STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2135

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2354

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2354 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish criminal penalties for failure to maintain a certificate of ownership or other written proof of ownership of agricultural commodities.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation; Hawaii Farmers Union; and W.H. Shipman, Limited.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

     Your Committee finds that agricultural theft is a serious problem for many farmers in the State and existing laws are not stringent enough to stop potential thieves.  This measure may serve as a greater deterrent of agricultural theft by making the failure to maintain certificates of ownership or other written proof of ownership of agricultural commodities a criminal offense.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2354 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture,

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair