Title: An act relating to commercial feed.

Brief Description: Regulating commercial feed.

Sponsors: Representatives Linville, Kristiansen and Pettigrew; by request of Department of Agriculture.

Brief History: Passed House: 2/28/05, 95-0.

Committee Activity: Agriculture & Rural Economic Development: 3/24/05 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE & RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by Senators Rasmussen, Chair; Shin, Vice Chair; Schoesler, Ranking Minority Member; Delvin, Jacobsen and Morton.

Staff: Bob Lee (786-7404)

Background: The commercial feed program is administered by the Department of Agriculture (Department). The program is funded primarily from registration, license, and inspection fees. Approximately 500 facilities are licensed under the program. The program regulates the distribution of animal feeds to assure product safety, quality, and proper labeling.

All pet food products are required to be registered prior to distribution in Washington State. Over 2,000 pet food registrations are currently reviewed and renewed each year.

Annual reports are required by licensees and registrants that owe inspection fees. Those that are not required to pay the inspection fee, because another is obligated to pay the fee, are currently not required to file a report, creating difficulty in verifying the accuracy of the reports.

Summary of Bill: The pet food registration period is changed from a one-year to a two-year period. The fees are doubled but will be paid half as often.

All licensees and registrants are required to file a report twice a year indicating the volume of feed distributed, the volume they are responsible to pay fees on, and who is responsible to pay the fees if the reporting company did not pay the fees.

In addition to authority for the Department to obtain a warrant if needed to inspect facilities, authority is provided to obtain a warrant if needed to inspect a feed vehicle.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment, except the section relating to pet food registrations are phased in over two years.

Testimony For (on companion Senate Bill 5004): Extending the interval for re-registration of pet food to once every two years is strongly supported by the pet food industry and will reduce costs and paperwork for both the industry and the agency. The changes in feed tonnage reporting requirements will improve auditing capabilities to assure that required fees are being collected and better satisfy doubts by the industry that some companies have been evading paying the fees.

Testimony Against (on companion Senate Bill 5004): None.

Who Testified (on companion Senate Bill 5004): PRO: Leslie Emerick, Department of Agriculture.