STAND. COM. REP. NO. 545

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 482

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Agriculture, Health, and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 482 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage beekeeping operations in the State by exempting home-based agricultural producers of honey from processing honey in a certified honey house or food processing establishment, or be required to obtain a permit from the Department of Health, if the producer, among other things:

     (1)  Sells less than five hundred, rather than fifty, gallons of honey a year;

     (2)  Sells the honey directly to a retail store that sells the honey directly to consumers; and

     (3)  Labels each container with the statement, "Honey should not be consumed by infants under one year of age".

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Big Island Beekeepers Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and nineteen individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Beekeepers' Association and two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from two individuals.

     Your Committees find that honeybees, as a primary pollinator of food crops, have a significant impact on agriculture in Hawaii.  Hawaii's annual Farm Gate Sales from bee-pollinated crops is valued at $212,800,000.  Unfortunately, vital honeybee populations are declining at a rapid rate due to the arrival of varroa mites, nosema, and small hive beetles.  Your Committees further find that small and large beekeeper operations are responsible for millions of healthy, pollinating bees throughout the State.  Small beekeepers, however, experience significant barriers to beekeeping due to administrative and bureaucratic requirements.  Your Committees conclude that this measure is needed to sustain small beekeeping operations to ensure an adequate supply of honeybees throughout the State.

     The Department of Health requested that this measure be amended to, among other things, require honey producers to attend a Department of Health approved food safety workshop.  At the hearing, your Committees received assurances from the Department of Health that food safety workshops, already taking place, will continue to take place on each island, including Molokai and Lanai, at no charge to honey producers.

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requiring those honey producers seeking an exemption from honey processing requirements to attend a Department of Health approved food safety workshop and pass the food safety certification exam;

     (2)  Requiring those honey producers seeking an exemption from honey processing requirements to keep honey production volume and honey product distribution records for at least two years, and to make these records available to the Department of Health; and

     (3)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture, Health, and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 482, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 482, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture, Health, and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair	____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair
	____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair