BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2324
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2324 (Eggman) - As Amended March 18, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill modifies definitions and adds recordkeeping
requirements for certified farmers' market (CFM) vendors,
operators and state and local enforcement agencies. This bill
also clarifies the goals of CFM regulations adopted by the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). In
summary, this bill:
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1)Modifies definitions of agricultural and non-agricultural
products for the purposes of CFM provisions as follows:
a) Adds wool to the definition of "agricultural product."
b) Specifies that a non-agricultural product may be sold by
an authorized producer at a CFM if the product is composed
entirely of agricultural products grown by the producer,
except incidental ingredients and flavoring.
1)Adds the following recordkeeping requirements for CFM vendors:
a) CFM vendors must keep product identity, variety, and
quantity of sales records for all product sales to
consumers from each CFM the vendor attends and requires the
venders to keep those records at least 12 months.
b) CFM vendors must keep product identity and relative
measured weight or volume records for all unprocessed
agricultural products delivered to a processing facility
for processing into a product intended for sale to the
public. These records are to be maintained for 12 months
from the date vendor received product from the processor.
c) These records must be made available to county or state
enforcement agencies within three days upon written
request, or within a similar period of time that is
reasonable at the time of the request.
1)Requires a CFM operator to make a record of the products that
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venders offer and sell upon request by a state or county
enforcement agency pursuant to an investigation of false or
misleading marketing by a vendor. The operator must make these
records available within three days following the written
request.
2)Requires the county agricultural commissioners to send a
digital copy of each certified producer's certificate issued
and requires CDFA to post each certificate online in a timely
manner.
3)Requires the California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA), in adopting regulations for CFMs, to endeavor to keep
costs to farmers and CFM operators to a minimum.
4)Requires CDFA to maintain a publicly available database of
current certified producers' certificates.
FISCAL EFFECT:
One-time costs to CDFA of approximately $750,000 (Agriculture
Fund): 1) $250,000 to develop new regulations and enforcement
procedures and to train county agencies; and 2) $500,000 to
develop an online, publicly accessible database of certified
producer certificates. This cost estimate is the midpoint of the
estimated start-up costs of similar databases established within
CDFA.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. AB 2324 aims to bring further clarity to California's
CFM program. According to the author, this bill will complete
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the efforts started by AB 1871 (Dickinson) of 2014. That bill
rewrote definitions, expanded the requirements, exemptions,
and fees for CFM operators and vendors, and increased
penalties for violations in an effort to ensure a properly
regulated marketplace.
2)Background. Certified farmers' markets have become established
in many California communities, as have other outlets for
direct marketing, such as farm stands and community supported
agriculture. There are roughly 800 farmers' markets in
California, a significant number of which operate year-round.
As CFMs have become more popular, the willingness of a few
producers to sell whatever they could became a concern to many
CFM operators. In 1999, they came to the Legislature and
enacted a daily per stall fee of sixty cents, intending it to
be used by CDFA and county agricultural commissioners for
inspections and enforcement purposes.
Due to the growth of California's CFM program, reductions in
General Fund to CDFA, and reductions to county agricultural
commissioner budgets, the fee has had to be used to administer
the program and not for inspection and enforcement, as it was
intended. AB 1871 raised this fee to $2.00 per stall per day.
This has significantly improved CDFA's funding of this
program and will allow for more inspections of selling
practices of CFM vendors.
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3)Recordkeeping clarity. This bill clarifies what records CFM
vendors and operators need to keep and that these participants
only need to submit these records upon a written request.
Supporters of AB 2324 have been seeking clarity about
recordkeeping requirements following the passage of AB 1871.
4)Wool is wanting. With the passage of AB 1871, wool was no
longer allowed in the certified section of CFMs. This bill
would correct this change and allow sheep and lamb producers
to sell wool along with lamb.
Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)
319-2081