Last week’s announcement about the Prop 12 implementation modification and conflicting media reports have raised confusion among some producers who simply want to know, “What’s in it for me?” National Pork Producer Council’s Chief Legal Strategist Michael Formica sets the record straight.
As a recap, a California judge moved the final implementation/enforcement of California Prop 12 from July 1, 2023, to Jan. 1, 2024, for the sale of non-compliant whole pork meat, provided that the meat is in the supply chain by July 1.
What that means is non-compliant pork in cold storage now in California or elsewhere to be sold into California won’t be “thrown into the trash” on Saturday. That pork may be distributed in California before Dec. 31, 2023. But any pork produced after July 1 must be Prop 12 compliant to be sold into California.
Effectively this means nothing has changed for pork producers on the farm, Formica says.
“Any pig harvested after July 1 needs to be Prop 12 compliant. If producers aren’t Prop 12 compliant, they should be looking at and making plans to become Prop 12 compliant if they want to sell into California,” Formica explains. “If they are or think they are Prop 12 compliant, they can self-certify that they are and continue to sell into California. However, they would need to be certified by a CDFA-approved auditor by the end of the year.”
California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) has approved five firms at this time who can provide this certification, he adds.
He emphasized this is not a delay of all of Proposition 12, rather it is an adjustment related to the sale of whole pork meat. California state officials requested this six-month adjustment to Prop 12 because consumers in the state could potentially face increased food prices and a significant decrease in the amount of pork supplied to the state if they kept the original July 1 date.
“This is really about product that was already in the pipeline, things that were going to the processor, where those decisions were made a long, long time ago, can still come into California,” Formica says. “But after July 1, the only pigs that can be harvested and sold into California must be Prop 12 compliant pigs.”
As a reminder, Prop 12 compliancy started Jan. 1, 2022, according to California. However, Formica explains that they haven’t been able to enforce it until this Saturday, July 1, 2023.
CDFA is currently focusing on outreach to ensure all distributors who are required to register do so, accreditation of third-party certifying agents so that when third-party certification is required for producers and distributor registration beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, producers and distributors have more options, and certification of producers and distributors.
Sign up for the Producer Prop 12 Webinar on Tuesday, June 27, 2- 3 PM EDT. Register Here.
California Prop 12 for Producers will be the third of three webinars presented by California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Animal Care Program reviewing Prop 12 Animal Confinement regulations and requirement for “pork producers” (keeping breeding pigs).
For more information, visit NPPC’s Resource Hub on Prop 12.
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