Amended in Senate June 15, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 29, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 17, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1810

Introduced by Assembly Member Levine

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mathis)

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February 8, 2016

An act to amend Sections begin delete 52288, 52311, 52451, and 52486 of, end delete begin insert 52288 and 52451 of, end insert and to add begin delete Section end delete begin insert Sections end insert 52258.2 begin delete to, end delete begin insert and 52351.5 to, end insert the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to seed.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1810, as amended, Levine. California Seed Law: exclusions: noncommercial seed sharing.

The California Seed Law (the seed law) regulates seed sold in California, and generally requires agricultural and vegetable seed that is sold in the state to be labeled in accordance with specified provisions. Specified penalties are prescribed for violating the provisions of the seed law.

This bill would exclude from the labeling requirements of the seed law seed distributed begin delete through noncommercial seed sharing activities, and would revise applicable penalty provisions to exclude the collection, storage, or distribution of agricultural, flower, or vegetable seed for noncommercial purposes. The bill would also define the term “sell” for purposes of the seed law, and end delete begin insert or received by seed libraries, as defined by the bill. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to require any person or organization that operates a seed library to provide notification of its operation on a form created by the secretary, and end insert would state that the Legislature begin delete declares end delete begin insert declares, among other things, end insert that the seed law is begin delete not end delete intended to begin delete regulate end delete begin insert support end insert noncommercial seed begin delete sharing, end delete begin insert activities, end insert as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 52258.2 is added to the Food and
Agricultural Code, to read:

52258.2.  

“Sell” includes to offer, expose, or possess for sale,
and to commercially exchange, barter, or trade.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 52258.2 is added to the end insert begin insert Food and
Agricultural Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 52258.2. end insert   

“Seed library” means a registered noncommercial
entity that lends, receives, or gives away seed at a place or event
without creating a contractual obligation or an expectation to
receive anything of value in return.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

Section 52288 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:

52288.  

The Legislature hereby declares begin delete that it is end delete begin insert all of the
following: end insert

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert It is end insert the intent of this chapter to enable the seed industry,
with the aid of the state, to ensure that seed purchased by the
consumer-buyer is properly identified and of the quality and
amount represented on the tag or label. begin delete The Legislature further
declares that the end delete

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert success of agriculture and the seed industry in this state
depends upon the continued commitment to industry-funded
research in order to improve the quality and variety of seed
available to the consumer-buyer. begin delete The Legislature further declares
that this end delete

begin insert (c) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Noncommercial seed sharing contributes significant value
to the health of our communities and to the resilience of our food
system. This end insert chapter is begin delete not end delete intended to begin delete regulate end delete begin insert support end insert
noncommercial seed sharing, including through seed begin delete libraries,
seed exchanges, or other informal and formal noncommercial seed
sharing activities. end delete begin insert libraries, and is not intended to supersede any
provision of the California Rice Certification Act of 2000 (Chapter
4 (commencing with Section 55000) of Division 20). end insert

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SEC. 3.  

Section 52311 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:

52311.  

A person is not subject to the penalties that are
prescribed by this chapter in any of the following cases:

(a) For selling in this state any agricultural or vegetable seed
that is incorrectly labeled or represented as to kind, variety, or
type, which cannot be identified by examination of it, unless the
person has failed to obtain an invoice or grower’s declaration that
gives the commonly accepted name of the kind, kind and variety,
or kind and type, and to take other precautions as may be necessary
to insure the identity to be that which is stated.

(b) As to any matter that is required by Article 8 (commencing
with Section 52451), for selling the seed in original unopened
sealed packages that are fully labeled by another dealer, unless the
person has failed to have the seed retested and relabeled as to the
percentage of germination within the period that is prescribed by
Section 52481, or unless the person has failed to correct the label
after notice that the label has been found to be incorrect.

(c) For shipping, delivering, transporting, or selling within this
state any agricultural or vegetable seed that has a false labeling as
to percentage of germination or hard seeds, unless the person has
first been given an opportunity by the secretary to be heard. This
exemption does not, however, relieve any person from the
obligation, upon order of an enforcement official, to stop further
sale of any seed that is found to be incorrectly labeled as to
germination, nor does it exempt such seed from seizure pursuant
to this chapter.

(d) For collecting, storing, or distributing in this state any labeled
or unlabeled agricultural, flower, or vegetable seed for
noncommercial purposes.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 52351.5 is added to the end insert begin insert Food and Agricultural
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 52351.5. end insert   

(a) Notwithstanding Section 52351, the secretary
may require any person or organization that operates a seed
library to provide notification of its operation on a form created
by the secretary. The notification form shall only include the
entity’s name and address and the contact information of the
responsible party. No fee shall be assessed for submitting the
notification form.

(b) A person shall not be subject to any penalties under this
chapter for failing to provide notification to the secretary without
first receiving a written request to do so.

end insert

SEC. 4.  

Section 52451 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:

52451.  

This article does not apply to any of the following:

(a) Seed or grain that is not intended for sowing purposes.

(b) Seed that is in storage in, or consigned to, a seed cleaning
or conditioning establishment for cleaning or conditioning.

(c) Seed or grain that is transported without transfer of title for
sowing on land that is owned by the person by whom the seed or
grain was produced.

(d) Seed that is weighed and packaged in the presence of the
purchaser from a bulk container, if the container is properly and
conspicuously labeled as provided by this chapter.

(e) Seed or grain that is transported from one warehouse to
another without transfer of title or in storage in a warehouse, if
each container is plainly marked or identified with a lot number
or other lot identification and the label information that is required
by this article is available at the request of an enforcing officer.

(f) Seed distributed begin delete in the state through formal or informal
noncommercial seed sharing activities, including, but not limited
to, seed libraries and seed exchanges. end delete begin insert or received by seed libraries. end insert

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SEC. 5.  

Section 52486 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:

52486.  

Sections 52481, 52482, and 52484 of this article do not
apply to any of the following:

(a) Any common carrier in respect to any seed that is transported
or delivered for transportation in the ordinary course of its business
as a carrier if the carrier is not engaged in conditioning or
merchandising seed that is subject to the provisions of this chapter.

(b) Noncommercial seed sharing.

end delete