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By: Eiland, Dawson, Bonnen, Seaman, Luna H.B. No. 2785
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the promotion and marketing of the shrimp industry of
this state, the funding of those activities, and certain health and
safety requirements for shrimp for human consumption.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 47, Agriculture Code, is amended to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 47. TEXAS OYSTER AND SHRIMP PROGRAM
SUBCHAPTER A. TEXAS OYSTER PROGRAM
Sec. 47.001. PROMOTION AND ADVERTISEMENT. (a) The
department may promote and advertise the Texas oyster industry by:
(1) using current market research to develop an oyster
marketing plan to increase consumption of Texas oysters;
(2) conducting a public relations campaign to create a
responsible and accurate image of the Texas oyster industry;
(3) providing information, education, and training to
consumers, food handlers, and restaurant personnel on safe and
proper handling of oysters, for the purpose of promoting the use and
consumption of oysters; and
(4) using other methods the department considers
appropriate.
(b) The department, following guidance of the oyster
advisory committee established under Section 47.002, may use a
portion of the oyster sales fee funds provided for administrative
purposes.
Sec. 47.002. OYSTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The
commissioner shall appoint an oyster advisory committee to provide
guidance and direction on the programs and activities established
under this chapter and expenditures of the funds appropriated for
the purposes of this chapter.
(b) A member of the advisory committee may not receive
compensation for service on the committee, but is entitled to
reimbursement of expenses incurred by the member while conducting
the business of the committee and approved by the commissioner, as
provided by the General Appropriations Act. A reimbursement under
this subsection must be paid from revenue from fees on oyster sales
and related penalties imposed under Section 436.103, Health and
Safety Code, available for that purpose or from other revenue as
provided by the General Appropriations Act.
(c) The advisory committee shall meet and elect a
chairperson from its members and shall conduct other meetings it
considers necessary to provide guidance and direction to the
department.
(d) The advisory committee consists of the following nine
members:
(1) three members appointed by the commissioner who
are oyster dealers who have been certified in Texas for at least 12
months of each year of the three years preceding the appointment;
(2) two members appointed by the commissioner who are
oyster dealers who have been certified in Texas for at least six
months of each year of the three years preceding the appointment;
(3) one member appointed by the commissioner
representing consumer interests;
(4) one member appointed by the commissioner
representing grocery retail business interests;
(5) one member appointed by the commissioner
representing the restaurant industry; and
(6) one member appointed by the commissioner who:
(A) is employed by an institution of higher
education as a researcher or instructor; and
(B) specializes in the area of food science,
particularly seafood.
(e) The advisory committee shall develop its own bylaws
under which it shall operate. The bylaws shall stipulate that five
members constitute a quorum sufficient to conduct meetings and
business of the advisory committee.
(f) An advisory committee member serves a three-year term,
with the terms of three members expiring August 31 of each year.
(g) A member of the advisory committee may be reappointed to
the advisory committee.
[Sections 47.003-47.049 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. TEXAS SHRIMP MARKETING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IN
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Sec. 47.050. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Program" means the Texas Shrimp Marketing
Assistance Program.
(2) "Coastal waters" means all the salt water of this
state, including that portion of the Gulf of Mexico within the
jurisdiction of the state.
(3) "Shrimp marketing account" means the account in
the general revenue fund established under Section 77.002(b), Parks
and Wildlife Code.
Sec. 47.051. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. (a) The Texas Shrimp
Marketing Assistance Program is established in the Texas Department
of Agriculture to assist the Texas shrimp industry in promoting and
marketing shrimp harvested from coastal waters and educating the
public about the Texas shrimp industry and shrimp harvested from
coastal waters.
(b) The commissioner, in consultation with the advisory
committee established under Section 47.052, shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement the program.
(c) The department may accept grants, gifts, and gratuities
from any source, including any governmental entity, any private or
public corporation, and any other person in furtherance of the
program. Any monies received as a grant, gift, or gratuity shall be
deposited in the shrimp marketing account.
