HOUSE BILL REPORT
SHB 353
BYHouse Committee on Agriculture & Rural Development (originally sponsored by Representatives Rayburn, Nealey, Kremen, Rasmussen and Doty; by request of Department of Agriculture)
Modifying provisions relating to the department of agriculture.
House Committe on Agriculture & Rural Development
Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. (14)
Signed by Representatives Rayburn, Chair; Kremen, Vice Chair; Baugher, Bristow, Brooks, Chandler, Doty, Grant, Holm, Jacobsen, McLean, Moyer, Nealey and Rasmussen.
House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)
AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 25, 1987
BACKGROUND:
HORTICULTURAL INSPECTION. The director of the Department of Agriculture is required by law to divide the state into horticulture inspection districts. Inspection fees collected by the horticultural inspectors are deposited in a district fund to defray inspection costs.
APPLE ADVERTISING COMMISSION. The state's Apple Advertising Commission is created by statute. The commission is required to provide a comprehensive research, advertising, and educational campaign.
1961 AGRICULTURAL ENABLING ACT. The 1961 Agricultural Enabling Act is one of two enabling acts under which the producers of an agricultural commodity may establish a marketing agreement for the commodity. A marketing agreement is administered by a commodity commission or board. The members of the commission or board are elected under elections supervised by the Department of Agriculture.
COMMISSION MERCHANT STATUTES. The state's commission merchant statutes require agricultural commission merchants, dealers and limited dealers, brokers, cash buyers, agents, and boom loaders to be licensed. The fees for such licenses are specified in those statutes.
ORGANIC FOODS. Foods offered for sale may be advertised or labeled as being organic foods only if they satisfy certain requirements of state law. The laws regulating the sale of such foods are administered by the Department of Agriculture.
OTHER. State law specifies the official chemists of the department and the procedures to be used in collecting assessments for the Beef Commission. It also establishes a procedure for filing statements of security interest in livestock with the department. The filing system is used under state law to determine whether a person registered under the Federal Packers and Stockyard Act takes livestock free of any such interest created by the seller of the livestock. With the passage of the federal Food Security Act of 1985, the Congress established criteria for state lien filing systems used to protect such security interests.
SUMMARY:
HORTICULTURAL INSPECTORS. Removed from law is a requirement that 25 percent of the total salary of an at-large horticultural inspector be paid by warrants drawn upon the State Treasurer and that the travel expenses of such inspectors be reimbursed as provided by law for state employees.
APPLE ADVERTISING COMMISSION. The Apple Advertising Commission is authorized to borrow money and incur indebtedness. The obligations incurred by the commission and other liabilities or claims against it shall be enforced only against the its assets. No liability for the debts or actions of the commission exists against the state or its subdivision or instrumentality or a member, employee, or agent of the commission in his or her individual capacity. The liability of the members of the commission shall be several and not joint.
1961 AGRICULTURAL ENABLING ACT. The 1961 Agricultural Enabling Act is amended to alter the requirements for publishing notices for hearings concerning a proposed marketing agreement, order, amendment, or termination.
An alternative procedure is authorized for nominating members of commodity boards created under the act. If a board moves and the director of Agriculture approves that the nomination meeting procedure be deleted, the director shall give notice of the vacancy by mail to all affected producers or handlers and shall call for nominations in accordance with the marketing order. The filing date for nominations shall be not less than 20 days after the notice was mailed.
The director shall designate financial institutions which are qualified as public depositaries, under laws administered by the State Finance Committee , to receive monies for marketing act revolving funds (rather than designating financial institutions which post surety bonds with the department).
A commodity assessment under the act may be expressed as a percentage of the receipt price at the first point of sale. A provision of law establishing the maximum assessment on wheat as one-fourth cent per bushel is deleted.
ORGANIC FOODS. The director may adopt rules establishing a certification program for producers of organic food. The rules may govern the number and scheduling of on-farm visits, the submission of samples for analysis, and other subjects and shall include a fee schedule that will provide for the recovery of the full cost of the certification program. The fees shall be deposited in an account within the agricultural local fund and shall be used solely for carrying out this program.
COMMISSION MERCHANT STATUTES. Licensing fees for commission merchants, dealers, limited dealers, brokers, cash buyers, agents, and boom loaders may be established by the director by rule.
LIVESTOCK LIEN. State laws are repealed which: established a procedure for filing statements of security interest in livestock with the Department of Agriculture; authorized a filing fee; and required the department to index the statements and regularly publish a listing of the filings on a subscription basis. Under a provision of the the laws repealed a person registered under the Federal Packers and Stockyard Act selling livestock for others. takes the livestock free of any security interest created by the seller if the person is without knowledge of the security interest. (The person has such knowledge if a cattle certificate is furnished by the seller or a statement of security interest is filed with the department.)
OTHER. The chief chemist of the Department of Agriculture's dairy and food laboratory replaces the Dean of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington as one of the official chemists of the department. While the federal order for the national beef promotion program is in effect, assessments levied for the Beef Commission shall be collected as required by that order.
The bill contains an emergency clause and the provisions repealing the livestock lien filing system and related provisions of law concerning stockyard sales take effect immediately.
EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENT(S) : GRAIN DEALER AND WAREHOUSE LAWS. A civil penalty of not more than $1,000 per violation is established for violations of the statutes governing agricultural warehouses and grain dealers.
Although the liens provided by those statutes for producers who deposit commodities with such a warehouse or dealer need not (under current law) be filed, a depositor who is not paid as required by a contract must notify the Department of Agriculture within 10 days of default. The termination date for certain of those liens is based upon the date title to the commodity passes (rather than, under current law, being based upon the time of the sale of the commodity). Evidence of an obligation which is based upon the storage of a commodity rather than the sale of the commodity may be provided by certain scale tickets.
The responsibility of the department to take (as a means of satisfying claims) possession of commodities in a warehouse upon the failure of the warehouse is expanded to include taking possession of commodities owned by the warehouseman or grain dealer that are in the warehouse.
Certain provisions of the statutes regarding commodity sales to grain dealers also apply to sales by a Washington producer to a grain dealer whose place of business is located outside the state. The financial information submitted with an application for a grain dealer or warehouse license is confidential and is not subject to public disclosure.
OTHER. Retail sales of fresh or frozen lamb products imported from another country, including products from live lambs imported for slaughter in this country, shall be labelled as to the country of origin.
The Department of Agriculture is authorized to develop an informational guide to state and federal programs which would be of assistance to farm families.
The director of Agriculture may establish the frequency of the audits to be conducted regarding the payment of assessments by egg handlers or dealers.
Revenue: Fees for licenses required under the commission merchant laws are to be set by rule rather than by statute.
Fiscal Note: Attached.
Effective Date:The bill contains an emergency clause and the provisions repealing the livestock lien filing system and related provisions of law concerning stockyard sales take effect immediately.
House Committee ‑ Testified For: Mike Schwisow, Department of Agriculture.
House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.
House Committee - Testimony For: (1) The livestock lien filing system being repealed by the bill does not satisfy the requirements of the federal Food Security Act so the system cannot serve the purpose for which it was established; it should be eliminated immediately so that people will not believe that it protects interests that it can no longer protect. (2) The commission merchant program cannot provide the services needed without increasing licensing fees; the bill permits the fees to be set by rule. (3) The University of Washington provides only the supervisor for one of the department's labs; the change in the designation of the official chemist will permit the department to manage the facility more effectively.
House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.
VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:
Yeas 86; Nays 0; Absent 8; Excused 4
Voting Nay: Representatives Appelwick, Brekke, Bristow, Crane, Haugen, Lux, Nutley and Walk
Excused: Representatives Ballard, J. King, Taylor and Walker