BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 732 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 15, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE Henry T. Perea, Chair AB 732 Cooper - As Amended April 8, 2015 SUBJECT: Cattle inspection: exemption. SUMMARY: Provides an exemption, under specified conditions, from the statutory cattle inspection requirements of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Specifically, this bill: 1)Exempts mandatory cattle inspection if all the following conditions are met: a) The individual or entity with controlling interest in cattle remains unchanged; b) The cattle are not being moved out of state or out of a modified point-of-origin inspection area; and, c) The cattle are associated with either the registered brand or the dairy exemption number. 2)All existing and new owners shall certify, under penalty of AB 732 Page 2 perjury to CDFA at the time of ownership transfer, their ownership of specified cattle on a form approved by CDFA. 3)Permits an owner, exempt from inspection by this section, to elect to have a cattle inspection pursuant to statute. EXISTING LAW: Existing law requires cattle to be inspected before being moved or transported under specified circumstances, including whenever cattle are sold or ownership is transferred. Existing law requires that the CDFA's Bureau of Livestock Identification, inspect cattle and collect inspection. Brands are registered with the Bureau, or a dairy may register and receive an exemption number for animal identification. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. Legislative Counsel has keyed this bill fiscal. COMMENTS: The inspection of cattle is a main deterrent to the rustling (stealing) of animals and is statutorily required when cattle are sold, ownership is transferred, or animals are moved. Most livestock operations are family owned and animals may be sold or given to family members to bring family member(s) into their operation. This can occur without animals being relocated and without the management of an operation changing. Cattle and dairy producers believer that under these specific situations, the mandatory inspection and its expense, is not needed. This could create a savings to cattle and dairy owners, while reducing CDFA's revenues and potential workload. Livestock inspections can be costly and disruptive, but are imperative when animals are sold, relocated, or taken to a sales yard. CDFA charges $1.05 per head for inspections. The intent of inspections are to prevent theft; therefore, when livestock ownership is changed by voluntary means without animal AB 732 Page 3 relocation or operational management changes, a policy to exempt inspection seems reasonable. The committee may wish to consider the following amendment: 1)Allow a certain time period, to be determined by CDFA, for reporting transfers. 2)If an owner elects to have an inspection, then the inspection is limited to those animals transferred, and not the entire herd. 3)Violation of this proposed exemption should have consequences. There are existing statutes for violations of animal transport without inspections, which including civil penalties, recovery of CDFA costs, and an appeal process, referencing them would provide for violation enforcement: "(d) Any violations of this section are subject to penalties as described in Section 21051.3." REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support California Farm Bureau Federation (Sponsor) AB 732 Page 4 Milk Producers Council (Sponsor) California Cattlemen's Association California Chamber of Commerce Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084