The Biden administration, international trading partners and business groups representing the full scope of the U.S. economy, among others, filed amicus briefs in support of the National Pork Producers Council ahead of the Supreme Court case to review California’s Proposition 12. The state law seeks to ban the sale of pork from pigs that do not meet the state’s arbitrary production standards, including pork from pigs raised on farms outside of California.
In a joint brief to the Supreme Court filed earlier this month, NPPC and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) argued Proposition 12 violates the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause, which restricts states from regulating commerce outside their borders. The brief states that Proposition 12 "will require massive and costly changes across the entire $26-billion-a-year hog farming industry. And it inescapably projects California’s policy choices into every other state, a number of which expressly permit their farmers to house sows in ways inconsistent with Proposition 12."
A full list of amicus briefs filed in support of NPPC and AFBF can be found HERE, including a brief of The American Association of Swine Veterinarians.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Oct. 11, 2022.
[Source: NPPC 22 June 2022]