FINAL BILL REPORT

HB 2892

C 316 L 02

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Selling apples for fresh consumption.

Sponsors:  By Representatives Clements, Linville, Grant, Lisk, Armstrong, Mulliken, Chandler, Holmquist, Schoesler, Hatfield and Ogden.

House Committee on Agriculture & Ecology

Senate Committee on Agriculture & International Trade

Background:

State law requires the director of Department of Agriculture to establish standards and grades for apples, apricots, Italian prunes, peaches, sweet cherries, pears, potatoes, and asparagus and allows the director to establish them for other fruits and vegetables.  It is unlawful to sell any fruits or vegetables as meeting the standards set by the director unless they do meet the standards.  A person violating the laws for standards and grades of fruits and vegetables may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation or the suspension of any compliance agreement entered under those laws by the person, or both the civil penalty and the suspension.

To be classified as having been stored in controlled atmosphere storage, fruits or vegetables must be stored under conditions that satisfy standards set by the director of the Department of Agriculture for the oxygen content of the sealed atmosphere, temperature, and duration of exposure to such atmosphere and temperature.  For apples, minimums for these standards are set by statute. 

Summary:

After October 1 of each calendar year, it is unlawful for a person to sell containers of apples that contain apples harvested in a prior calendar year.  This prohibition applies to sales of such containers to a retailer or wholesaler for the purpose of resale to the public for fresh consumption.

Votes on Final Passage:

House980

Senate480

Effective:  June 13, 2002