(d) The program shall be funded at a minimum level of
$250,000 per fiscal year with funds deposited into the shrimp
marketing account. The department may not expend more than two
percent of the annual program budget on out-of-state travel.
Sec. 47.052. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The commissioner
shall appoint a shrimp advisory committee to assist the
commissioner in implementing the program established under this
chapter and the expenditure of funds appropriated for the purpose
of this chapter.
(b) The committee shall be composed of the following nine
members:
(1) two owners of commercial bay shrimp boats;
(2) two owners of commercial gulf shrimp boats;
(3) one retail fish dealer;
(4) one wholesale fish dealer;
(5) one person employed by an institution of higher
education as a researcher or instructor specializing in the area of
food science, particularly seafood;
(6) one member of the seafood restaurant industry; and
(7) one representative of the public.
(c) The members of the advisory committee serve without
compensation but may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the
direct performance of their duties upon approval of the
commissioner.
(d) An advisory committee member serves a three-year term,
with the terms of three members expiring August 31 of each year.
The commissioner may reappoint a member to the advisory committee.
(e) The members of the advisory committee shall elect a
presiding officer from among the members and adopt rules governing
the operation of the committee. The rules shall specify that five
members of the committee constitute a quorum sufficient to conduct
the meetings and business of the committee.
(f) The advisory committee shall meet as necessary, but at
least once a calendar year, to provide guidance to the commissioner
in establishing and implementing the program.
Sec. 47.053. PROGRAM STAFF. (a) The commissioner shall
employ one or more persons as employees of the department to staff
the program.
(b) Unless otherwise expressly provided by the legislature,
the source of funding for the employees shall be monies generated
from the program, including the license surcharge authorized
pursuant to Section 77.002, Parks and Wildlife Code.
Sec. 47.054. PROMOTION, MARKETING, AND EDUCATION. The
program shall promote and advertise the Texas shrimp industry by:
(a) developing and maintaining a database of Texas
shrimp wholesalers that sell shrimp harvested from coastal waters;
(b) operating a toll-free telephone number to:
(1) receive inquiries from persons who wish to
purchase a particular type of shrimp harvested from coastal waters;
and
(2) make information about the Texas shrimp
industry available to the public;
(c) developing a shrimp industry marketing plan to
increase the consumption of shrimp harvested from coastal waters;
(d) educating the public about shrimp harvested from
coastal waters by providing publicity about the information in the
program's database to the public and making the information
available to the public through the department's toll-free
telephone number and electronically available through the
Internet;
(e) promoting the Texas shrimp industry; and
(f) promoting and marketing, and educating consumers
about, the shrimp harvested from coastal waters using any other
method the commissioner determines is appropriate.
SECTION 2. Section 436.011, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 436.011. PROHIBITED ACTS. The following acts and the
causing of the following acts within this state are unlawful and
prohibited:
(1) taking, selling, offering for sale, or holding for
sale molluscan shellfish from a closed area;
(2) taking, selling, offering for sale, or holding for
sale molluscan shellfish from a restricted or conditionally
restricted area without complying with a rule adopted by the board
to ensure that the molluscan shellfish have been purified, unless:
(A) permission is first obtained from the Parks
and Wildlife Department and the transplanting is supervised by that
department; and
(B) the Parks and Wildlife Department furnishes a
copy of the transplant permit to the director before transplanting
activities begin;
(3) possessing a species of aquatic life taken from a
prohibited area while the area was prohibited for that species;
(4) operating as a molluscan shellfish processor
without a shellfish certificate for each plant or place of
business;
(5) operating as a crabmeat processor without a
crabmeat processing license for each plant;
(6) selling, offering for sale, or holding for sale
molluscan shellfish or crabmeat that has not been picked, handled,
packaged, or pasteurized in accordance with the rules adopted by
the board;
(7) selling, offering for sale, or holding for sale
