BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE FOOD and AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Senator Dean Florez, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 2612 HEARING: 6/15/10
AUTHOR: Assembly Agriculture CommitteeFISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/7/10 CONSULTANT: John Chandler
Slaughtered animals: pet food: organic products: registration:
food safety fee.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Current law specifies that the first person to sell production
agriculture or structural-use pesticide products must develop a
recycling program or participate in a recycling program for
plastic pesticide containers. Overseen by the Department of
Pesticide Regulation (DPR), the recycling program records are
subject to audit by DPR for three years, comply with the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and American
Society of Agriculture and Biological Engineers Standards, and
must be certified by an ANSI accredited third party organization
for compliance.
California requires that every person engaged in collecting,
hauling, and processing meat not fit for human consumption be
licensed each year by the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA). Each license includes the name and address
of the applicant, all the vehicles registered for hauling, and
other information required by CDFA.
The California Organic Program is responsible for enforcement of
the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and the
California Organic Products Act of 2003. These statutes protect
consumers, producers, handlers, processors, and retailers by
establishment of standards under which fresh agricultural
products/foods may be labeled and/or sold as "organic".
Enforcement activities are coordinated with the California
Organic Products Advisory Committee, the USDA, and California
county agricultural commissioners. Activities include program
administration, county biologist training, initiation of
complaint investigation, registration of private certification
organizations, and acting as an information resource on the
California Organic Products Act and California's organic
industry.
The California Organic Program requires that every person
engaged in the production or handling of products sold as
organic certified under the National Organic Program must
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register annually with the county agricultural commissioner.
Registration fees range from $25 to $3,000 and are determined by
the producer's yearly gross sales. Processors of organic
products are required to register with CDFA. The National
Organic Program exempts from certification producers of $5,000
or less annual organic sales.
California law requires a person engaged in the manufacture,
packing, or holding of processed food in the state to pay a food
safety fee of $100 to the California Department of Public Health
(CDPH) for a food safety fund. The funds are used to assist in
developing and implementing education and training programs
related to food safety, known as the Food Industry Education and
Training Program.
PROPOSED LAW
AB 2612 is an agriculture omnibus bill which would do the
following:
Eliminate the third-party certification for compliance
for plastic pesticide container recycling programs.
Change responsibility for establishing a plastic
pesticide container recycling program from the first seller
to the registrant of any production agricultural use or
structural-use pesticide product sold in California.
Pertaining to slaughter animals not fit for human
consumption used in pet food and rendering:
o Expand the definition of a "collection center"
to include a "pet food processor."
o Change the license expiration date from a year
after issuance to December 31 of each year.
o Exempt a "collection center" from registration
as a transporter of kitchen grease if they are
licensed as a collection center in accordance with
this chapter.
Pertaining to the California Organic Program Act of 2003
(COPA):
o Clarify that alternates to the advisory board
are representatives of the same category as the board
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member.
o Update reference to "State Public Health
Officer" from "State Director of Health Services."
o Add definitions for an "exempt handler" as
being a handler that sells organic agricultural
products but whose gross income from such sales is
$5,000 or less annually; and for an "exempt producer"
as being a producer that sells organic agricultural
products, but whose gross income from such sales is
$5,000 or less annually. Makes other conforming
changes.
o Permit the required reporting by any producer,
handler, processor or organic registrant of exact
gross sales over $25,000,001 or more.
o Permit the required reporting by any producer,
handler, processor or organic registrant of gross
sales by commodity and acreage.
o Permit the adoption of regulations, to the
extent reasonably necessary, that supersede these
statutory registration requirements in order to
provide an online registration system.
o Make technical and non-substantive changes.
Extend the sunset date from January 1, 2011, to January
1, 2016, for the $100 food safety fee paid by persons
engaged in manufacture, packing, or holding of processed
food in California.
COMMENTS
1.AB 2612 is an omnibus bill dealing with a number of changes to
code addressing agricultural issues submitted by the
respective industry representatives.
In 2008, the legislature passed SB 1723 (Maldonado) requiring
a recycling program for plastic pesticide containers in line
with a proposed federal pesticide container recycling program.
The law included a requirement for ANSI-accredited
third-party certification of a seller's recycling program
compliance. However, it became evident that the overall
pesticide container recycling program was being delayed due to
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a lack of ANSI-accredited third parties to certify compliance.
Supporters feel that the program audit and recordkeeping is
sufficient to ensure compliance with any recycling program.
The inclusion of the term "collection center" in California
law regarding rendering licensing and registration would help
the law reflect current practice. Collection centers serve as
drop-off points for haulers so material can be aggregated
into larger loads for efficient transport for processing at
rendering plants or licensed pet food processors. Further,
technical changes will help CDFA administer the program.
Proponents state that AB 2612 would help make the organic
registration process as streamlined as possible by clarifying
inconsistencies between the State Organic Program and the
National Organic Program. Further AB 2612 allows changes in
the organic program to help CDFA meet the current and future
needs of California's organic industry.
The Food Industry Education and Training Program funding
mechanism used for food safety training and education is due
to sunset in 2011. Extending the sunset for five years will
allow this program to continue to provide California's food
industry with low-cost food safety training.
2.AB 2612 requires exempt organic producers of $5,000 or less in
sales to provide a map describing the boundaries of their
organic production area to the county agriculture
commissioner. However, nonexempt organic producers over of
$5,000 in sales do not have to provide the agriculture
commissioner with their facility location. The committee may
wish to consider if a precise physical description of the
facility or farm location for nonexempt organic producers
should be submitted to county agriculture commissioners.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor 74-0
Assembly Appropriations15-0
Assembly Agriculture 8-0
SUPPORT
California Farm Bureau Federation
California League of Food Processors
Western Plant Health Association
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OPPOSITION
None received