BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Senator Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1826 Hearing Date: 6/21/16
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|Author: |Mark Stone |
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|Version: |6/15/16 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Anne Megaro |
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Subject: Organic products
SUMMARY :
This bill would recast and revise the California Organic
Products Act of 2003; revise the composition of the California
Organic Products Advisory Committee; revise registration fee
payment tiers based on gross product sales; revise required
information provided during registration and for recordkeeping;
and make technical and conforming changes.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING
LAW :
California is the leading agricultural state in the nation.
California accounts for more than 40% of the nation's organic
production, valued at more than $2.2 billion in sales of raw
agricultural products. Organic registration has steadily
increased, and in 2015 there were 4,043 organic agricultural
operations registered with the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) and an additional 2,694 organic products
operations registered with the California Department of Public
Health.
The California Organic Foods Act of 1990 created the State
Organic Program (SOP) under CDFA to protect consumers from false
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or misleading organic labeling claims. The federal Organic
Foods Production Act of 1990 authorized the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the National
Organic Program (NOP). Once the NOP was fully implemented in
2002, California renamed and revised the act to the California
Organic Products Act of 2003 to incorporate NOP standards and
regulations in conjunction with the SOP.
California is the only state with its own organic program. The
SOP requires organic producers, processors, handlers, retailers,
wholesalers, and brokers to register with CDFA to verify SOP
compliance throughout the production and supply chain.
Registration fees range from $25 to $3,000 annually depending on
the scale of production; however, producers whose annual organic
gross sales are $5,000 or less are exempt from registration.
Fees are used by CDFA to fulfill responsibilities under the SOP.
On the local level, county agricultural commissioners (CAC)
contract with CDFA to provide SOP enforcement and compliance.
On the federal level, the NOP provides national regulatory
oversight and enforcement of USDA organic standards. The NOP
determines which materials may be used in organic production and
periodically reviews and updates these standards, investigates
complaints and violations, and provides accreditation for
third-party organic certifiers.
Only products that have been certified as meeting USDA
production and handling requirements may use the USDA organic
seal/stamp on their labels.
Existing state law:
1. Establishes the State Organic Program to provide organic
certification and registration, conduct inspections,
collect fees and penalties, investigate violations, provide
enforcement, and otherwise regulate products sold or
labeled as organic.
2. Establishes the California Organic Products Advisory
Committee (Advisory Committee) to advise the secretary of
CDFA on organic matters. The committee consists of 15
members: six producers, two processors, one wholesale
distributor, two consumer representatives, one
environmental representative, two technical
representatives, and one retail representative.
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Existing federal law:
1. Requires USDA to develop national standards and
regulations for organically produced agricultural products
to assure consumers that products labeled as "organic" meet
consistent, uniform standards and originate from farms with
organic certification, as authorized by the Organic Foods
Production Act of 1990.
2. Provides for definitions, regulations, organic
certification process, compliance requirements, production
and handling practices, accreditation program for
certifying agents, violations, penalties, and
appropriations.
3. Establishes a National Organic Standards Board and a
National Organic Certification Cost Share Program. The
program provides reimbursement to farms up to 75% (maximum
$750) of the organic certification cost.
PROPOSED
LAW :
This bill:
1) States findings and declarations in regards to the state
organic program history and purpose of current amendments.
2) Renames the California Organic Products Act of 2003 as
the California Organic Food and Farming Act (Act).
3) States the purpose of the Act is to promote coordination
of federal, state and local agencies and to support organic
agriculture through education, outreach, and other
programmatic activities.
4) Changes the membership of the advisory committee by
requiring one, instead of two, members to be consumer
representatives and adds one member to represent an
accredited certifying agency operating in California.
5) Authorizes the secretary, in consultation with the
advisory committee, to establish procedures and conduct all
of the following activities, to the extent that funds are
available: receive and investigate complaints; conduct
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periodic spot inspections and prohibited substance testing;
conduct farmers' market inspections; support organic
agriculture through education, outreach and other
programmatic activities; reimburse investigation,
enforcement and market surveillance expenses; and conduct
hearings, appeals, mediation or settlement conferences.
6) Requires investigation, inspection, and prohibited
material testing reports to be forwarded to the secretary
for enforcement.
7) Requires the secretary to coordinate SOP activities with
other county and state licensing, registration, inspection,
and fee collection procedures.
8) Defines "accredited certification agency" to mean an
entity accredited by the USDA to certify operations as
compliant with the federal organic standards.
9) Provides several definitions, such as "certified
operation," "data," "exempt operation," "prohibited
substance," "residue testing," and "retail food
establishment," among others.
10) Requires any monies collected pursuant to the Food and
Agricultural Code sections of the Act to be used solely to
fulfill the responsibilities authorized under the same
sections of the Act.
11) Requires only persons engaged in the production or
handling of raw agricultural products sold as organic and
processors of organically derived products to be registered
with the secretary.
12) Categorizes organic product registrants as follows:
citrus; fruit and vegetable row crops; livestock and dairy;
stone fruit; tree fruit; tree nuts; other, such as herbs,
mushrooms, cut flowers, nursery, and apiaries.
13) Requires registrants to provide the address or
assessor's parcel number of the precise location where
products are produced, processed, or handled.
14) Deletes the requirement that exempt producers provide
additional information regarding the production area, such
as a map and documentation of the previous 36-month land
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use history.
15) Deletes the requirement that, during registration,
exempt producers provide a list of all substances applied
or used.
