HB2796 SD1

Report Title:

Honey; Labeling; Origin; Purity

Description:

Requires honey imported into Hawaii to be labeled according to its country or countries of origin and per cent constituents of natural honey and non-honey sweeteners, including ultra-filtered sweeteners. Requires DOA to adopt rules to certify compliance with labeling and purity requirements. (SD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2796
TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING to honey.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that producers of very high quality honey in Hawaii have been losing significant market share to preternaturally cheap, adulterated, imported, sweeteners mislabeled as "honey" and as products of the United States of America. These sweeteners are actually honeys of Chinese and possibly Argentinean origin that were contaminated with antibiotics and chloramphenicol and then subjected to an ultrafiltration process to remove the contaminants after they were embargoed in the international marketplace. Following the processes of dilution with water, ultrafiltration, and chemical re-dehydration, all constituents of honey that make it a distinct product, such as unique enzymes, resins and flavinoids of plant origin, and plant pollen are completely removed. The resulting material is not honey and labeling and selling it as honey is misleading and deceptive.

The legislature also finds that this ultrafiltered honey is imported into the United States in huge containers, repackaged by United States-based companies, some of which are foreign owned, and labeled using formats and verbiage that mislead the consumer into believing that the products are pure honey produced in the United States. While this a consumer protection issue, it is also one of fairness to Hawaii honey producers. Local beekeepers are willing to compete with other honey producers on the merits of their product but can not do so when those other producers sell this cheap, reconstituted honey or use it to dilute domestic honey. Given the spot price of honey and the cost to process, blend, bottle, label, box, consolidate, ship, broker, distribute, promote, and market this product, these local producers cannot afford to price their product for retail sale below wholesale price unless they sell an adulterated product or use it to dilute their own.

The purpose of this Act is to prevent mislabeled, and potentially unwholesome, "honey" products from being sold in Hawaii.

SECTION 2. Chapter 486, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§486- Imported non-Hawaii produced honey; labeling requirements. (a) In addition to all other labeling requirements, the identity statement used for labeling or advertising honey products produced in whole or in part from imported honey shall meet the following requirements:

(1) For a product that contains one hundred per cent of honey by weight, the identity statement shall consist of either:

(A) The country of origin of the imported honey, in packaging that contains honey from only one country of origin, followed by the word "Honey"; provided that the country of origin may be immediately preceded by the term "100%";

(B) The per cent of each honey used, by weight, in packaging that contains honey from several countries of origin, followed by the country of origin of the weight-specified honey and the term "Honey"; or

(C) The per cent of Hawaii-produced honey used, by weight, in packaging that contains a blend of one or more Hawaii-produced honeys and imported honeys, followed by the country of origin of the remainder weight-specified honey used in packaging the blend and the term "Honey Blend";

(2) For a product that contains less than one hundred per cent of honey by weight, the identity statement shall consist of the percent of natural honey by weight followed by the country or countries of origin of the honey and the percent by weight of other sweeteners added to the honey;

(3) For a product that contains honey subjected to any ultra-filtration and reconstitution processes, which removes the low molecular weight contaminants and the natural constituents of honey, whether packaged alone or blended with natural honey or other sweeteners, the identity statement shall consist of the per cent of natural honey by weight followed by the country or countries of origin of the honey and the per cent by weight of the ultra-filtered sweetener and the term "Ultra-filtered Sweetener"; and

(4) Each word or character in the identity statement shall be of the same type size and shall be contiguous. The smallest letter or character of the identity statement on packages of sixteen ounces or less net weight shall be at least one and one-half times the type size required under federal law for the statement of net weight or three-sixteenths of an inch in height, whichever is smaller. The smallest letter or character of the identity statement on packages of greater than sixteen ounces net weight shall be at least one and one-half times the type size required under federal law for the statement of net weight. The identity statement shall be conspicuously displayed without any intervening material in a position above the statement of net weight. Upper and lower case letters may be used interchangeably in the identity statement.

(b) A listing of the predominant countries of origin of the various imported non-Hawaii-produced honeys that are included in a blend shall be shown on the label. This list shall consist of the term "Contains:", followed by, in descending order of per cent by weight and separated by commas, the respective countries of origin of the various honeys in the blend to include in aggregate, not less than seventy-five per cent of the total honey content by weight. Each country of origin shall be preceded by the per cent of honey by weight represented by that country of origin expressed as a number followed by a per cent sign. The type size used for this list shall not exceed half that of the identity statement. This list shall appear below the identity statement, if included on the front panel of the label.

(1) To use the identity statement specified in subsection (a)(1)(A) or similar terms in labeling or advertising unless the package of honey contains one hundred per cent honey from that one country of origin;

(2) To use a country of origin in labeling or advertising, including in conjunction with a honey style or in any other manner, if the honey contains less than fifty-one per cent honey by weight from that country of origin;

(3) To use a country of origin in advertising honey, including advertising in conjunction with a honey style or in any other manner, without disclosing the percentage of honey used from that country of origin as described in subsection (a)(1)(B) and (a)(1)(C);

(4) To use a geographic origin or country of origin in labeling or advertising honey, including in conjunction with a honey style or in any other manner, if the honey used in that product does not meet the United States Department of Agriculture grade standard and those requirements of rules adopted under chapter 147;

(5) To misrepresent, on a label or in advertising of a honey, the per cent of imported honey by weight and the country of origin; or

(6) To use the terms "Product of the USA" or "100% US Grade A" or "100% USA", or similar terms, on a label or in advertising of a honey if the honey itself is not produced entirely in the United States of America.

(d) Apiculturists, packers, importers, handlers, distributors, or other persons who package and import honey into Hawaii shall maintain records on the volume and country of origin of the honeys produced, processed and sold and any other records required by the department for the purpose of enforcing this section for a period of two years. Authorized employees of the department shall have access to these records during normal business hours.

(e) For the purpose of this section:

"Country of origin" means the country in which the imported honey was produced, as defined in rules relating to chapter 147 and adopted pursuant to chapter 91.

"Honey style" means honey-like products that have the flavor of honey but do not contain any honey.

"Imported honey" means any honey produced outside of the State of Hawaii.

"Per cent of honey by weight" means the percentage calculated by dividing the weight in pounds of honey of one country of origin used in a production run of blended honey, by the total weight in pounds of the honey used in that production run of honey and multiplying the quotient by one hundred.

(f) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to establish and enforce a program certifying compliance with this section and that honey imported into and sold in this State is not misbranded as defined in section 486-1 or adulterated within the meaning of section 328-9."

SECTION 3. All honey products subject to this Act shall comply with the labeling and advertising requirements within one year of the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.