BILL NUMBER: SB 1187	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Rubio

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 52256.5, 52288, and 52452 of the Food and
Agricultural Code, relating to seed.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1187, as amended, Rubio. California Seed Law.
   Existing law, the California Seed Law, regulates seed sold in
California, and requires each container of seed that is sold within
this state for sowing purposes to be labeled, unless the sale is an
occasional sale of seed grain by the producer of the seed grain to
his neighbor for use by the purchaser within the county of
production. Existing law defines "person" for purposes of that law to
mean an individual, partnership, trust association, cooperative
association, or any other business unit or organization.
   This bill would clarify that definition of "person" to include
corporations. The bill would also clarify the term "neighbor" for
purposes of the labeling requirements specified above  means
  to mean  a person who lives in close proximity
 , not to exceed 3 miles,  to another. The bill would revise
a statement of legislative intent to include ensuring that the
amount of seed represented on a tag or label is properly identified.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 52256.5 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:
   52256.5.  "Person" also means any individual, partnership,
corporation, trust association, cooperative association, or any other
business unit or organization.
  SEC. 2.  Section 52288 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended
to read:
   52288.  The Legislature hereby declares that it is the intent of
this chapter to enable the seed industry, with the aid of the state,
to ensure that seed purchased by the consumer-buyer is properly
identified and of the quality and amount represented on the tag or
label. The Legislature further declares that the success of
agriculture and the seed industry in this state depends upon the
continued commitment to industry-funded research in order to improve
the quality and variety of seed available to the consumer-buyer.
  SEC. 3.  Section 52452 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended
to read:
   52452.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 52454, each
container of agricultural seed that is for sale or sold within this
state for sowing purposes, unless the sale is an occasional sale of
seed grain by the producer of the seed grain to his  or her 
neighbor for use by the purchaser within the county of production,
shall bear upon it or have attached to it in a conspicuous place a
plainly written or printed label or tag in the English language that
includes all of the following information:
   (1) The commonly accepted name of the kind, kind and variety, or
kind and type of each agricultural seed component in excess of 5
percent of the whole, and the percentage by weight of each. If the
aggregate of agricultural seed components, each present in an amount
not exceeding 5 percent of the whole, exceeds 10 percent of the
whole, each component in excess of 1 percent of the whole shall be
named together with the percentage by weight of each. If more than
one component is required to be named, the names of all components
shall be shown in letters of the same type and size.
   (2) The lot number or other lot identification.
   (3) The percentage by weight of all weed seeds.
   (4) The name and approximate number of each kind of restricted
noxious weed seed per pound.
   (5) The percentage by weight of any agricultural seed except that
which is required to be named on the label.
   (6) The percentage by weight of inert matter. If a percentage by
weight is required to be shown by any provision of this section, that
percentage shall be exclusive of any substance that is added to the
seed as a coating and shown on the label as such.
   (7) For each agricultural seed in excess of 5 percent of the whole
 , stated in accordance with paragraph (1)  , the
percentage of germination exclusive of hard seed, the percentage of
hard seed, if present, and the calendar month and year the test was
completed to determine the percentages. Following the statement of
those percentages, the additional statement "total germination and
hard seed" may be stated.
   (8) The name and address of the person who labeled the seed
 ,  or of the person who sells the seed within this
state.
   (b) All determinations of noxious weed seeds are subject to
tolerances and methods of determination prescribed in the regulations
that are adopted pursuant to this chapter.
   (c) For purposes of this section  ,  "neighbor" means a
person who lives in close proximity  , not to exceed three miles,
 to another.