HB1832.DOC

SECTION 1. Good agricultural practices are guidelines designed by the United States Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture to produce safe food products and eliminate potential for product contamination. Good agricultural practices, among other things, include guidance on human hygiene, animals and their manures, water quality for irrigation and produce rinse, and agricultural pesticides. These standards are being adopted by the world's leading farmers, who understand that they have a responsibility to provide the safest food possible to consumers.

Safe production, distribution, and consumer handling of food requires knowledge of food borne pathogens, chemical toxins, food quality, and labeling. Recent data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that one in six people in the United States suffers from food-borne illness each year. Over the past few years, high-profile outbreaks related to various foods, from spinach and peanut products to eggs, have underscored the need to make continuous improvements in food safety. The recently enacted Food Safety Modernization Act authorizes the Food and Drug Administration and the Secretary of Human Services to increase inspections of many domestic food facilities and enhance detection of food borne illnesses.

The legislature finds that Hawaii's current system of food safety regulation is understaffed, and that the existing staff is unprepared or untrained for the rapid changes that have occurred in risk assessment, production and distribution methodologies, and new foods and emerging pathogens. Food safety programs are also not integrated among government agencies, hampering communication and cooperation. In addition, many of Hawaii's growers are not implementing good agricultural practices. This failure to follow science‑based, risk-reducing food production practices is worsened by the existence of the rat lungworm nematode in Hawaii. When consumed, this nematode can cause serious illness, as has happened numerous times during the past few years.

The legislature also finds that the health of Hawaii's residents and visitors depends to a large extent on the safety of its food supply, regardless of whether those food items are grown locally or imported from the mainland or abroad. It is in the interest of protecting the public from food borne illnesses to establish a program in Hawaii that will ensure the safety of agricultural items that enter the State, as well as educate local growers in the safe production of agricultural products.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a food safety and security program within the department of agriculture.

SECTION 2. Chapter 141, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"PART . FOOD SAFETY AND SECURITY PROGRAM

§141- Food safety and security program; establishment. There shall be established within the department of agriculture a food safety and security program that shall:

(1) Provide training, certification, support, and assistance to the agricultural industry; and

(2) Interface with other state and federal agencies to meet the requirements of this part.

§141- Objectives; duties. (a) The objectives of the food safety and security program shall be to:

(1) Assist the Hawaii agricultural industry in achieving food safety and security in a cost-effective and efficient manner;

(2) Provide an integrative system to tie food safety and security with other department mandates, including biosecurity and quality assurance; and

(3) Respond effectively to federal rules, regulations, and guidelines to minimize harm to Hawaii's agricultural industry.

(b) To meet the objectives of subsection (a), the department shall:

(1) Establish, operate, or participate in establishing port facilities where agricultural commodities can be inspected, quarantined, fumigated, disinfected, destroyed, or otherwise treated for any disease;

(2) Perform all inspections and certifications of agricultural commodities in an efficient, effective, and expeditious manner; and

(3) Develop and implement programs to educate and develop the agricultural industry to meet state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

For purposes of this section, "agricultural commodities" means any grain, livestock, poultry, fruit, plant, timber, or other item produced from agricultural activities and shall include trees, shrubs, herbs, and other plants."

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1832
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII