Last week, NPPC filed comments on two Massachusetts bills related to Question 3, a 2016 ballot initiative which prohibits the sale of pork produced using certain production methods. In many ways, Question 3 is substantially similar to Proposition 12, a California ballot initiative which passed in 2018. The Massachusetts initiative is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2022, but first requires the commonwealth’s attorney general to draft implementation rules—which have not been completed.
In its comments on S. 36 and H. 864, the National Pork Producers Council said it supports language that would place the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources in charge of promulgating Question 3 regulations. Currently, the attorney general’s office has exclusive jurisdiction. Additionally, while not included in the bills, NPPC is urging for Question 3’s implementation date to be delayed by two years, to Jan. 1, 2024.
“Meeting the requirements of Question 3 is difficult enough to do in normal conditions, requiring significant investments of labor and capital, as farmers must convert to a compliant system in order to meet Question 3’s requirements. The time and cost of this challenge has been exacerbated over the last two years as the industry struggles to overcome the challenges – both to our workers and to the marketplaces for pigs and pork – caused by COVID-19,” NPPC wrote.
The Link LonkMay 11, 2021 at 04:40PM
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NPPC URGES MASSACHUSETTS TO ALTER, DELAY RESTRICTIVE PORK PRODUCTION INITIATIVE - KTIC
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