BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2343

By: Leo Wilson

Trade, Workforce & Economic Development

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that constituents and local shrimpers have brought attention to a lack of transparency for consumers around the source of shrimp they purchase, and that some restaurants in the Gulf Coast region purporting to serve local, wild-caught shrimp were found to be serving foreign-farmed shrimp. C.S.H.B. 2343 addresses this issue by requiring restaurants to notify customers of the origin of shrimp being served and also prohibits state agencies and school districts from serving imported shrimp or foods that contain imported shrimp.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission in SECTIONS 1 and 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2343 amends the Health and Safety Code to set out certain prohibitions on the use of imported shrimp for food service provided by state agencies and school districts and to require certain notice regarding shrimp in restaurants.

Certain Prohibited Uses of Imported Shrimp

C.S.H.B. 2343 prohibits a state agency or school district that provides food service from doing the following:

· serving imported shrimp or food containing imported shrimp; or

· entering into a contract with a person to provide food service on behalf of the agency or district unless the contract includes a provision prohibiting the person from serving imported shrimp or food containing imported shrimp.

The bill establishes that contract language that would circumvent that prohibition or otherwise achieve the same or a substantially similar effect is void and unenforceable as against public policy and prohibits the payment of fees to any person under the contract. The bill requires the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date, to adopt rules necessary to implement these provisions. The bill defines the following terms for purposes of these provisions:

· "imported shrimp" as shrimp imported from outside of the United States;

· "school district" as any public school district in Texas; and

· "state agency" by reference as a department, commission, board, office, council, authority, or other agency in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government, including a public university system or institution of higher education, that is created by the state constitution or by a state statute.

These provisions apply only to a contract entered into on or after the bill's effective date. A contract entered into before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the contract was entered into, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. The bill establishes that a district is not required to comply with the bill's prohibition regarding the use of imported shrimp before the 2025-2026 school year and a state agency is not required to comply with that prohibition before March 1, 2026.

Shrimp Notice in Restaurants

C.S.H.B. 2343 requires a restaurant serving shrimp to provide to its customers notice of the shrimp's origin by either posting the notice in a conspicuous place in an area of the restaurant accessible to the customers or placing the notice on the restaurant's food menu. The bill sets out the following requirements for such a notice:

· for a notice posted in a conspicuous place in an area of the restaurant accessible to the customers, the notice must:

o be displayed on a sign that has dimensions not smaller than 18 inches by 18 inches, is written in English, and is printed in a font size not smaller than one inch;

o be posted at the restaurant's main entrance in an open area clearly visible to a customer and not lower than 36 inches from the restaurant floor to ensure visibility; and

o clearly indicate the use of any domestic wild or imported shrimp in food items the restaurant prepares and serves; and

· for a notice placed on the restaurant's food menu, the notice must:

o be attached or printed directly next to the corresponding food item;

o be printed in the same color, font, and font size as the text used to list the food item containing shrimp; and

o clearly indicate either the use of domestic wild or imported shrimp or the state or country of origin of the shrimp.

For these purposes, the bill defines "imported shrimp" as shrimp imported from outside of the United States and defines "domestic wild shrimp" as brown (Farfantepenaeus aztecus), white (Litopenaeus setiferus), or pink (Panaeus duorarum) shrimp that is wild caught and harvested from U.S. waters by a fishing vessel displaying a U.S. flag and processed in a facility located in the United States. These provisions do not apply to the following:

· food prepared, served, or sold in other food service establishments, including a grocery store or a food service establishment in a grocery store; or

· properly labeled shrimp in individual packaging or used as an ingredient in food packaged and sold for consumption.

C.S.H.B. 2343 authorizes the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture (TDA) to permit a restaurant participating in the "Go Texan" Partner Program to use that program's logo in the restaurant's food menu when serving domestic wild shrimp caught in Texas waters and processed in a facility located in Texas.

C.S.H.B. 2343 requires the executive commissioner of HHSC, as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date, to adopt rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions relating to shrimp notice in restaurants. The bill establishes that a restaurant is not required to comply with those provisions before March 1, 2026.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2343 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute omits the provision from the introduced that prohibited a person from selling shrimp in Texas that is imported from outside of Texas unless the shrimp's label includes a clear and conspicuous notice stating the shrimp was so imported and specified that a shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico outside of certain state-owned submerged lands is considered imported from outside of Texas.

The introduced and the substitute both define "imported shrimp" for purposes of the bill's provisions relating to prohibited uses of imported shrimp with respect to state agencies and school districts. However, the introduced defined that term as shrimp considered imported from outside of Texas for purposes of the introduced version's shrimp labeling requirement, while the substitute defines it as shrimp imported from outside of the United States.

The introduced and the substitute both include provisions establishing certain shrimp notice requirements. However, the introduced required a food service establishment serving imported shrimp caught outside of Texas by either posting the notice in a conspicuous place in an area of the establishment accessible to the customers or placing the notice on the establishment's food menu, while the substitute does the following:

· requires a restaurant serving shrimp to provide to its customers notice of the shrimp's origin by either posting the notice in a conspicuous place in an area of the restaurant accessible to the customers or placing the notice on the restaurant's food menu;

· requires each such notice to meet certain conditions;

· defines "imported shrimp" for this purpose as shrimp imported from outside of the United States;

· defines "domestic wild shrimp" for this purpose as brown (Farfantepenaeus aztecus), white (Litopenaeus setiferus), or pink (Panaeus duorarum) shrimp that is wild caught and harvested from U.S. waters by a fishing vessel displaying a U.S. flag and processed in a facility located in the United States;

· establishes that these provisions do not apply to the following:

o food prepared, served, or sold in other food service establishments, including a grocery store or a food service establishment in a grocery store; or

o properly labeled shrimp in individual packaging or used as an ingredient in food packaged and sold for consumption; and

· authorizes DSHS to coordinate with TDA to permit a restaurant participating in the "Go Texan" Partner Program to use that program's logo in the restaurant's food menu when serving domestic wild shrimp caught in Texas waters and processed in a facility located in Texas.

The substitute retains the provisions from the introduced establishing that compliance with the bill's shrimp notice provisions is not required before March 1, 2026, and requiring the executive commissioner of HHSC to adopt rules necessary to implement those provisions.