Judge delays enforcement of California animal housing law - Agri-Pulse
The California Department of Food and Agriculture cannot enforce the state’s animal housing law for pork products on certain parties until six months after it issues final regulations, a state court judge has ruled.
In a ruling released Tuesday, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles said the text of a 2018 ballot initiative shows that voters wanted CDFA and the California Department of Public Health to write regulations before beginning to enforce the law, which went into effect Jan. 1 despite the lack of written rules. The state had argued that it could begin enforcing the law.
The judge’s decision specifically prohibits enforcement against any members of the plaintiff groups, as well as any of their owners and operators. Suing were the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, the California Grocers Association, California Retailers Association, California Restaurant Association and Kruse & Son.
The CDFA and the state Attorney General’s office "are evaluating the ruling in order to determine specific next steps," according to a statement from CDFA.
"It should be noted that the judge’s ruling is a narrow one that applies only to retailers, including grocers, and not to pork producers providing pork products to California," CDFA's statement continued. "Pork producers and suppliers remain subject to enforcement if they violate the square-footage requirement that went into effect on January 1."
CDFA said it is "moving as quickly as possible" to complete regulations "while ensuring full consideration is given to extensive comments submitted by stakeholders during a recent public comment period. In the meantime, CDFA continues with extensive outreach and education efforts to support compliance by pork producers. More information on next steps can be found here."
The North American Meat Institute praised the decision, noting that California is more than two years past the law’s September 2019 deadline for issuing regulations.
source: https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/17111-judge-delays-enforcement-of-california-animal-housing-law
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