FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5686

                              C 354 L 89

BYSenate Committee on Agriculture (originally sponsored by Senators Barr, Hansen, Newhouse, Bailey, Anderson and Gaspard)

Making major changes to agriculture statutes.

Senate Committee on Agriculture

House Committe on Agriculture & Rural Development

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

Food and Dairy Products:  The dairies and dairy product and fluid milk statutes (RCW 15.32 and RCW 15.36) provide the authority for the Department of Agriculture to regulate the dairy industry in the state, and establish the standards for the sale of milk products.  Current statute contains some obsolete language and references, as well as certain requirements which are no longer applicable or enforceable.

Fruit Commission:  The Washington State Fruit Commission assesses growers of soft tree fruits (Bartlett pears and all varieties of cherries, apricots, prunes, plums and peaches) for purposes of marketing and promotion.  While nectarines are also currently assessed, they are not specifically listed in the statutory definition of soft tree fruit.  The annual assessment funding the commission is currently levied on all commercial soft tree fruit which is grown or packed in the state.  The statutory authority specifically authorizes the assessment to be levied on fruit grown in the state.

Commodity Commissions:  Commodity commissions are responsible for the promotion of various specific agricultural commodities.  Good statistical information on what is produced by growers enhances the ability of the commodity commissions to assist in marketing the crops.  Several varieties of the same crop are often grown, and specific knowledge of these crops would aid the efforts of commodity commissions.  Current law is not broad enough to allow the commissions to require the reporting of grower receipts based on crop variety.

Weights and Measures:  The Weights and Measures division of the Department of Agriculture has a National Bureau of Standards lab in Olympia which calibrates commercial measuring devices.

Commission Merchants:  Commission merchants and dealers must maintain the records of their purchases and sales of agricultural products for one year.  Many complaints filed by producers are not made within this time period.

Grain Inspection:  The warehousing and deposits statutes authorize the Department of Agriculture to regulate warehouses and grain dealers.  In reviewing the statutes, the department has suggested that there are areas with potential risk of litigation because practices do not conform with the terms of RCW 22.09, and there is language in the act which is unclear and does not reflect either the practices or needs of the industry.

Apple Advertising Commission:  The Apple Advertising Commission, composed of nine apple producers and four apple dealers, is a commodity commission responsible for promoting the sale of Washington apples.  The commission uses research, advertising and educational campaigns to meet the goals of promotion.  Currently the state is divided into three districts for purposes of representation on the commission, with both dealer and producer representatives elected from these districts.

Pesticide Disposal:  The Department of Agriculture instituted a pilot program for pesticide disposal in 1988.  The aim of the program was to reduce the backlog of unusable pesticides currently being stored on farms in the state of Washington.  The program was funded through the department's budget with considerable help from the state toxics control account.  The program accepted waste pesticides from farmers in three counties, and then contracted with a carrier to transport the waste to disposal sites in Texas and Oregon.

Organic Foods:  The Department of Agriculture administers a certification program for producers of organic foods under RCW 15.86.  The program includes inspection by certification personnel, recordkeeping requirements, and the submission of product samples for chemical analysis.  The certification program is a fee-for-service program.

SUMMARY:

Food and Dairy Products:  Technical changes are made to revise obsolete language, eliminate requirements that are no longer applicable or enforceable and to allow the application of modern practices.  Standards for labeling, cleanliness, and inspection are amended to reference federal law, such as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, rather than standards set by state statute.

Specific requirements for pasteurization are expanded to include higher temperatures and shorter time limits.  In the instance of milk products containing 10 percent or more sweetener, or for eggnog, specific temperature/time limits are included, and any pasteurization process recognized by the Federal Food and Drug Administration is approved for use.

Technical changes are made in the milk grading process to make it consistent with federal requirements.  The director shall degrade or suspend the grade A permit whenever the standard is violated in three of the last five consecutive milk samples rather than one of the last four, as is current law.  A grade A permit shall subsequently be reinstated in notice status when sample results are within the standard for which the suspension occurred.

Fruit Commission:  The definition of soft tree fruit is modified to include nectarines, and assessment language is expanded to include fruit packed as Washington soft tree fruit.

Commodity Commissions:  Commodity commissions or the Director of the Department of Agriculture are given authority to designate the type of information required to be reported by growers.

