STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1098

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 745

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 745, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Expand the offense of false labeling of Hawaii-grown coffee to include roasted coffee;

(2) Impose a $10,000 fine for each separate offense of false labeling of Hawaii-grown roasted coffee; and

(3) Appropriate an unspecified amount of funds for one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) measurements standards inspector position within the Department of Agriculture.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, Hawaii Farmers Union United, Synergistic Hawai‘i Agriculture Council, Kona Coffee Farmers Association, Rancho Aloha Coffee Farm, and one individual.

Your Committees find that it is important for the State to continue to protect its distinctive, premium brand of coffee. Your Committees recognize that some producers of roasted coffee that includes a blend of one or more Hawaii-grown coffees use a label that contains the geographic origin of the Hawaii-grown coffee, thereby misleading consumers into believing that all of the roasted coffee was exclusively grown in the named region of the State. The stricter penalty and increased enforcement resulting from this measure will help deter the distribution of roasted coffee that is falsely labeled as Hawaii-grown and protect the reputation of Hawaii's coffee industry.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 745, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair