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AB-865 Sale of agricultural products: requirements for sale.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 03/23/2023 09:00 PM
AB865:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 865

Introduced by Assembly Member Garcia
(Coauthor: Senator Padilla)

February 14, 2023

An act to add Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 58597) to Part 1 of Division 21 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to agricultural products.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 865, as amended, Garcia. Sale of agricultural products: requirements for sale.
(1) Existing law, effective January 1, 2023, law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except segments of public postsecondary education or local educational agencies, as defined, that purchases agricultural food products to implement necessary practices to achieve a goal of ensuring that at least 60% of the agricultural food products that it purchases in a calendar year are grown or produced in the state by December 31, 2025. Existing law establishes within the Department of Food and Agriculture a public and private collaboration known as the “Buy California Program” to encourage consumer nutritional and food awareness and to foster purchases of high-quality California agricultural products.
This bill would require a grower or producer that sells an agricultural product bell peppers, blueberries, dates, honeydew melons, lemons, olives, or table grapes to a distributor, as defined, to attest to the distributor under penalty of perjury, using a self-attestation form developed by the department, whether the agricultural product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws, as defined. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The
The bill would require a distributor that sells an one of those agricultural product products to a retailer with more than one retail location to provide to the retailer the self-attestation form received from a grower or producer. The bill would prohibit a distributor from selling the agricultural products to these retailers if the self-attestation form provided to the distributor is incomplete or indicates that the agricultural products were not produced in compliance with the above-described laws. The bill would provide that a violation of these provisions is subject to a $500 civil penalty for each violation.
The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to administer and enforce these requirements, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from imposing additional fees on growers or producers to meet the requirements of this bill.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The expectation of a healthy and safe society is a human right and the Legislature is committed to safeguarding that ideal.
(b) The Legislature has taken action to protect the health and safety of California consumers and agricultural fieldworkers by ensuring the use of safe chemicals and by providing economic opportunities by ensuring the right to a living wage that meets basic household needs.
(c) The state’s regulations on pesticide use, wages, and child labor laws ensure a healthy and safe society for all Californians.
(d) Agricultural products that are not grown within California and subject to California labor, environmental protection, and food safety standards may not be produced in accordance with the standards and policies that the Legislature has established as being protective of California consumers and agricultural fieldworkers.
(e) Agricultural production outside of California for in-state consumption may result in irreparable damage to California’s and the nation’s efforts to adapt to climate change impacts that are increasingly affecting the quality of life and the state’s economy.
(f) In-state production and distribution of agricultural products and fresh produce is a far more preferable and beneficial objective from a carbon footprint standpoint than other alternatives for agricultural production.
(g) The societal benefits, from a labor standard, environmental protection, food safety, and climate resilience approach, must be acknowledged and considered when prioritizing in-state production of agricultural products for California consumers.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 58597) is added to Part 1 of Division 21 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:
CHAPTER  9. Sale of Agricultural Products

58597.
 This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Farmers and Farmworker Protection and Climate Mitigation Pilot Program Act.

58597.58597.1.
 (a) A grower or producer that sells an agricultural product to a distributor shall attest to the distributor under penalty of perjury, using a self-attestation form developed by the department pursuant to subdivision (d), (e), whether the agricultural product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws.
(b) A distributor that sells an agricultural product to a retailer shall provide to the retailer the self-attestation form received from a grower or producer pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) A distributor shall not sell an agricultural product to a retailer if the self-attestation form provided to the distributor pursuant to subdivision (a) as part of the purchase of the agricultural product is incomplete or indicates that the agricultural product was not produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws.

(c)

(d) (1) Subdivisions (a) and (b) (a), (b), and (c) shall not become operative until the department adopts regulations pursuant to subdivision (d). (e).
(2) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall apply only to the sale of an agricultural product listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) and only during the California growing season for that agricultural product.

(d)

(e) (1) The department shall develop and adopt regulations to administer and enforce the requirements of this section. As part of the regulations, the department shall develop a self-attestation form for a grower or producer to verify that an agricultural product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws.
(2) The department shall not impose additional fees on growers or producers to meet the requirements of this section.
(f) (1) A distributor who violates subdivision (b) or (c) shall be liable for a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation, which shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General at the request of the department.
(2) Any funds recovered pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be used for the administration and enforcement of the requirements of this section. Any excess funds shall be used for the Buy California Program to promote consumption of California-grown and -produced agricultural products to California consumers.

(e)

(g) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Agricultural product” means any fresh food product including, but not limited to, fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, dairy, shell eggs, honey, pollen, grains, poultry meats, rabbit meats, and fish, including shellfish. bell peppers, blueberries, dates, honeydew melons, lemons, olives, or table grapes.
(2) “Compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws” means the use of only pesticides registered with the Department of Pesticide Regulation pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12751) of Division 7.
(3) “Compliance with specified California labor laws” means compliance with all of the following:
(A) Child labor regulations established by the Department of Industrial Relations.
(B) The minimum wage established pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1171) of Part 4 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.
(C) Overtime requirements established pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 857) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.
(4) “Distributor” means a person who sells, supplies, or otherwise provides an agricultural product from a grower or producer to a retailer.
(5) “Retailer” means a retailer, as described in Section 6015 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, that has gross sales receipts of more than _____ dollars ($____) in the prior year. sells agricultural products at more than one retail location.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.