Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1899 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to develop guidelines and a marketing plan to obtain export clearances for the Rainbow papaya to Japan and other countries.

Your Committee finds that the papaya is Hawaii's second most valuable fruit crop. The papaya industry, however, is still recovering from the ringspot virus that inflicted widespread damage during the 1990s. But with the advent of the virus-resistant, genetically engineered Rainbow papaya, the papaya industry is on the rebound with potential markets worldwide.

In order to respond to these markets, foreign regulations on the import of genetically enhanced organisms require data on the genome structure of the transgenic Rainbow papaya. This bill provides the funds to provide the required sequencing data to obtain export clearances, as well as to develop guidelines and a marketing plan for the Rainbow papaya.

Your Committee has amended the bill by making technical amendments that have no substantive effect.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1899, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1899, S.D. 1.