BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE FOOD and AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Senator Dean Florez, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 945 HEARING: 7/7/09
AUTHOR: Assembly Agriculture CommitteeFISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 4/13/09 CONSULTANT: John Chandler
Secretary of Food and Agriculture regulation:
equine drugs: fruits, nuts, and vegetables standards
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
In 1971, the California horse industry sponsored legislation to
prevent the misuse of medications in show and sale horses. The
legislation helped establish today's Equine Medication
Monitoring Program (EMMP) implemented by the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
Over the years, the program has evolved to its current practice
of prohibiting certain stimulants, depressants, tranquilizers,
anesthetics, sedative analgesics, masking agents, soring agents
(such as kerosene or other blistering agents applied internally
or externally for the purpose of affecting the performance,
soundness, or disposition of the animal), anabolic steroids, and
corticosteroids.
The Secretary of CDFA, following a public hearing and with the
concurrence of the EMMP advisory committee, may certify a horse
show, competition, or sale to be exempt from EMMP testing if
they meet or exceed the medication monitoring and testing
standards of the EMMP.
In 1994, the horse industry sponsored legislation, SB 1624
(Maddy) Chapter 227, Statutes of 1994, as a means to clarify and
refine statute intended to prevent the abuse of medication in
horses meant for show or sale. Medically altering the behavior
of the animal could
temporarily improve its demeanor or performance. However, this
practice jeopardizes the health of the animal, as well as the
reputation of California's horseshow industry.
In 1915, the legislature began to establish in statute minimum
standards for fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables by governing
such factors as weight compliance, packaging, labeling,
ripeness, color, and maturity. Standardization was first
financed through the General Fund, but these costs were shifted
entirely to the industry in the wake of the fiscal crisis of the
early 1990s. The State Standardization Program is responsible
for enforcing laws and regulations establishing minimum state
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standards for fruits and vegetables. It is accomplished by
supervising county agricultural commissioners who carry out
enforcement at the local level.
The Standardization Program was supported entirely by the
General Fund until its budget was eliminated from the governor's
1991-92 budget. The program was restarted in 1992 with the
enactment of AB 884. AB 884 provided for industry funding of
the program with producers of commodities having the option to
"opt out" from the enforcement standards and be exempted from
the assessment fees. Industry-sponsored legislation provided
four successive legislative extensions of this effort. The
program is currently set to expire January 1, 2010.
PROPOSED LAW
AB 945 will:
Delete alternative certificate options for an individual
horseshow, competition, or sale, thereby having all
designated shows, competitions, and sales under CDFA .
Extend the sunset for fruit and vegetable
standardization to January 1, 2015.
COMMENTS
1.Proponents state that AB 945 will ensure uniformity in equine
drug rules in California. The current alternative
certification under CDFA has led to confusion of
administration with United States Equestrian Federation
registered events. With all shows now uniformly affiliated
with CDFA's EMMP, the alternative certification option became
redundant.
2.California fruit, nut, and vegetable Standardization Program
has existed for over 90 years. It provides minimum standards
for quality, size, maturity, consistency in packing, labeling,
and packing. The continuation of this program sunset will
protect consumers from having California products that are not
mature in the marketplace or that could have animal or packing
damage causing the product to prematurely rot or spoil.
3.The fruit, nut, and vegetable Standardization Program has a
90-year history of proven value. Since the early 1990s, this
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program has shown repeated value as an industry-funded
program. This is demonstrated by the repeated extension of
the sunset by the legislature. The committee may wish to
consider if the sunset provision should be removed.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor 73-0
Assembly Appropriations16-0
Assembly Agriculture 8-0
SUPPORT
Western Growers
OPPOSITION
None received