New Briefs Filed in Support of NPPC’s Proposition 12 Lawsuit
On Oct. 1, the federal government, a bipartisan group of 20 state attorney generals and numerous trade and business groups filed separate briefs in support of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation’s opening brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, filed last week asking the court to strike California’s Proposition 12 as invalid.
Proposition 12 forces arbitrary animal housing standards that reach outside of California's borders to farms across the U.S., NPPC said in Capital Update. By attempting to regulate businesses outside of its borders, California's Proposition 12 violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, Proposition 12 prohibits the sale of pork not produced according to California's highly prescriptive production standards. The proposition applies to any uncooked pork sold in the state, whether raised there or outside its borders.
“The objective of the sales ban is to prevent animal cruelty in other states. California does not identify any in-state harm caused by the use of prohibited practices elsewhere and has deliberately declined to argue that Proposition 12 protects California consumers. Supreme Court precedent establishes that California may not ban importation of wholesome products based solely on a desire to prevent what California considers animal cruelty that is occurring entirely outside the state’s borders,” the federal government wrote in its brief.
In addition, the federal government noted that “California does not invoke any legitimate interest…..The Pork Council’s factual allegations, which must be taken as true at this stage of the litigation, confirm that Proposition 12 will have wide-ranging and costly consequences for participants in the interstate market for pork.”
More from Farm Journal's PORK:
California’s Proposition 12: NPPC, AFBF Seek to Strike as Invalid
Proposition 12 Reaches Beyond Livestock Industry Into Your Pocketbook
How Will California’s Prop 12 Affect the Pork Industry?
Pork Industry, Don’t Underestimate Proposition 12
California’s Proposition 12: NPPC, AFBF File Legal Challenge
Meat Industry Seeks To Block California’s Proposition 12
