Assembly Bill No. 77

Assembly Bill No. 77-Assemblymen Dini, Neighbors, Carpenter,
de Braga, Marvel and Hettrick

CHAPTER

448

AN ACT relating to agricultural products; providing for the certification of organic agricultural products; providing a penalty; making an appropriation; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

[Approved July 16, 1997]

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

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Section 1. Chapter 587 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 17, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 2. As used in sections 2 to 17, inclusive, of this act, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in sections 3 to 11, inclusive, of this act have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
Sec. 3. "Administrator" means the administrator of the division of agriculture of the department of business and industry.
Sec. 4. "Animal product" includes dairy products, meat, wool, mohair and other livestock products, poultry and poultry products, apiary products and aquacultural products.
Sec. 5. "Certifying agent" means a person accredited by the administrator or the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States to certify a producer or handler for the purposes of the federal act or sections 2 to 17, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 6. "Federal act" means the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, 7 U.S.C. §§ 6501 et seq., as amended.
Sec. 7. "Handler" means a person who processes, packages, stores, transports or sells animal or vegetable products. The term does not include a final retailer who does not process animal or vegetable products.
Sec. 8. "Organic agricultural product" means an animal or vegetable product certified pursuant to the federal act or sections 2 to 17, inclusive, of this act.
Sec. 9. "Processing" means baking, churning, cutting, dehydrating, drying, eviscerating, extracting, fermenting, freezing, grinding, heating, mixing, preserving, separating, or otherwise manufacturing and includes enclosing food in a container.
Sec. 10. "Producer" means a person who engages in the business of growing or producing an animal or vegetable product.
Sec. 11. "Vegetable product" includes food, feed, seed, fibers and all other agricultural, horticultural and viticultural products.
Sec. 12. 1. The administrator shall establish a program for the certification of organic agricultural products. The program must cover all vegetable products and may cover animal products.
2. The governor and the administrator shall submit the program to the Secretary of Agriculture for approval pursuant to the federal act.
Sec. 13. 1. An advisory council for organic agricultural products is hereby created in the division of agriculture of the department of business and industry. The advisory council must consist of:
(a) Four members who are producers or handlers of organic agricultural products;
(b) One member who is a purchaser, consumer, or wholesale or retail seller of organic agricultural products; and
(c) One member who represents an agricultural interest other than organic agricultural products.
2. The administrator shall nominate members for the advisory council and the state board of agriculture shall appoint the members.
3. The advisory council shall advise the administrator and the state board of agriculture concerning the administration of the program for the certification of organic agricultural products.
Sec. 14. 1. The state board of agriculture shall appoint three of the first members of the advisory council for organic agricultural products for terms of 2 years and three for terms of 3 years. After the expiration of the initial term, the term of office of each member is 3 years. A vacancy must be filled, for the unexpired term, by appointment of a member whose qualifications are the same as those of the member replaced. The advisory council shall elect a chairman and vice chairman from among its members. The administrator shall provide appropriate secretarial support and a place for the meetings of the advisory council.
2. The advisory council shall meet at least quarterly, upon the call of the administrator or the chairman. A majority of the members appointed to the advisory council constitutes a quorum.
3. For each day or portion of a day necessarily spent on the business of the advisory council, each member is entitled to receive:
(a) Compensation, to be fixed by regulation of the state board of agriculture, which must not exceed $80 per day; and
(b) The per diem allowance and travel expenses provided for state officers and employees generally.
Sec. 15. The state board of agriculture shall adopt appropriate regulations for the administration of the program for the certification of organic agricultural products, including:
1. Standards for the analysis, inspection and certification of organic agricultural products;
2. Records required of producers and handlers of organic agricultural products;
3. Standards for the certification of producers and handlers of organic agricultural products;
4. Lists of approved and prohibited substances for use in the production and handling of organic agricultural products;
5. Requirements for the use of a seal of approval for organic agricultural products produced in this state and standards for labeling those products; and
6. A schedule of fees for initial certification and inspection for continued certification as a producer or handler of organic agricultural products.
Sec. 16. In adopting regulations, the state board of agriculture shall consider the requirements of the federal act and the regulations adopted by neighboring states for the certification of organic agricultural products, to facilitate the movement of such products among the states and their marketability in each state.
Sec. 17. 1. The administrator, after giving at least 20 days' written notice and the opportunity for a hearing, may impose, for a violation of this section or section 15 of this act or of a regulation adopted pursuant thereto, a civil penalty of not more than:
(a) For the first violation, $200;
(b) For the second violation, $1,500; and
(c) For the third or subsequent violation, $3,000.
The administrator shall deposit any money collected as a penalty with the state treasurer for credit to the state general fund and may present a claim to the state board of examiners for recommendation to the interim finance committee for an allocation from the contingency fund if money is needed to pay attorney's fees or the cost of an investigation.
2. A person shall not sell or offer for sale an agricultural product with the representation that it is organic if he knows or has reason to know that it has not been certified pursuant to the federal act or sections 2 to 17, inclusive, of this act.
3. A person who violates the provisions of subsection 2 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec. 18. 1. There is hereby appropriated from the state general fund to the division of agriculture of the department of business and industry the sum of $10,000 for payment of compensation, per diem allowances and travel expenses of the advisory council for organic agricultural products.
2. Any remaining balance of the appropriation made by subsection 1 must not be committed for expenditure after June 30, 1999, and reverts to the state general fund as soon as all payments of money committed have been made.
Sec. 19. The provisions of section 17 of this act do not apply to violations or offenses that are committed before the effective date of this act.
Sec. 20. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.
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