THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1294

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to labeling requirements.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the image of Hawaii can be used as a tool to increase brand recognition and market share.  Many businesses neither produce nor use products that are made in Hawaii, yet claim their commodities as such, and lead consumers to believe that they are purchasing a "made in Hawaii" or "produced in Hawaii" commodity.

     The purpose of this Act is to allow the board of agriculture to adopt "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements for all agricultural commodities not already subject to "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements, and to provide a separate standard of labeling requirements for Hawaii-grown cacao.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 147, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§147-    Agricultural commodities; "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements; penalties.  (a)  Pursuant to any laws imposing "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements for specific agricultural commodities and rules adopted by the board of agriculture, all retailers, distributors, farmers, producers, and producer-distributors that sell agricultural commodities for purchase or consumption shall be subject to "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements.

     (b)  The board of agriculture shall determine rules pursuant to chapter 91 for "made in Hawaii" labeling no later than July 1, 2016.

     (c)  Violations of this section shall be subject to penalties as provided under section 147-2.

     (d)  For purposes of this section, "made in Hawaii" labeling means written, printed, or graphic matter on or attached to an agricultural commodity or its containers or packaging that uses the phrase "made in Hawaii" or "produced in Hawaii" or that by any other means represents the geographic origin of the agricultural commodity as being from any place within the State."

     SECTION 3.  Chapter 486, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§486-    Hawaii-grown cacao; labeling requirements.  (a)  In addition to all other labeling requirements, and subject to the approval of the board of agriculture, no identity statement used for labeling or advertising cacao, chocolate, cacao butter, or any other product produced in whole or in part from cacao, shall contain the phrase "Hawaii-grown cacao", or similar language, except for any product that contains:

     (1)  Cacao ingredients made from Hawaii-grown cacao and no other cacao or chocolate flavoring; and

     (2)  A blend of Hawaii-grown cacao and cacao not grown in Hawaii or other natural or artificial cacao flavoring, the per cent cacao by weight of the Hawaii-grown cacao used in the blend, followed by the geographic origin of the weight-specified cacao and the term "Cacao Blend".

Each word or character in the identity statement shall be of the same type size and shall be contiguous.  The smallest letter or character of the identity statement on packages of sixteen ounces or less net weight shall be at least one and one-half times the type size required under federal law for the statement of net weight or three-sixteenths of an inch in height, whichever is smaller.  The smallest letter or character of the identity statement on packages of greater than sixteen ounces net weight shall be at least one and one-half times the type size required under federal law for the statement of net weight.  The identity statement shall be conspicuously displayed without any intervening material in a position above the statement of net weight.  Upper and lower case letters may be used interchangeably in the identity statement.

     (b)  A listing of the geographic origins of the various Hawaii-grown cacao and the regional origins of the various cacao not grown in Hawaii that are included in a blend may be shown on the label.  If used, this list shall consist of the term "Contains:", followed by, in descending order of per cent by weight and separated by commas, the respective geographic origin or regional origin of the various cacaos in the blend that the manufacturer chooses to list.  Each geographic origin or regional origin may be preceded by the per cent of cacao by weight represented by that geographic origin or regional origin, expressed as a number followed by the per cent sign.  The type size used for this list shall not exceed half that of the identity statement.  This list shall appear below the identity statement, if included on the front panel of the label.

     (c)  It shall be a violation of this section to:

     (1)  Use the identity statement specified in subsection (a) or similar terms in labeling or advertising unless the product contains cacao from only one geographic origin;

     (2)  Use a geographic origin in labeling or advertising, if the product contains less than 10 per cent cacao by weight from that geographic origin;

     (3)  Use a geographic origin in advertising a product without disclosing the percentage of cacao used from that geographic origin as described in subsection (a);

     (4)  Misrepresent, on a label or in advertising of a product, the per cent cacao by weight from a geographic origin;

     (5)  Use the term "All Hawaiian" on a label or in advertising of a cacao if the cacao is not produced entirely from cacao produced in geographic origins defined in this chapter;

     (6)  Use a geographic origin on the front label panel of a cacao product other than in the trademark or in the identity statement as authorized in subsection (a) unless 100 per cent of the cacao contained in the product is from that geographic origin;

     (7)  Use more than one trademark on a package of a product unless 100 per cent of the cacao contained in the product is from that geographic origin specified by the trademark;

     (8)  Use a trademark that begins with the name of a geographic origin on a product unless 100 per cent of the cacao contained in the product comes from that geographic origin or the trademark ends with words that indicate a business entity; or

     (9)  Print the identity statement required by subsection (a) in a smaller font than that used for a trademark that includes the name of a geographic origin pursuant to paragraph (5) and in a location other than the front label panel of a cacao product.

     (d)  Manufacturers and other persons who package cacao products covered by this section shall maintain, for a period of two years, records on the volume and geographic origin or regional origin of cacao purchased and sold and any other records required by the department for the purpose of enforcing this section.  Authorized employees of the department shall have access to these records during normal business hours.

     (e)  For the purpose of this section:

     "Geographic origin" means the geographic regions in which Hawaii-grown cacao are produced; provided that the term "Hawaiian" may be substituted for the geographic origin "Hawaii".