Weights and Measures:  The director is authorized to establish fees for the calibration work done in the state's weights and measures laboratory.  Monies collected shall be deposited into the agricultural local fund to be used by the Division of Weights and Measures to fund the laboratory and its services.

Commission Merchants:  Any person handling livestock, hay, grain, or straw must be licensed as either a commission merchant or dealer and cannot be licensed as a cash buyer.

No person may operate a separate business under the cover of another person's license.

Commission merchants and dealers are required to retain records for three years.

Any commission merchant, dealer, cash buyer, or person acting as such without a license who, with the intent to defraud a consignor, fails to comply with the requirements of the commission merchants statutes, is guilty of a class C felony.

The requirement that boom loaders be licensed is eliminated.

Grain Inspection:  The department is authorized to adopt inspection standards and procedures for grains and commodities.  The inspection and grading of a lot is expanded to include the determining of a sample's grade, condition or other qualitative measurement.

A person aggrieved by the grading of a commodity may request a reinspection or appeal inspection within three business days from the date of certificate.  A reinspection is an official review of the results of an original inspection, and an appeal inspection is a review of an original inspection or a reinspection by an authorized United States Department of Agriculture inspector or a supervising inspector.

Agricultural commodities are grains for which inspection standards have been established under the United States Grain Standards Act, the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, or other products for which the department has established inspection rules.

Apple Advertising:  Technical changes are made which clarify that commissioners for the Washington State Apple Advertising Commission must grow apples or act as an apple dealer in the district they represent.  Nominations for vacant commission positions shall be made at the Washington State Horticultural Association annual meeting or the annual meeting of any other producer organization which represents a majority of producers in the state.  In order to have a vote in a district or subdivision, growers must operate a commercial producing apple orchard within the district or subdivision.

Pesticide Disposal:  The department is authorized to expand the pesticide disposal program to include products held by pesticide dealers.  Fees will be paid by dealers to fund the program.

Seed Law:  The state's Seed Act, regulating commercial seed, is amended.  Any violation of the act is punishable by a civil penalty of up to $2,000, replacing criminal penalties.  If a buyer of seed is damaged (in an amount greater than $2,000) by the failure of seed to perform as represented, the damage claim must be submitted to nonbinding arbitration conducted by an arbitration committee appointed by the Director of Agriculture.  An action to assert the claim or any counterclaim may not be brought until after the arbitration.  Provisions regarding weed seeds are also clarified.

Organic Foods:  Beginning on January 1, 1990, "transition to organic foods" may be sold, which are organic foods which meet all the requirements except the chemical free time period.  Transition to organic foods must not have had prohibited substances applied within one year, and products sold as transition to organic must specify first or second-year transition on their label.  On January 1, 1991, the one year chemical free period for organic food designation is extended to two years after the application of any prohibited pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide and two years after the application of a prohibited fertilizer.  On January 1, 1992, the period is extended to three years for prohibited pesticides and two years for prohibited fertilizers.

Authorization for the organic food certification program is expanded to include the certification of processors of organic foods.  Fees charged under the program need only cover the costs of the inspection program.  No out-of-state products may be labelled or sold as organic without having first received organic certification, in the state of origin, which meets the requirements of this state's organic food laws.

Apiary Coordination:  The county legislative authority of any county of the third class in southeastern Washington is authorized to designate apiary coordinated areas in which the number of colonies per apiary, the distance between apiaries, the minimum required setback distance from property lines, and/or the time of year the regulations shall be in effect may be established.  A violation of such a regulation is a misdemeanor.

State Designation:  Bluebunch wheatgrass is named the official state grass, and the apple is named the official fruit of the state of Washington.

Disease Control:  The Department of Agriculture's authority to control animal diseases and establish quarantines is modified such that all violations of the act or rules implementing the act are gross misdemeanors.

Agricultural Clear Title:  The Department of Agriculture is directed to study ways of resolving the agricultural products clear title issue.  The resolution to the problem shall:  not require further expenditure by the state; serve the interests of security interests, buyers and creditors; make recommendations to the federal government; and provide opportunity for public comment.  The report shall be made to the Legislature during the 1990 legislative session.

Appropriation:  $40,000 is appropriated for the study.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

     Senate   47    0

     House 96  0 (House amended)

     Senate          (Senate refused to concur)

Free Conference Committee

     House 97  0

     Senate   46    0

EFFECTIVE:July 23, 1989

           January 1, 1990 (Sections 70-81, 84-86)

           January 1, 1991 (Section 30)