SB166 by Senator Patrick Connick- BY SENATORS CONNICK, ALLAIN AND FESI
Provides relative to seafood safety. Seafood; misleading packaging and marketing The legislature finds that consumers must be protected from misleading and false labeling of seafood products. Louisiana's seafood culture is world renowned and is a vital part of our culture and heritage. It is not only potentially misleading but dangerous to public health to solely rely on names and phrases associated with Louisiana when purchasing or consuming seafood Phrases such as "Boudreauxs", "Gulf", and "Louisiana caught" are often on products that are from foreign countries that are not adhering to the same quality standards as Louisiana. Consumers need to be well informed on what seafood they are purchasing and consuming. No person shall engage in marketing, labeling, packaging, or advertising of crawfish, shrimp, or any product thereof, that implies or suggests any association with Louisiana's culture and heritage if the association is likely to deceive the public as to its origin. No person shall market crawfish, shrimp, or any product thereof using any Louisiana-related imagery, phrases, colors, or styles if the products are not genuinely linked to Louisiana's cultural heritage and produced within the state or landed within the state. The prohibition in this Subsection shall not apply if the country of origin appears on the front of the package in bold typed print of not less than thirty point font. Pending House Health and Welfare
https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1364241
SB40 BY SENATORS ALLAIN, CONNICK AND FESI Provides relative to seafood safety. – Seafood Safety Task Force
Proposed law provides updates to the task force membership, expands the mission and
purpose of the task force, changes the chairman of the task force and the entity responsible for providing staff support, and provides for ongoing annual reporting to the legislature and governor. Pending gov. sig
https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1359042
NOTE: HB748, HB676, HB 693 ARE SIMILAR BILLS BUT HAVE DIFFERENT FEE AMOUNTS AND DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS OF FUNDING COLLECTED.
HB748 BY REPRESENTATIVES DOMANGUE AND TAYLOR AND SENATOR FESI Provides relative to imported seafood safety fees. Modifies the imported seafood safety fee assessed to commercial seafood processors and distributors and provides for the use of the fees collected by the Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board in coordination with the commissioner of agriculture and forestry. Increases the fee from $100.00 to $200.00. Proposed law requires that the fees be deposited into the Seafood Marketing and Promotion Fund and used by the Seafood Marketing and Promotion Bd., in coordination with the commissioner of agriculture and forestry, for the sampling, analyzing, testing, and monitoring of raw seafood of foreign origin that are imported into the state and stored on thepremises of any business holding a commercial seafood permit issued by the La. Dept. of Health. Pending Senate Natural Resources
https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1364217
HB676 BY REPRESENTATIVE KERNER - BY REPRESENTATIVES KERNER, ADAMS, BAYHAM, BERAULT, BILLINGS,BRAUD, ROBBY CARTER, WILFORD CARTER, COATES, COX, DEWITT, DOMANGUE, GREEN, JACKSON, MIKE JOHNSON, LARVADAIN, ORGERON, ROMERO,SELDERS, TAYLOR, WALTERS, AND ZERINGUE
Establishes a seafood importer license for wholesale/retail dealers and retail dealers
Requires that any wholesale/retail seafood dealer and any retail seafood dealer who imports shrimp, crawfish, or crab from outside the gulf of Mexico purchase a seafood importer license in addition to the dealer license. Proposed law provides that the fee for the seafood importer license is based on the volume of shrimp, crawfish, or crab imported as follows: Pounds of Shrimp, Crawfish, and Crab Imported Fee:
· 0 to 5,000 $500
· 5,001 to 20,000 $2,000
· 20,001 to 40,000 $5,200
· 40,001 to 60,000 $12,000
· 60,001 to 80,000 $22,000
· 80,001 to 100,000 $32,000
· 100,001 to 500,000 $42,000
· 500,001 or more $100,000
NOTE: WE HAVE SPOKEN TO REPRESENTATIVE KERNER AND REQUESTED THIS FIRST FUND DEPOSIT ALLOCATION BE AMENDED AND TAKEN OUT OF THE BILL.
Proposed law requires that 10% of the revenue collected from the license be deposited in the Conservation Fund and that the remainder be deposited in the Imported Seafood Safety Fund. These fees will be used for testing of seafood by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Pending Senate Natural Resources
https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1362213
HB693 BY REPRESENTATIVE BAYHAM Establishes a seafood import license for seafood dealers. NOTE: This bill is similar to Kerners HB676 but with less fees in the bill and requires that 20% of the revenue collected from the licenses be deposited in the Conservation Fund and that the remainder be deposited in the Imported Seafood Safety Fund.Proposed law provides that the fee for the seafood importer license is based on the volume of seafood imported as follows:
Pounds of Seafood Imported Fee
· 0 to 5,000 $500
· 5,001 to 20,000 $1,500
· 20,001 to 40,000 $5,000
· 40,001 to 60,000 $10,000
· 60,001 to 80,000 $20,000
· 80,001 to 100,000 $30,000
· 100,001 or more $40,000
Pending House final passage - Sched. for 4/23/24
HB429 BY REPRESENTATIVES BRYANT, HUGHES, BAYHAM, BRAUD, BUTLER,CARRIER, WILFORD CARTERCOX,DOMANGUE, FONTENOT, KERNER,LAFLEUR, JACOB LANDRY, LYONS MOORE, ORGERON, ST. BLANC,TAYLOR, AND WALTERS
Prohibits the use of imported seafood in food served at schools- Pending Senate Education
https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1364023