BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1597 (Assembly Agriculture Committee) - Food and Agriculture
Amended: June 3, 2014 Policy Vote: Agriculture 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: June 30, 2014
Consultant: Robert Ingenito
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1597 is an omnibus bill that would (1) extend
the sunset date to January 1, 2020 for standardization program
provisions for fruits, nuts and vegetables, and (2) conform
state law to a new federal regulation addressing required
medical documents for horses and other equines when crossing
state borders.
Fiscal Impact: The California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) indicates that its costs to administer the
standardization program total roughly $2 million annually, and
are funded by assessments on shipped packages of fruits, nuts
and vegetables. The bill's provisions related to horses would
also not impact CDFA's fiscal operations.
Background: The fruit and vegetable standardization program is
designed to remove fruits and vegetables not complying with
minimum standards (such as quality, size, maturity, labeling,
and packing). The program protects consumers from immature
marketplace agricultural products and products that may
prematurely rot or spoil due to packing damage.
In order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, current
law requires verification that animals brought into the State do
not exhibit evidence of any communicable disease. Currently,
horses and other equines brought into California must (1) obtain
a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) issued within 30
days of entry, and (2) must verify, through tests performed by
an accredited veterinarian within the previous 12 months, that
the animal is free of equine infectious anemia.
Current a law provides an exemption from these requirements for
AB 1597 (Assembly Agriculture Committee)
Page 1
equines originating in California when traveling to other states
and returning within 14 days. A recent federal regulation was
adopted that requires all equines, with specified exceptions, to
be accompanied by a CVI when crossing state lines (78 FR 2071,
January 9, 2013; 9 CFR �86.5 (f)). Therefore, California's
exemption is not permissible and must be removed in order to
comply with federal regulations.
Proposed Law: This bill would do the following:
Extend from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2020 the
repeal date for provisions of the fruit, nut, and vegetable
standardization program.
Require horses and other equines traveling from
California to another state and returning within 14 days to
obtain a certificate of health and a negative test for
equine infectious anemia dated within the previous 12
months.
Related Legislation: AB 945 (Agriculture), Chapter 262,
Statutes of 2009. Extended the repeal date for provisions of
the fruit, nut, and vegetable standardization program to January
1, 2015.
Staff Comments: Any local government costs resulting from the
mandate in this measure are not state-reimbursable because the
mandate only involves the definition of a crime or the penalty
for conviction of a crime.