The U.S. pork industry is awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court regarding its case against California’s Prop 12, which tries to regulate pork coming in from other states. Tyler Bettin is the director of producers’ services with the National Pork Producers Council. He says one state should not be allowed to regulate commerce in the others.
“As you know, we argued our case before the US Supreme Court back in October and are looking forward to hopefully seeing a result or decision from the court in late February into March of this year. If we get a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, as we’ve challenged this on interstate commerce issues within the Constitution, we’ll have that opportunity then to go back and argue our case before the district court in California, recognizing the impact this has not just on pork production, but across all sectors of our economy should one state be able to pass a ballot initiative on moral grounds that impacts interstate commerce across the country.”
He says producers should be able to determine how to best run their farms.
“Exactly. You hit the nail on the head there. This is about producers having certainty on how they grow their operations responsibly, and if we have multiple requirements from multiple states, certainly that hinders our ability to get affordable food to people that want it. No one’s saying that different customers are retailers or others can’t dictate what they would like to see on their shelves, should consumers want to pay for it. But this is about preserving that choice for all consumers.”
Story provided by NAFB News Service and Brian Winnekins, WRDN, Durand, Wisconsin
