Food and agriculture.

(1) Existing law requires any horse or other Equidae brought into the state to be accompanied by certain health information, including certification that the horse is free from evidence of any communicable disease. A violation of those provisions is an infraction or a misdemeanor, as specified. Existing law exempts from those provisions a horse or other Equidae moved from California to another state for no more than 14 days. This bill would delete this exemption. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, until January 1, 2015, requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to create an industry-funded standardization program for purposes of implementing and enforcing provisions relating to fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Existing law requires the secretary to adopt regulations reasonably necessary to carry out those provisions, including establishing assessment rates and procedures for payment of assessments. Existing law establishes an assessment rate of $0.003 per container for commodities that are not otherwise subject to a mandatory inspection fee, and an assessment rate of $0.001 per container for commodities that are subject to a mandatory inspection fee, to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and used for implementing and enforcing the provisions specified above. Existing law requires the secretary to exempt any commodity subject to those provisions if a petition representing a specified percentage of the producers is submitted to the secretary, as specified. This bill would extend the repeal date of the standardization program provisions to January 1, 2020. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.