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