molluscan shellfish or crabmeat from facilities for the handling
and packaging of molluscan shellfish or crabmeat that do not comply
with the rules adopted by the board;
(8) selling, offering for sale, or holding for sale
molluscan shellfish or crabmeat that is not labeled in accordance
with the rules adopted by the board;
(9) selling, offering for sale, or holding for sale
molluscan shellfish that is not in a container bearing a valid
certificate number from a state or nation whose molluscan shellfish
certification program conforms to the current Manual of Operations
for Sanitary Control of the Shellfish Industry issued by the Food
and Drug Administration or its successor, except selling molluscan
shellfish removed from a container bearing a valid certificate
number for on-premises consumption; in the event the Texas
Molluscan Shellfish Program is found to be out of conformity with
the current Manual of Operations, selling, offering for sale, or
holding for sale molluscan shellfish in a container bearing a valid
Texas certificate number shall not be considered a violation of
this chapter provided all other requirements of this chapter are
complied with and the shellfish have come from an approved source;
(10) processing, transporting, storing for sale,
possessing with intent to sell, offering for sale, or selling
molluscan shellfish or crabmeat for human consumption that is
adulterated or misbranded;
(11) removing or disposing of a detained or embargoed
article in violation of Section 436.028;
(12) altering, mutilating, destroying, obliterating,
or removing all or part of the labeling of a container;
(13) adulterating or misbranding molluscan shellfish
or crabmeat in commerce;
(14) refusing to permit entry or inspection, to permit
the taking of a sample, or to permit access to or copying by an
authorized agent of a record required by this chapter;
(15) failing to establish or maintain a record or
report required by this chapter or by a rule adopted by the board;
[or]
(16) violating a rule adopted by the board or an
emergency rule or order adopted by the director; or
(17) processing, transporting, storing for sale,
possessing with intent to sell, offering for sale, or selling
shrimp for human consumption that has been treated with a
veterinary drug or antibiotic that is illegal for the treatment of
shrimp in the United States.
SECTION 3. Section 77.002, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 77.002. LICENSE FEES. (a) License fees provided in
this chapter are a privilege tax on catching, buying, selling,
unloading, transporting, or handling shrimp within the
jurisdiction of this state.
(b) The shrimp marketing account is an account in the
general revenue fund that shall be appropriated to the Texas
Department of Agriculture solely for the purpose of the Texas
Shrimp Marketing Assistance Program established under Subchapter
B, Chapter 47, Agriculture Code. The account consists of money
deposited to the account under this section. The account is exempt
from the application of Section 11.032 of this code and Section
403.095, Government Code.
(c) In addition to fee increases the department is
authorized to make under this code, the department shall increase
by 10 percent the fee as of September 1, 2003, for the following
licenses and shall deposit the amount of the increase to the credit
of the shrimp marketing account:
(1) a wholesale fish dealer's license issued under
Section 47.009;
(2) a wholesale truck dealer's fish license issued
under Section 47.010;
(3) a retail fish dealer's license issued under
Section 47.011;
(4) a retail dealer's truck license issued under
Section 47.013;
(5) a commercial bay shrimp boat license issued under
Section 77.031;
(6) a commercial bait-shrimp boat license issued under
Section 77.033;
(7) a commercial gulf shrimp boat license issued under
Section 77.035; and
(8) a commercial shrimp boat captain's license issued
under Section 77.0351.
(d) Money in the shrimp marketing account may be used only
to implement, maintain, and conduct, including program staff
employees, the Texas Shrimp Marketing Assistance Program created
pursuant to Subchapter B, Chapter 47, Agriculture Code. The Texas
Department of Agriculture may allocate not more than $100,000 per
fiscal year of the money in the account to cover administrative and
personnel costs of the Texas Department of Agriculture associated
with the program.
(e) The department shall deposit, at the end of each
quarter, to the credit of the shrimp marketing account fees
received under Section 77.002 for use by the Texas Department of
Agriculture to conduct and operate the Texas Shrimp Marketing
Assistance Program created pursuant to Subchapter B, Chapter 47,
Agriculture Code.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.