BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1810|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1810
Author: Levine (D), et al.
Amended: 6/15/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Pan, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-1, 4/25/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: California Seed Law: exclusions: noncommercial
seed sharing
SOURCE: Olive Elementary School, Novato Unified School
District, 2015-16 fourth grade class and teachers
DIGEST: This bill defines "seed libraries" and requires seed
library registration with the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA); declares that the California Seed Law is
intended to support noncommercial seed sharing, including
through seed libraries; and exempts seed distributed or received
by seed libraries from seed labeling requirements.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Enacts the California Seed Law (CSL) to ensure that
agricultural and vegetable seed is properly and accurately
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identified on the product label. Seed is analyzed through the
Seed Services Program administered by CDFA. The CSL is
locally enforced by county agricultural commissioners, who
enter into cooperative agreements with the secretary of CDFA
and agree to maintain a statewide compliance level on all seed
sold in the county. Funding for this program is entirely
supported through industry seed assessments and registration
fees and is administered by CDFA. (Food and Agriculture Code
(FAC) §52251, et seq.).
2)Creates the Seed Advisory Board to make recommendations to the
secretary of CDFA in regards to seed law and regulations,
enforcement, seed laboratory diagnostics, and annual budgets.
Advisory board members are appointed by the secretary. The
board consists of registered seed labelers representing seed
production, conditioning, marketing and utilization; persons
who receive or possess seed for sale in California; and two
members of the public.
3)Authorizes the secretary of CDFA to regulate seed sold in
California to ensure that agricultural and vegetable seed is
properly and accurately identified on the product label (Food
and Agricultural Code § 52251 et seq.).
4)Requires seed labels to include, among other requirements,
seed name and variety, weight, germination percentage, and
name and address of the person selling the seed.
5)Requires every person selling agricultural or vegetable seed
in California to register with CDFA to obtain authorization to
sell seed, as specified.
6)Requires registered persons to pay a maximum assessment fee of
40 cents per $100 gross annual dollar volume sales.
This bill:
1)Defines "seed library" to mean 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.
2)Exempts seed distributed or received by seed libraries from
seed labeling requirements.
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3)Declares that noncommercial seed sharing contributes
significant value to the health of communities and the
resilience of the food system and declares that the CSL is
intended to support noncommercial seed sharing, including
through seed libraries, but is not intended to supersede any
provision of the California Rice Certification Act of 2000.
4)Authorizes CDFA to require any person or organization that
operates a seed library to provide notification of its
operation. The notification shall only include the entity's
name and address and the contact information of the
responsible party. No fee shall be assessed for this form,
and no person shall be subject to penalties for failing to
provide this notification without first receiving a written
request to do so.
Comments
Need for this bill. Community seed-sharing events are growing in
popularity with the goal of preserving and increasing seed
genetic diversity. However, current law does not recognize the
sharing of seeds on a small community scale, and supporters of
this bill are concerned that the state could regulate the sale
of such seed according to the CSL, which would be infeasible due
to labeling requirements such as detailed seed labels and
germination tests. This bill defines "seed libraries" and
exempt them from seed labeling requirements.
CDFA Seed Advisory. On March 1, 2016, CDFA issued a seed
advisory regarding seed libraries, seed banks, and seed
exchanges. There had been several inquiries about whether these
entities are required to obtain authorization to sell seeds per
the seed law (Food and Agricultural Code § 52351) and whether
they are "selling' seeds per the definition provided in FAC §
44. CDFA made the following determinations:
1)Seed library activities do not meet the definition of "sell,"
and seeds loaned to patrons are not subject to labeling
requirements. Patrons, however, are not expected to provide
any additional fees or services in exchange for their
participation.
2)Seed exchanges do meet the definition of "sell" and must
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comply with labeling requirements. Only the seed exchange
organization, and not individual participants, needs to obtain
authorization to sell seeds.
This CDFA advisory, however, did not provide a definition for
"seed library."
Seed progeny. Several organizations previously in support of
this bill are now in a support if amended position due to
concerns that the current definition of "seed library" in this
bill could prevent a seed library from hoping that a seed
borrower would return some of the progeny of the lended seed.
According to these organizations, without this seed being
returned, seed libraries will be unable to fulfill their central
mission of ensuring that the food supply retains sufficient
plant varieties locally and is responsive to the growing need to
expand plant varieties what have been severely diminished in
recent years.
Future amendments. Potential future author's amendments include
defining "noncommercial seed sharing activity" instead of "seed
library" and an amendment to address the above concern regarding
seed progeny.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/2/16)
Olive Elementary School, Novato Unified School District, 2015-16
fourth grade class and teachers (source)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Ashland Cherryland Food Policy Council
California FarmLink
City of Encinitas
Earthshed Solutions
Ecology Center
El Cerrito City Council
The Farmers Guild
Foothill Collaborative For Sustainability
Humboldt Food Policy Council
Oakland Public Library
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Orange County Food Access Coalition
Orange Home Grown
Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library
Seed Savers Exchange
University of San Francisco Seed Library at Gleeson
Library/Geschke Center
7 individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/2/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "Seed libraries
provide communities with free heirloom seeds, thereby empowering
people to grow affordable healthy food, preserve culturally
significant seed and adapt seed to local conditions. There are
450 seed libraries in the United States with 38 of those in
California. The California Seed Law is intended to regulate
seed sold to large scale agri-business, and that the testing and
labeling requirements are burdensome and not feasible for
community based seed sharing. The technical clarification to
current law will ensure clarity."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-1, 4/25/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Frazier
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Chang, Beth Gaines, Hadley, Olsen,
Williams
Prepared by:Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
8/3/16 18:31:55
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