16) Consolidates fee schedule categories by combining
producers with gross sales of $10,000 to $50,000 into one
group with a registration fee of $75 and combines producers
with gross sales of $50,000 to $250,000 into a group with a
registration fee of $100.
17) Deletes a variety of fees and registration requirements
placed on small producers, brokers, retail stores, and
persons hiring custom packing or labeling.
18) Exempts the adoption, amendment, or repeal of any fee
from California state administrative procedures and only
requires the Office of Administrative Law to publish a
notice of the fee change.
19) Requires CDFA, in consultation with the director of the
California Department of Public Health, to coordinate
registration and annual fee collection procedures.
20) Removes the authority of CACs to deny a registration
submission that is incomplete or not in compliance.
21) Limits the registration fee for certifying agencies to
$500 annually.
22) Authorizes certifying agencies to submit annual
registration fees and applications on behalf of their
clients.
23) Requires certifying agencies to provide records, as
specified, for inspection.
24) Exempts records from being subject to the California
Public Records Act.
25) Deletes specific, prescribed, record keeping
requirements and, instead, requires the secretary, in
consultation with the Advisory Board, to determine what
data and records should be kept by registrants.
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
According to the author, "Organic products are wanted more and
more throughout the country and California organic producers
have grown to fill that increased demand. As these farmers work
to provide these products they are required to comply with both
state and national programs, something that producers in other
states are not required to do. California's organics program has
been critical in developing the state into the global leader in
organics, but has also resulted in some duplicative fees and
paperwork for producers. AB 1826 will help limit those
duplications and ensure California remains as a top producer of
organic products, while maintaining the integrity of the
California organics market."
COMMENTS :
NOP and SOP. California is the only state with its own organic
program. Before the national program existed, California had
already begun to regulate organic agricultural production and
labeling in California (Organic Food Act, 1979). Once the NOP
was established, California aligned the SOP to accommodate and
incorporate the national standards while maintaining state
enforcement, surveillance activities, and the authority to
impose additional requirements and gather data on organic
production in the state. Currently, the SOP can regulate any
organic claim at any point in the supply chain regardless of
whether or not an operation is registered or certified organic.
For instance, according to CDFA, many of the small producers who
are exempt from organic certification sell products at certified
farmers' markets. These exempt producers (who receive $5,000 or
less annual gross sales) are required to be registered with CDFA
even though they do not have an organic certification. This
allows CDFA and CACs to conduct market inspections and
surveillance of all vendors selling at certified farmers'
markets.
Additionally, CDFA also works closely with the Department of
Pesticide Regulation for pesticide residue testing, and the
California Department of Public Health regulates processed
organic products.
Paperwork and fees. Although the value of maintaining the SOP
is recognized, organic producers are now concerned with the
volume of paperwork and multiple fees required to be a certified
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organic producer in California. The third-party accrediting
agency, local CACs, CDFA, and certified farmers' markets (if
they participate in these markets) all require similar and very
detailed information regarding every plot of land and commodity
produced. This bill would change the fee structure and remove
certain reporting requirements.
Further considerations. As currently amended, this bill would
categorize organic product registrants into seven categories:
citrus; fruit and vegetable row crops; livestock and dairy;
stone fruit; tree fruit; tree nuts; other, such as herbs,
mushrooms, cut flowers, nursery, and apiaries. This information
would be used for market analysis; however, some organic
producers have stated that they would prefer to, instead, have a
more detailed market analysis of specific crops rather than
categories.
RELATED
LEGISLATION :
AB 1625 (Allen) of 2012. Would have established the Transition
to Organics Fund to assist persons transitioning from
conventional to organic farming management systems by
subsidizing organic certification costs. Vetoed.
AB 2612 (Agriculture), Chapter 393, Statutes of 2010. Among
other provisions, requires organic producers to include a
detailed physical description of the location where organic
products are produced and requires exempt producers to include a
map, as specified, and exempts producers whose annual organic
gross sales are $5,000 or less.
AB 2823 (Strom-Martin), Chapter 533, Statutes of 2002. Revises
the California Organic Foods Act to conform to the NOP, changes
the fee structure for registration, and increases the authority
of CDFA and the Department of Public Health to regulate organic
products.
PRIOR
ACTIONS :
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|Assembly Floor: |77 - 0 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |20 - 0 |
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|Assembly Agriculture Committee: |10 - 0 |
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SUPPORT :
California Certified Organic Farmers (Sponsor)
Archi's Acres, B Corp.
Be Wise Ranch, Inc.
Bennett Farms, Inc.
Café Virtuoso
California Certified Organic Farmers Pacific Southwest Chapter
California Climate and Agriculture Network
California Compost Coalition
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Farmlink
California League of Conservation Voters
Californians Against Waste
Capay Organic
Corigin
Cornucopia Institute
Ecological Farming Association
Environment California
Environmental Working Group
The Farmers Guild
Frey Vineyards
Harpos Organics
Harvest Fields Organic Farm
Heirloom Organic Gardens
Hunter Orchards
LaRocca Vineyards
Orange County Produce LLC
Organic Trade Association
Panorama Meats
Pesticide Action Network
The Peterson Family
Phil Foster Ranch
Quarter Acre Farm
Roots of Change
San Diego County Farm Bureau
Seven Bridges Cooperative Microbrewery, Inc.
Stoney Point-Pine Hill Orchards
Straus Family Creamery
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T&D Willey Farms
Traditional Medicinals, Inc.
1 individual
OPPOSITION :
None received
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