NAMI and NPPC applaud bill to slow down Massachusetts pork rules

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NAMI and NPPC applaud bill to slow down Massachusetts pork rules

The North American Meat Institute and National Pork Producers Council applaud a bill signed into law in Massachusetts to delay enforcement of restrictions for pork production by seven-and-a-half months.

The 2016 ballot initiative is similar to California’s Proposition 12 which will ban the sale of pork from hogs born to sows that are housed in pens that don’t comply with new Massachusetts standards.

NPPC president Jen Sorenson says these ballot measures claim to improve animal welfare of hogs but instead make it harder and more dangerous for producers to practice good animal husbandry.

Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts says they appreciate Governor Baker and the Massachusetts legislature for putting consumers first to avoid more price hikes for pork. And she says they welcome the expertise of that state’s Ag Department to promulgate new rules that are not unworkable or overly burdensome.

NPPC and American Farm Bureau have petitioned the US Supreme Court to take their case against California’s Prop. 12 – challenging the constitutionality of one state imposing regulations that reach outside its borders, stifling interstate and international commerce.

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