Canada’s livestock industry is calling out California’s Prop-12 saying that under the USMCA deal, provinces and states are not allowed to create non-tariff trade barriers.
The Canadian Pork Council Executive Director says that California has clearly done that.
According to Stephen Heckbert, “It’s a state proposition. Something like this has a direct impact. It’s important to remember that it actually impacts beef and chicken as well. The Supreme Court may not have understood the kind of interstate commerce implications this will, in fact, have in terms of states being able to make, frankly, non-tariff trade barriers that will deal with international trade. International trade and international trade agreements are the sole provisions of the U.S. government. We’re working with our government here to see the impact of this Supreme Court decision.”
Canada is confused about how Prop-12 will be enforced, as pork importing distributors will be required in the new year to submit third party certification to show their products are in compliance with the regulations.
“Does California, now, have a nationwide auditing system, where they will send inspectors to each of these barns, facilities? And, if I’m in Iowa, or I’m in Nebraska, do I want inspectors from California? Whether the state of California now intends to send inspectors around Canada to determine who is Prop-12 compliant? I’m not really sure how California intends to do that. There’s a whole bunch of implications,” he adds.
Proposition 12 has been in place since July.
