CA's Ross: Prop 12 Not Emptying Shelves

3 Aug 2023

By Todd Neeley, DTN Staff Reporter, and Elaine Shein, DTN/Progressive Farmer Associate Content Manager

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (DTN) -- Photos of nearly empty meat shelves in California have popped up on social media recently, with some stores holding just a few pork items that some consumers believe are priced too high.

Some national media outlets have reported that California's Proposition 12 upheld by the Supreme Court this year is also to blame for higher bacon prices recently.

Prop 12 makes it a criminal offense and civil violation to sell whole pork meat in California unless the pig it comes from is born to a sow that was housed within 24 square feet of space and in conditions that allow the sow to turn around without touching an enclosure. Prop 12 applies to any uncooked pork sold in the state, regardless of whether it was raised in California.

During the recent legal fight, the National Pork Producers Council warned about how fully implementing Prop 12 will lead to lower supplies and higher prices for pork for consumers in California.

The theory is because farmers across the country would find it difficult and expensive to make their operations compliant with the law, California consumers eventually would suffer.

NOT CONNECTED

However, those reports of already smaller amounts and more expensive pork on shelves in the state isn't connected to Proposition 12, the state's top agriculture and food official told reporters on Aug. 1. She was questioned about the proposition's impact after she did a speech at the Agriculture Communicators Network's national conference in Palm Springs, California.

"If somebody's showing you empty shelves, it's for other reasons," said Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Following the Supreme Court's decision in May, the state of California gave grocery stores and others until the end of the year to move so-called noncompliant pork off shelves and make way for Prop 12-compliant products.

Ross said the state is doing what it can to ease the transition, but stressed to reporters the decision is not even being enforced.

She explained the government has already been issuing compliance certificates to major processors; with the percentage of the market they have and what they represent, it's too early to state that pork supply is already being affected by the proposition.

PUSHING COMPLIANCE

Ross said the state would spend the rest of the year helping companies, farms and others comply with Prop 12 if they intend to do business in California.

"We're doing the accreditation for third-party certifiers," Ross said. State officials have been conducting certifications of big-box stores, for example. "A big-box store has said they will be fully compliant ... before Jan. 1," Ross said.

"But Jan. 1 is where real enforcement could happen. We've communicated with the AG's (state attorney general) office -- this is not ours to enforce. This is district attorneys."

WRESTLING WITH POSSIBLE COSTS

Many hog producers across the country have been wrestling with the possible costs to alter hog operations that have been in families for generations, so as to make pens larger to meet Prop 12 size requirements.

Some farmers have chosen not to export to California because they believe the Prop 12 requirements are unhealthy for their animals.

Ross said state officials are looking at how to best implement the law so pork supplies can keep flowing into the market. She admitted it's not perfect.

"We're just saying, if you want to sell in California, this is what you do. It doesn't mean you have to change your entire production," she said. Ross said the government is trying to be as practical as possible about existing structures for sows.

PROCESSORS MAKING CHANGES

Economic studies conducted by the state on Prop 12 before implementation pointed to larger processors making changes to production lines to supply the vast majority of pork. Ross said they won't need to change all their production lines. She indicated larger pork processors will have to make small adjustments to comply, like they do for certain cuts, if they want to sell to California.

"There's still (the concern) that the whole thing has to change -- we're trying to be as pragmatic as we possibly can, for that stream to come into California. But I don't think there's a magic way, other than really being as transparent as possible." She added this could include inviting people to see the production process, "which is scary because of some of the activist groups, but that's what it takes."

WORKING WITH STATES, COUNTRIES

Ross said California officials have been hard at work. "As soon as the Supreme Court made their announcement, we arranged for a call with all my state colleagues, so that they knew exactly who to talk to about how we were approaching it," she said.

This included Massachusetts, as that state tries to align its regulations to be as closely aligned to California as possible, Ross said. "Everybody knows who to talk to on my staff, I have a great staff," although "they've been stop and start, stop and start, because of all the litigation."

CANADA AND MEXICO DISCUSSIONS

State officials have also been talking with government officials in Canada and Mexico to figure out how their laws align with Prop 12. Canada has been reaching out to California's ag department throughout the regulatory process. "Governments know ... a state department of agriculture can be certified as a state agency of being able to do this certification," she said.

"We've encouraged ... that Canada has good animal-care standards, but there's a few gaps in that, that just have to be brought up to code," Ross said. As for where it goes from there, "Who knows? They may feel they have to take us to WTO (World Trade Organization). I don't know. But we're clear."

She added there has also been lots of communication with Mexico which has really stepped up its outreach from different states in Mexico. "Just since the Supreme Court decision ... they were not as active before that, but they are now."

CA's Ross: Prop 12 Not Emptying Shelves

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