The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) didn’t uphold their end of the deal by promulgating Proposition 12 regulations by Sept. 1, 2019. Because of this, many people voiced concern on Friday that it’s not reasonable to expect the pork industry to be ready for a Jan. 1, 2022, scheduled implementation date for the state’s new animal welfare measures when final rules still aren’t available.
Voices from the restaurant, grocery, packing and pork industries urged CDFA to reconsider the implementation timeline during a public hearing held by CDFA and the California Department of Public Health on Aug. 27.
Pork Industry Deserves Time to Prepare
“CDFA’s failure to meet that deadline and provide regulations was a fatal flaw and has prevented the industry from even beginning to understand what is required to produce Prop 12 compliant pork. As a result, due to the failure of CDFA to meet this clear statutory requirement, CDFA must delay both the January 1, 2022, implementation date and enforcement of Prop 12,” said Michael Formica, National Pork Producers Council’s (NPPC) assistant vice president and general counsel, during the hearing.
Formica said CDFA should provide the industry the 28 months contemplated by the statute from the final publication of final rules before implementation and enforcement of Proposition 12. He added that the rule failed to provide sufficient guidance and direction for corporations to allow them to comply.
“They are completely silent on compliance with the turnaround requirements of the statute, and that makes up 50% of the primary provision impacting corporate producers. Beyond that, and the need for much more extensive guidance and direction, the rules also proposed creation of an unnecessarily complex accreditation process for entities to conduct certification,” Formica said. “It imposes burdensome, unnecessary and illegal recordkeeping requirements on farmers, meat packers and others throughout the pork’s supply chain and impose unnecessary and problematic labeling and shipping requirements for pork producers.”
Approved by California voters in November 2018, Proposition 12 will ban the sale in the state of pork from hogs born to sows housed in pens raised anywhere in the country that do not meet California’s prescribed sow housing standards. It also will prohibit the use of breeding stalls, which let sows recover after delivering and nursing piglets, NPPC said in a release.
Packing Industry Demands Moratorium
The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) called for a moratorium on enforcement during the public hearing to allow those subject to the law time to comply.
“Until final rules issue, affected companies are ‘on hold’ with respect to what they must do to comply with Prop 12 to avoid the risk of criminal prosecution,” said the Meat Institute’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Dopp. “For that reason alone, equity demands the CDFA issue an enforcement moratorium lasting at least 28 months after final rules are published. Those who contend the industry has had enough time to comply with Prop 12 either do not understand or ignore, perhaps willfully, the complexity of the pork supply chain and the segregation and other costs Prop 12 will impose on packer/processors and other players in that chain.”
Grocers Fear Pork Shortage
Leticia Garcia of the California Grocers Association said she is concerned Proposition 12 will cause issues with availability and eventually a shortage of pork.
“This is because the pork industry is ill prepared for the high requirements imposed by Prop 12 and farmers are unmotivated to meet the standards because California is the only state to impose these restrictions,” Garcia said. “Many of our members cater to local communities where pork is a staple of their cultural identities and a main source of protein and many other delicacies. Prop 12 directly targets these communities and prevents them from practicing long standing traditions passed down for generations.”
Restaurant Owners Plea for a Delay in Implementation
Leaders in the restaurant industry don’t know if they can take another hit.
“Restaurants are still reeling from the state-imposed closures or severe service limitations on our operations for 15 months. Keep in mind, we were the first closed and we were among the last to get fully reopened,” said Matt Sutton of the California Restaurant Association.
He said the supply chain problems caused by the pandemic have rocked almost every industry. Restaurants continue to see supply chain disruptions and rising commodity costs across the board.
“So now, aside from the pandemic-induced supply chain problems, we have this unrelated pressure point, which is the regulatory environment surrounding proposition 12,” Sutton said.
Restaurant owners are very concerned about the expected impacts to the food costs and the way this regulatory process has unfolded, he added.
“We’ve asked you before for a delay and we’re asking again,” Sutton said. “The problem for us is this: now, just months before the law going into effect, the state has only just proposed regulations for public comment. And here we are nearly two years behind schedule. The very rules are about to go into effect, yet the food supply chain doesn’t necessarily know how to comply, because the rules aren’t even final yet.”
This creates a tremendous challenge for restaurant owners who want to stay in business.
“Regulation sets the stage for compliance and compliance is what will impact the supply and the price that restaurants face. We’re not looking to undermine the spirit of the initiative in any way. We are simply saying in this time of uncertainty with the pandemic and the supply chain disruptions, please delay implementation and work with all parties,” Sutton said. “This scenario is likely to ripple.”
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Judge Denies Proposition 12 Challenge From Iowa Pork Producers
Supreme Court Rejects Meat Institute’s Petition to Review Proposition 12
Federal Court Rejects NPPC’s Petition to Strike Down Proposition 12
Pork Industry Braces for Catastrophic Costs to Implement Proposition 12
Proposition 12 Pressures Aren’t Going Away
On-Demand Webinar: Proposition 12: Where Do We Go From Here?
20 States Back Challenge to the Constitutionality of California’s Prop 12
California’s Proposition 12 Would Cost U.S. Pork Industry Billions
