MDA Supports Consumer Protection Bills During General Assembly Session

ANNAPOLIS, MD (Feb 7, 2012) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has proposed three departmental bills aimed at strengthening and increasing consumer protections for all Marylanders.   The agency’s legislative efforts this year focus on strengthening on-farm food safety procedures, ensuring continued consumer confidence in its Weights and Measures Program, and making certain that public equine operations are inspected and licensed. Two of the bills (SB 113, SB 108) are scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee today. A hearing for SB 142 is scheduled for February 14. No hearing dates have been set on the House side.

“Consumer protection is part of our core mission at MDA, and these bills are designed to make the rules both as effective and efficient as possible,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “Weights and Measures is a consumer protection service that touches every single citizen in our state, and food safety is, of course, an on-going concern at all steps in the food processing system. We are working with industry representatives, farmers and federal officials to ensure we maintain strong consumer protections without inflicting unnecessary regulations and costs on any agency or organization.”

The three bills proposed by MDA are described below:

(SB 113) Weights and Measures – Fees (Special Funds) – MDA’s Weights and Measures program ensures that consumers get what they pay for by making sure that a pound of a meat, a gallon of gas or a yard of fabric is, in fact, a pound, a gallon or a yard. Commercial establishments that short-change consumers can be fined and, in extreme or repeat cases, legal sanctions can be imposed. The program’s costs, including salaries for employees, are covered by fees paid by businesses, not fines and not the General Fund.  Fees have minimally increased twice since 1992 but have not kept pace with the cost of running the program. As a result, staffing levels have been reduced by 58 percent, and inspections – once done every year – are now completed every 24 to 30 months. Further reductions would seriously compromise MDA’s ability to ensure confidence in the marketplace. MDA’s bill would establish new fees that would adequately fund the program for at least five years. During the last year, MDA met with industry groups and others to discuss the program’s funding challenges. This bill reflects those efforts.

New fees include a $50 facility registration fee for businesses with small scales or businesses with motor fuel meters. Businesses with small scales would continue to pay $20 per scale plus $50 per business location to a maximum fee per location of $375. Businesses with motor fuel meters would pay $50 per business location plus $12.50 per meter, lowering the existing $15 per meter fee. Four other device fees would increase: Medium scales (100 lbs to 2,000 lbs) from $50 to $60; large scales (20,000 lbs to 200,000 lbs) from $75 to $100; vehicle scales from $225 to $259; and high speed motor fuel meters from $35 to $45. The remaining seven device fees will remain at the existing level.

(SB 142) Secretary of Agriculture – Farm Food Safety – The federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed by President Obama in January 2011, requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enact regulations for produce production food safety. MDA’s bill is intended to help reduce the regulatory burden of FSMA on Maryland fruit and vegetable producers, by giving MDA the authority to develop a voluntary on-farm, food safety certification program that meets FDA’s requirements. Maryland farmers who successfully complete the state’s voluntary food safety program would not have to take additional steps – or as many additional steps – to meet federal requirements. MDA already has food quality assurance programs for small farm rabbit and poultry processing and egg safety.

In addition, MDA’s bill gives the Secretary the authority to impose quarantines on farm products if pathogen infections or infestations are discovered. In effect, this allows the Secretary to act in place of the FDA in cases where food safety has become a significant and immediate issue on a farm. A food borne illness outbreak by one producer in a state often results in the loss of sales by all producers within that state. This authority will help the Secretary reduce the potential of food borne illnesses and protect the market share of Maryland producers by quickly imposing necessary quarantines.

(SB 108) Maryland Horse Industry Board – Licensing – This bill, which MDA considers a “housekeeping bill,” clears up ambiguities in current legislation and stipulates that only equine establishments that provide services to the public must be inspected and licensed by MDA’s Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB), regardless of how many horses that operation has onsite. Services frequently offered to the public include boarding, riding, training and renting horses. Private operators who do not offer services to the public are exempt. Current legislation, which was passed 14 years ago and has never been updated, has various organizations, individual and agencies interpreting its requirements differently. This bill will clear up those conflicting interpretations while assuring the public that facilities offering equine services are regularly inspected and licensed.

For a complete list of 2012 departmental legislation, visit:www.mda.state.md.us/about_mda/laws-legislation/2012_legislation.php.