BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1810
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1810 (Levine)
As Amended August 15, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-1 |April 25, 2016 |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 18, |
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Original Committee Reference: AGRI.
SUMMARY: Exempts noncommercial seed sharing activities from
California Seed Law (CSL) requirements; provides a definition
for "noncommercial seed sharing activities"; permits the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to require
notification of such activities; provides legislative findings;
and, permits CDFA to post on its Web site information on
noncommercial seed sharing activities.
The Senate amendments delete the definition of "sell"; add the
definition of "noncommercial seed sharing activity"; add to
legislative findings; replace references of "a person" with the
term "an entity"; permit CDFA to require noncommercial seed
sharing entities to notify of their activities and prohibit CDFA
charging any fee for this requirement; and, permit CDFA to post
specified information on their Web site.
AB 1810
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: 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 CSL, which would be infeasible due to
labeling requirements such as detailed seed labels and
germination tests. This bill defines "noncommercial seed
sharing activities" and exempts them from seed labeling
requirements.
While there have been concerns, no enforcement actions have been
taken by CDFA under CSL against any community based seed-sharing
entity. To help clarify the position of community based seed
sharing, CDFA issued a seed advisory in May of 2016, regarding
seed libraries, seed banks, and seed exchanges, determining that
only those that required something in exchange for their seed,
needed to follow CSL.
Since CDFA's published advisory, it is questioned if this bill
is still needed.
Analysis Prepared by:
Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084 FN:
0004313
AB 1810
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