SAINT-BERNARD, QUEBEC – Canadian pork company duBreton recently announced that it was certified for the implementation of California’s Proposition 12, which restricts gestation crate usage and requires 24 square feet of space per sow. 

“We take another step forward, since we are not just compliant, but fully audited and ready for California’s Proposition 12, which goes into effect on January 1st, 2024,” said Vincent Breton, chief executive officer of duBreton.

duBreton stated that it has raised crate-free pigs since 2003 and holds the USDA Organic, Certified Humane Raised and Handled, and GAP 5-step certifications.

The company also noted that it has raised antibiotic-free animals for more than 20 years and adopted and promoted a third-party certification process.

“Animal welfare protocols, the use of antibiotics, and farm animal raising practices should not only be words but should become a culture,” Breton said.

The US Supreme Court ruled against the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation in its May challenge of California’s Prop 12 animal confinement law. 

Meat industry partners filed a lawsuit to challenge Prop 12 and Massachusetts Question 3 over the past few months.

The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act has also been introduced in Congress in 2023 to counteract the judicial rulings, but it still needs to be determined if it will pass this year.

The state of California delayed compliance with Prop 12 until Dec. 31.