BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2324


                                                                    Page  1





          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          2324 (Eggman)


          As Amended   May 27, 2016


          Majority vote


           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                  |Noes                |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Agriculture     |9-0  |Dodd, Mathis, Eggman, |                    |
          |                |     |Gallagher, Gray,      |                    |
          |                |     |Irwin,                |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |Jones-Sawyer, Quirk,  |                    |
          |                |     |Salas                 |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |19-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow,    |                    |
          |                |     |Bloom, Bonilla,       |                    |
          |                |     |Bonta, Calderon,      |                    |
          |                |     |Chang, Daly, Eggman,  |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |Eduardo Garcia,       |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |Roger Hernández,      |                    |
          |                |     |Holden, Jones,        |                    |








                                                                    AB 2324


                                                                    Page  2





          |                |     |Obernolte, Quirk,     |                    |
          |                |     |Santiago, Wagner,     |                    |
          |                |     |Weber, Wood           |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 


          SUMMARY:  Recasts definitions and adds vendor record keeping  
          requirements to the Certified Farmers' Market (CFM) Law;  
          requires records to be made available to specified enforcement  
          agencies; and, makes technical changes.  Specifically, this  
          bill:  


          1)Adds "raw sheared wool" to the definition of "agricultural  
            product." 


          2)Requires the Secretary (Secretary) of 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.


          3)Rewords authority to adopt regulations for CFMs by referencing  
            item 2) above and that regulations promote and foster honest  
            selling activities.


          4)Requires all CFM vendors to keep product identity, variety,  
            and quantity of sales records for all product sales to  
            consumers from each CFM the vendor attends and requires the  
            vendors to maintain these records for at least 12 months from  
            date of sale.


          5)Requires vendors to keep product identity and relative  
            measured weight or volume records for all unprocessed  








                                                                    AB 2324


                                                                    Page  3





            agricultural products delivered to a processing facility for  
            processing into a product intended for sale to the public,  
            including name and address of processor, the date delivered to  
            processor, the date processed product was delivered to vendor,  
            the character and type of processed agricultural product  
            produced and the relative measured weight or volume of  
            processed product produced.  These records are to be  
            maintained for 12 months from the date vendor received product  
            from processor.


          6)Requires a CFM operator, upon request by a state or county  
            enforcement agency pursuant to an investigation of false or  
            misleading marketing by a vendor, to note and make a record of  
            the products that vendor offers for sale at each market, and  
            to make those records available within three days of a written  
            request by the agency.  This requirement shall not preclude a  
            CFM operator from establishing other requirements for vendors  
            to sell at their CFMs.


          7)Makes technical changes.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, there is a one-time cost to CDFA in the range of  
          $250,000 to develop new regulations and enforcement procedures. 


          COMMENTS:  According to the author, this bill is completing the  
          efforts started by AB 1871 (Dickinson), Chapter 579, Statutes of  
          2014.  That bill rewrote definitions and expanded the  
          requirements, exemptions, and fees for CFM, their operators and  
          vendors, and adjacent non-agricultural markets, and increased  
          penalties for violations.  This bill adds record keeping for  
          farmers of their sales and products, along with record keeping  
          requirements by CFM operators when an investigation into false  
          or misleading sales activities occurs.  It also makes other less  
          significant changes.








                                                                    AB 2324


                                                                    Page  4







          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.   
          Following the enactment of the Federal Farmer to Consumer Direct  
          Marketing Act of 1976, CDFA enacted regulations that exempted  
          farmers from packing, sizing and labeling requirements for fresh  
          fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and enabled them to sell products  
          they grow at farmers' markets, provided they receive  
          certification from a county agriculture commissioner (CAC).  The  
          certification process is to assure the consumer that the product  
          is grown by the seller.  Further, farmers must have a sign that  
          they sell what they grow.


          See Policy Committee Analysis for more detail.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
          Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084  FN: 0003145