STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3344

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 129

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 129 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO ADOPT STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY THE TEA INDUSTRY TO DEFINE GEOGRAPHICAL REGION DESIGNATIONS FOR TEA GROWN IN THE STATE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage the Department of Agriculture to adopt standards established by the tea industry to define geographical region designations for tea grown in the State.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Tea of the United States Awards; Soil Culture Consulting; Old Hawaii Tea Company, LLC; Aloha Food Forest, LLC; Matcha Latte Media KK; Onomea Tea Company; and seven individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that tea has great potential to become an important crop for Hawaii.  However, according to testimony received by your Committee, companies are not currently prohibited from buying large quantities of low quality tea grown outside of Hawaii, blending this low quality tea with a small amount of Hawaii-grown tea, and labeling the final product as "Hawaiian" tea.  This practice is misleading to consumers and diminishes the value and quality of the "made in Hawaii" or "produced in Hawaii" brand.

     Your Committee further finds that adopting geographical region designation standards for tea grown in Hawaii, similar to the geographic origin distinctions for Hawaii-grown coffee, will protect the developing Hawaii tea industry and ensure consumers can identify genuine Hawaii-grown tea.  However, your Committee notes that according to the Department of Agriculture, tea is not defined as an agricultural commodity under chapter 147, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  As such, the Department of Agriculture does not currently have the authority to adopt standards to define geographic region as a certification mark.  Amendments to this measure that address this issue are therefore necessary.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Noting that tea is not currently defined as an agricultural commodity under chapter 147, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and therefore the Department of Agriculture does not have statutory authority to adopt geographical region designation standards for tea grown in Hawaii;

     (2)  Noting that encouraging the Department of Agriculture and the tea industry to collaborate on proposed legislation would be beneficial to the development of Hawaii's growing tea industry;

     (3)  Encouraging the Department of Agriculture and the tea industry to collaborate on proposed legislation to define tea as an agricultural commodity under chapter 147, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and establish standards that define geographical region designations for tea grown in the State, rather than encouraging the tea industry and the Department to work separately on standards for geographical region designations;

     (4)  Requesting the Department of Agriculture to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017 on the proposed legislation developed in collaboration with the tea industry;

     (5)  Amending its title; and

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 129, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 129, S.D. 1.

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

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ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair