Honorable Tracy O. King, Chair, House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3227 by King, Tracy O. (Relating to the administration and enforcement of produce safety standards by the Department of Agriculture; authorizing an administrative penalty.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend Texas Agriculture Code, Section 91.009 to establish the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) as the lead agency for the administration, implementation, and enforcement of the United States Food and Drug Administration Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption or any successor federal produce safety rule or standard, and to instruct TDA to assist the fresh fruit and vegetable industries with produce safety issues. The bill would remove TDA's ability to provide assistance to federal agencies in their implementation of voluntary guidelines and TDA's ability to approve training and awareness programs for producers and packers of fresh fruits and vegetables, while still requiring TDA to coordinate and plan such programs. The bill would require that these programs inform and educate producers and packers regarding proper produce handling procedures and the enhancement of overall produce safety. The bill would require TDA to coordinate the planning and implementation of these programs with nongovernmental organizations as well as other entities. The bill would allow TDA to enter into a cooperative agreement, interagency agreement, grant agreement, or memorandum of understanding with a federal or state agency, as well as adopt rules to administer, implement, and/or enforce the agency's produce safety activities. In developing these rules, TDA would be allowed to consider relevant state, federal, or national standards and may consult with federal or state agencies; the agency would no longer be required to consult and coordinate with the Department of State Health Services.
The bill would amend Texas Agriculture Code, Section 12.020(c) to set a maximum penalty for enforcement of TDA's produce safety activities of not more than $5,000.
TDA has been awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement from U.S. Food and Drug Administration that is anticipated by the agency to cover all administration, implementation, and enforcement activities, including the funds necessary to hire required personnel.
The Department of State Health Services, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and Texas A&M AgriLife Research, which are all required to coordinate with TDA on the implementation of the produce safety activities, indicate that duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished utilizing existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
537 State Health Services, Department of, 551 Department of Agriculture, 555 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, 556 Texas A&M AgriLife Research