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: 8/15/16 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 "noncommercial seed sharing activity"
and requires entities participating in these activities to
notify the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA);
authorizes CDFA to post information on its website regarding
noncommercial seed sharing activities; declares that the
California Seed Law is intended to support noncommercial seed
sharing; and exempts seed distributed or received by
noncommercial seed sharing activities from seed labeling
requirements.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/15/16 delete the definition of
"seed library" and, instead, define "noncommercial seed sharing
activity." These amendments also authorize CDFA to post
information on its Web site about noncommercial seed sharing
AB 1810
Page 2
activities that include germination or varietal purity
standards, compliance with seed patent law, and best practices
for entities participating in noncommercial seed sharing
activities, including public disclosure.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Enacts the California Seed Law (CSL) to ensure that
agricultural and vegetable seed is properly and accurately
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.
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Page 3
6)Requires registered persons to pay a maximum assessment fee of
40 cents per $100 gross annual dollar volume sales.
This bill:
1)Defines "noncommercial seed sharing activity" to mean the
receiving or giving away of seed by a noncommercial entity
without the creation of a contractual obligation or an
expectation to receive anything of value in return. However,
this definition does not prohibit a noncommercial entity
participating in these sharing activities from receiving the
progeny of the seeds it distributes, to the extent that the
sharing activity does not violate existing seed patent law.
2)Exempts seed distributed or received by noncommercial seed
sharing activities from seed labeling requirements.
3)Declares that noncommercial seed sharing activities contribute
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 activities but
is not intended to supersede any provision of the California
Rice Certification Act of 2000.
4)Authorizes CDFA to post information on its Web site about
noncommercial seed sharing activities that includes
germination or varietal purity standards, compliance with seed
patent law, and best practices for entities participating in
noncommercial seed sharing activities, including public
disclosure.
5)Authorizes CDFA to require any entity that conducts a
noncommercial seed sharing activity to provide notification of
its operation. The notification shall include only 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
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Page 4
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. 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 a "noncommercial seed
sharing activity" and exempts this seed activity 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
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."
Library vs. sharing activity. Recent amendments removed the
definition of "seed library" and replaced it with a definition
for "noncommercial seed sharing activity." This change was made
so that entities that do not identify as seed libraries but
perform similar activities are not excluded from the benefits
provided in this bill.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/15/16)
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 Climate & Agriculture Network
California FarmLink
California Guild
City of Encinitas
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Earthshed Solutions
Ecology Center
El Cerrito City Council
The Farmers Guild
Foothill Collaborative For Sustainability
Humboldt Food Policy Council
Oakland Public Library
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Orange County Food Access Coalition
Orange Home Grown
Pesticide Action Network - North America
Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library
Seed Savers Exchange
Slow Food California
Sustainable Economies Law Center
University of San Francisco Seed Library at Gleeson
Library/Geschke Center
7 individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/15/16)
None received
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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
8/16/16 18:00:05
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