STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1206-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: S.B. No. 2960

S.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Economic Development, to which was referred S.B. No. 2960, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD SAFETY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require and appropriate funds for the Department of Agriculture to partner with the agricultural community to establish and implement a food safety certification training program to help small- and medium-sized farms comply with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act by obtaining Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) or equivalent certification.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, County of Hawaii Department of Research and Development, Mahiku A‘o Mai, Hawaii Food Industry Association, North Shore Economic Vitality Partnership, Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Ulupono Initiative, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, Lanakila Pacific, and five individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committees find that according to the United States Food and Drug Administration, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act was the most sweeping reform of United States food safety laws in more than seventy years. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act aims to ensure the United States food supply is safe by shifting the focus to prevention, rather than responding to, contamination of the food supply. Your Committees find that food industry training is an essential component of successful implementation of and compliance with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The assistance in obtaining GAP or equivalent certification, as proposed to be funded by this measure, will assist the State's small- and medium-sized farms in meeting the federal food safety requirements, further local food production, and provide farmers and agricultural producers with better access to domestic and global markets.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Economic Development that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2960, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Economic Development,

____________________________ SEAN QUINLAN, Chair

____________________________ MARK J. HASHEM, Chair