H-4608.2 [atlas:amendment]

2132 AMH CHAN H4608.2

HB 2132 - H AMD

By Representative Chandler

On page 1, after line 3, insert the following:

"Sec. 1. RCW 15.17.020 and 1963 c 122 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

For the purpose of this chapter:

(1) "Department" means the department of agriculture of the state of Washington.

(2) "Director" means the director of the department or his duly authorized representative.

(3) "Person" means a natural person, individual, or firm, partnership, corporation, company, society, and association, and every officer, agent, or employee thereof. This term shall import either the singular or plural, as the case may be.

(4) "Horticultural plant or product" includes, but is not limited to, any horticultural, floricultural, viticultural, and olericultural plant, growing or otherwise, and their products whether grown above or below the ground's surface.

(5) "Horticultural facilities" means, but is not limited to, the premises where horticultural plants and products are grown, stored, handled, or delivered for sale or transportation, records, and all vehicles and equipment, whether aerial or surface, used to transport such horticultural plants or products.

(6) "Deceptive pack" means the pack of any container which has in the outer layer or any exposed surface, horticultural plants or products which are in quality, size, condition, or any other respect so superior to those in the interior of the container in the unexposed portion as to materially misrepresent the contents. Such pack is deceptive when the outer or exposed surface is composed of horticultural plants or products whose size is not an accurate representation of the variation of the size of such horticultural plants or products in the entire container, even though such horticultural plants or products in the container are virtually uniform in size or comply with the specific horticultural plant or product for which the director in prescribing standards for grading and classifying has prescribed size variations or if such size variations are prescribed by law.

(7) "Deceptive arrangement or display" of any horticultural plants or products, means any bulk lot or load, arrangement or display of such horticultural plants or products which has in the exposed surface, horticultural plants or products which are so superior in quality, size, condition, or any other respect to those which are concealed, or the unexposed portion, as to materially misrepresent any part of such bulk lot or load, arrangement, or display.

(8) "Mislabel" means the placing or presence of any false or misleading statement, design, or device upon any container, or upon the label or lining of any such container, or upon the wrapper of any horticultural plants or products, or upon any such horticultural plants or products, or any placard used in connection therewith and having reference to such horticultural plants or products. A statement, design, or device is false or misleading when the horticultural plant or product or container to which it refers does not conform to such statement.

(9) "Container" means any container, subcontainer used within a container, or any type of a container used to prepackage any horticultural plants or products: PROVIDED, That this does not include containers used by a retailer to package such horticultural plants or products sold from a bulk display to a consumer.

(10) "Agent" means broker, commission merchant, auctioneer, solicitor, seller, or consignor, and any other person acting upon the actual or implied authority of another.

(11) "Inspection and certification" means, but is not limited to, the inspection of any horticultural plant or product at any time prior to, during, or subsequent to harvest, by the director, and the issuance by him of a written permit to move or sell or a written certificate stating the grade, classification, and if such horticultural plants or products are free of plant pests and/or other defects.

(12) "Plant pests" means, but is not limited to, any living stage of any insects, mites, nematodes, slugs, snails, protozoa, or other invertebrate animals, bacteria, fungi, other parasitic plants or reproductive parts thereof, viruses, or any organisms similar to or allied with any of the foregoing, or any infectious substance, which can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in any plant or parts thereof, or any processed, manufactured, or other products of plants.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 15.17 RCW to read as follows:

The director shall, by rule, establish either grades or classifications, or both, for American ginseng (Panax quinuefolius L.). In establishing grades or classifications, the director shall take into account the factors of place of origin, whether the ginseng is wild or cultivated, weight, and date of harvest.

The director shall, by rule, require the registration of ginseng dealers who purchase and/or sell ginseng for the purpose of foreign export. The director may, after determining that an applicant or registered ginseng dealer has violated this chapter, and complying with the notice and hearing requirements and all other provisions of chapter 34.05 RCW concerning adjudicative proceedings, deny, suspend, or revoke any dealer registration or application for registration issued under this chapter.

The director shall adopt rules requiring that records be maintained by ginseng dealers.

The director may adopt any other rules necessary to comply with the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, (27 U.S.T. 108); the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 50 C.F.R., Part 23 (1995), as they existed on the effective date of this act, or such subsequent date as may be provided by rule, consistent with the purposes of this section.

It is unlawful for a person to sell, offer for sale, hold for sale, or ship or transport ginseng for foreign export in violation of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter."

Renumber the remaining sections consecutively and correct the title and internal references accordingly.

EFFECT: The Director of Agriculture is authorized to adopt: rules establishing grades and/or classifications for American ginseng; rules requiring the registration of dealers who buy or sell ginseng for foreign export; rules requiring ginseng dealers to maintain records; and, with regard to ginseng, rules complying with the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the federal Endangered Species Act, and federal rules implementing the Convention.

Selling or transporting ginseng for foreign export in violation of these requirements is declared to be unlawful and the Director is authorized to deny, suspend, or revoke a dealer's registration under the Administrative Procedure Act for violations of these requirements or other provisions of the state's agricultural standards and grades statutes. Records are expressly declared to be horticultural facilities, which may be inspected by the Department of Agriculture under the agricultural standards and grades statutes.