STAND. COM. REP. NO. 80

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 99

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 99 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Agriculture to establish, implement, and administer a meat and poultry inspection program and appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; Maui Chamber of Commerce; Animal Welfare Institute; Hawai‘i Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; The Food+ Policy Internship 2023; and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Agriculture's former meat inspection program was discontinued in the 1990s due to budget and staffing cuts and that the United States Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) has since assumed full responsibility of inspections in the State. Your Committee further finds that reviving the State's meat inspection program would provide an alternative to USDA-FSIS inspections and could lead to increases in producer processing capacity; diversification of processing options; and reductions in processing bottlenecks, transportation time, and costs; and make inspections more accessible to remote or rural producers. The USDA-FSIS inspection regulations add complexity and costs to Axis deer meat inspections, and a state program could ease this process. This measure will reestablish Hawaii's meat inspection program and increase the availability and accessibility of inspections across the State to help drive the growth of Hawaii's local meat industry.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 99 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,

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MIKE GABBARD, Chair