BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1826
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1826 (Mark Stone)
As Amended April 26, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Agriculture |10-0 |Dodd, Mathis, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Gray, | |
| | |Grove, Irwin, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, | |
| | |Salas | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 1826
Page 2
SUMMARY: This bill overhauls the State Organic Program (SOP),
including changing the SOP fee structure and granting a larger
administrative role to accredited certifying agencies.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Restructures the SOP by reducing certain registration fees,
authorizes certifying agencies to register organic farmers and
pay fees, and changes the paperwork requirements for
registration.
2)Adds that the Advisory Committee (AC) is to advise the
Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) on education, outreach, and technical assistance for
organic producers, among other specified activities of the
Secretary.
3)Expands and changes the make-up of the AC by adding a
representative from an accredited certifying agency operating
within this state, reducing from two to one member
representing consumers.
4)Adds specified definitions to the Food and Agricultural Code
(FAC).
5)Increases the fee cap the Secretary may charge a certifying
agency operation in California to $500, and permits certifying
agencies to submit annual registration fees and applications
on behalf of their clients
6)Requires any certifying agency to make specified records
available to the Secretary or the county agricultural
AB 1826
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commissioner (CAC) within three business days of a request.
7)Makes technical, clarifying and conforming changes.
(For a more detailed analysis, please see the Assembly Policy
Committee's analysis.)
EXISTING LAW: SOP is statutorily mandated to enforce the
federal Organic Food Production Act of 1990; National Organic
Program (NOP) regulations; the California Organic Products Act
of 2003; and, SOP regulations. Every person engaged in
California in the production or handling of raw agricultural
products sold as organic, must register with CAC in the county
of principal operation prior to the first sale of the product.
In addition, every person engaged in this State in the
processing or handling of processed products is required to
register with the Department of Public Health (DPH).
Generally, CDFA registers and enforces organic provisions
related to raw agricultural products while DPH registers and
enforces organic provisions related to processed organic
products. SOP's enforcement activities are coordinated with
DPH, NOP, and CAC's SOP's activities including program
administration; county biologist training; spot inspections;
residue testing and sampling; complaint investigations;
registration; and, providing information and guidance to the
California organic industry.
Federal law establishes NOP, which requires operations that
produce or handle organic agricultural products to comply with
federal organic standards and be certified by a certifying
agent, as specified. NOP has recognized SOP as a state organic
program and has delegated enforcement of federal organic
standards and regulations to SOP.
AB 1826
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there is a one-time administrative cost of
approximately $100,000 for CDFA to reprogram the current online
registration system and database, which will allow CDFA to
restructure the application process, data collection and
assignments, and fee schedule; and, ongoing annual revenue loss
in the range approximately $150,000 from the new fee schedule.
COMMENTS: The California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) is a
trade association, as well as an approved organic certifying
agent; they want to bring more consistency to the state and
federal programs by reducing the required paperwork for farmers
and reduce the cost of filing with SOP. They state that much of
the paperwork and fees are duplicative of NOP, and that much of
the information required of SOP is already collected by the
certifying agents. Further, they state that SOP puts California
organic producers, processors and handlers at a competitive
disadvantage.
California was the first state to create an Organic Food Act in
1979. In 1990, SOP was created under the Organic Foods
Production Act of 1990 which authorized United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the NOP regulations. USDA
finished development of NOP regulations in 2002. The purpose of
these laws is to ensure that the consumer is purchasing organic
products when labeled as organic.
According to USDA, organic agriculture has grown substantially
over the past years to an annual sales level of more than $39
billion in the United States and over $75 billion worldwide.
The numbers of certified organic operations have significantly
increased, continuing the trend of double digit growth in the
organic sector. According to new data, there are now 21,781
certified organic operations in the United States. California
AB 1826
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has roughly 4,160 registered organic operations. CDFA estimates
that California producers account for over 40% of the organic
production in the United States.
Analysis Prepared by:
Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084 FN: 0003294