     "Per cent cacao by weight" means the percentage calculated by dividing the weight in pounds of cacao of one geographic or regional origin used in a production run of the product, by the total weight in pounds of the cacao used in that production run of the product, multiplying the quotient by one hundred."

     SECTION 4.  Section 147-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§147-4  Rules.  The department may make rules, subject to chapter 91:

     (1)  Defining grades and grade labeling requirements of agricultural commodities and standard containers for packing of particular agricultural commodities;

     (2)  Prohibiting the sale, offering for sale, or transportation of agricultural commodities unless packed in standard containers and labeled with the appropriate grade or offgrade designation; provided that this prohibition shall not apply to the sale, offering for sale, or transportation to a plant for grading, packing, or processing, or transportation to a warehouse for storage;

     (3)  Prohibiting the use of grade terms or abbreviations of grade terms on agricultural commodities for which no grades have been established under this part;

     (4)  Defining "suitable shipping condition" for agricultural commodities which are to be shipped for sale from one island to another within the State or to points outside the State, and prohibiting such shipment for sale of agricultural commodities which do not meet the minimum standards set for "suitable shipping condition";

     (5)  Prescribing records to be kept in connection with purchases of agricultural commodities by persons, other than produce dealers purchasing from a producer or producers, for purposes of resale five or more tons of agricultural commodities during any one calendar month;

     (6)  Prescribing records to be kept by produce dealers in connection with the purchase, sale, transport for sale, solicitation, or negotiation of sale with respect to an agricultural commodity; [and]

     (7)  Relating to the inspection and documentation of the geographic origin of Hawaii-grown green coffee beans[.]; and

     (8)  Relating to the labeling requirements for "made in Hawaii" agricultural commodities.

     In making the rules the department shall take into account, among other things, the factors of maturity, condition, soundness, color, shape, size, and freedom from defects of the agricultural commodity in question and shall also take into consideration the official standards, grades or classifications adopted by the secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the United States, commonly known as U.S. Grades."

     SECTION 5.  Section 147-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§147-22  Rules.  The department shall have the necessary powers to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this part, including the following:

     To establish, prescribe, modify, or alter, by rules, such grades, standards, grade labels, "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements, and classifications as shall be the minimum requirements for fresh and processed agricultural commodities destined for shipment by commercial exporters to points outside the State; provided that the provisions of such grades, standards, grade labels, "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements, and classifications shall not excuse failure to comply with the provisions of the federal and state food, drug, and cosmetic acts.  The department in establishing such rules shall consult with appropriate state and federal agencies and with any appropriate industry or trade organization.  The standards, grades, grade labels, "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements, and classifications so established shall be on the basis of what the department may deem best suited to the agricultural, horticultural, or other interests of the State; provided that the minimum requirements for the grades, standards, grade labels, "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements, and classifications so established for processed agricultural commodities shall not be higher than that of any standardized product which is sanitary and which has been demonstrated to be a commercially-acceptable product of the class to which it belongs and for which a market has been established; provided further that different minimum requirements may be applied to different styles of processed agricultural commodities; and provided further that any processed pineapple product, in which the fruit ingredient is at least ninety-five per cent pineapple in compliance with the provisions of the federal and state food, drug, and cosmetic acts, may be exported from the State."

     SECTION 6.  Section 486-119, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§486-119  Hawaii-made products; Hawaii-processed products.  (a)  No person shall keep, offer, display or expose for sale, or solicit for the sale of any item, product, souvenir, or any other merchandise that is labeled "made in Hawaii" or that by any other means misrepresents the origin of the item as being from any place within the State, or uses the phrase "made in Hawaii" as an advertising or media tool for any craft item that has not been manufactured, assembled, fabricated, or produced within the State and that has not had at least fifty-one per cent of its wholesale value added by manufacture, assembly, fabrication, or production within the State.

     (b)  Subsection (a) notwithstanding, no person shall keep, offer, display, expose for sale, or solicit the sale of any perishable consumer commodity that is labeled "made in Hawaii", "produced in Hawaii", or "processed in Hawaii" or that by any other means represents the origin of the perishable consumer commodity as being from any place within the State, or use the phrase "made in Hawaii", "produced in Hawaii", or "processed in Hawaii" as an advertising or media tool for any perishable consumer commodity, unless the perishable consumer commodity is wholly or partially manufactured, processed, or produced within the State from raw materials that originate from inside or outside the State and at least fifty-one per cent of the wholesale value of the perishable consumer commodity is added by manufacture, processing, or production within the State.

     (c)  This section shall not apply to the "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements of agricultural commodities determined by the board through rules adopted pursuant to section 147-  ."

     SECTION 7.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2015-2016 for the board of agriculture to create "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements, through rules, for agricultural commodities in Hawaii.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of agriculture for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 8.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 9.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 10.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Agriculture; Board of Agriculture; Agricultural Commodities; "Made in Hawaii" Labeling Requirements; Cacao

 

Description:

Requires the board of agriculture to adopt "made in Hawaii" labeling requirements for agricultural commodities and provides labeling requirements for Hawaii-grown cacao.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.