Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1255 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify the Department of Agriculture's responsibilities and methods of maintaining agricultural safety and security.

Testament in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Agriculture (Department), with amendments.

The further purposes of the measure include consolidating the existing Coffee Inspection and Marketing Order Revolving Funds into one general Certification Services Revolving Fund, removing the specific responsibility for the meat grading service from the Animal Industry Division and placing it generally under the Department, allowing the Department to provide certification services for good agricultural, handling, processing, and manufacturing practices, and transferring the responsibility for the seed certification program from the Plant Industry Division to the Quality Assurance Division.

Your Committee finds that consolidating the funds will provide the Department with more flexibility in the use of temporary staff, cross training, and a reimbursable reserve of funds to cover start up costs for new activities. Placing the meat grading service generally under the Department fits with a federal-state cooperative agreement that was drawn up for a division staff member to provide the service. Also, by allowing the Department to provide a variety of certification services, Hawaii's agricultural product users, both domestic and foreign, are provided with product assurance of food safety.

Your Committee has amended the measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, style, and to accurately reflect existing statutory language.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1255, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1255, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.