BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 732
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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
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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
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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
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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