fall of 2018. The new law deemed practices like using farrowing crates cruel and prohibits the sale of any pork products which are not produced according to new standards. Although California is home to less than 1 million hogs, the new law prevents out-of-state products to be sold to Californians unless those products comply.
Since Proposition 12 was voted into law, NPPC has been doing all it can to fight the measure.
"We have a case going to the Supreme Court," Formica said. "It is always an uphill battle to even get them to take the case."
Formica said the NPPC is cautiously optimistic about their case being presented in front of the Supreme Court. Similar cases have gone before the Supreme Court before but failed because they were not presented by the harmed parties, he explained.
"The court has come back and said, 'we want to see the parties who are actually harmed,'" Formica said. "Packers have brought a challenge, but procedurally they were in a funny spot. Plus, they are not the ones incurring the costs of having to make multi-million-dollar renovations."
The NPPC's case addresses the lack of pork production in California, therefore the majority of costs are going to be borne by farmers outside the state.
"We think about this every day," Formica said.
Ultimately, Formica wants to know how producers are supposed to comply with regulations that are not yet available.
Hit the LISTEN BAR below to hear Ron Hays and Michael Formica talk about how the new year is coming fast, whether Proposition 12 regulations are available or not.
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