Sale of listed agricultural products: requirements for sale.

(1) Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase agricultural products grown in California when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the products are comparable. Existing law establishes within the Department of Food and Agriculture a public and private collaboration known as the "Buy California Program" to encourage consumer nutritional and food awareness and to foster purchases of high-quality California agricultural products. This bill would require a grower or producer that sells a listed agricultural product, as defined, to a distributor, as defined, to attest to the distributor under penalty of perjury, using a self-attestation form developed by the department, whether the listed agricultural product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws, as defined. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a distributor from selling a listed agricultural product produced in another state of the United States to a retailer, as defined, unless the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws. The bill would also prohibit a distributor from selling a listed agricultural product produced in the state or outside of the country to a retailer unless the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws. The bill would require a distributor that sells a listed agricultural product to a retailer to provide to the retailer the self-attestation form received from a grower or producer, and would provide that the provision of the attestation form showing compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws or specified California labor laws creates a rebuttable presumption that the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with those laws. The bill would provide that these requirements only apply to a listed agricultural product during the California growing season for the product. The bill would provide that these requirements are not operative until the department adopts the regulations described below. This bill would require, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, the department to adopt regulations to administer and enforce these requirements, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from imposing additional fees on growers or producers to meet the requirements of this bill. The bill would provide that a violation of these requirements is subject to a $500 civil penalty that is required to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General at the request of the department. The bill would require any funds recovered to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be used for the administration and enforcement of these requirements, as specified. (2) 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.