Bill Text: NJ A4245 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes farmers and other persons to use, sell, and distribute ground-harvested fruit for purposes of value-added product processing and production.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-13 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee [A4245 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A4245-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MARILYN PIPERNO
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblywoman KIM EULNER
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes farmers and other persons to use, sell, and distribute ground-harvested fruit for purposes of value-added product processing and production.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the use, sale, and distribution of ground-harvested fruit for the purposes of value-added product processing and production, and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Ground-harvested fruit" means fruit that has fallen or been dropped or blown from a tree, bush, or stem, or that otherwise lays on the ground, at the time of harvest.
"Value-added product" means an agricultural commodity or product that has undergone a change in physical state, was produced in a manner that enhances its value, as demonstrated through a business plan showing the enhanced value, is physically segregated in a manner that enhances its value, or is aggregated and marketed as a locally produced agricultural food product, and which, as a result of such change in physical state or such manner of production, marketing, or segregation, results in an expanded customer base for the agricultural commodity or product and enables the producer to retain a greater portion of the revenue derived from the marketing, processing, or physical segregation of the agricultural commodity or product.
b. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a farmer or other person shall be authorized to:
(1) use ground-harvested fruit to produce alcohol, cider, baked goods, or other value-added products for sale or distribution in this State, provided that the final value-added products are pasteurized or otherwise appropriately prepared or treated, prior to sale or distribution, as may be necessary to destroy microorganisms that may cause disease, spoilage, or undesirable fermentation; and
(2) sell or distribute ground-harvested fruit to another person for use in the production or processing of food or other value-added products, which use comports with the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection.
c. A value-added product that incorporates ground-harvested fruit, is sold or distributed, offered for sale or distribution, or possessed for the purposes of sale or distribution, as a food product in this State, and has not been pasteurized or otherwise appropriately prepared or treated in a manner that destroys the microorganisms contained therein, as required by subsection b. of this section, shall be subject to confiscation, condemnation, and destruction or disposal by the Department of Health, in accordance with the provisions of R.S.24:4-1 et seq.
2. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health, in consultation, shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would authorize a farmer or other person to use ground-harvested fruit to produce alcohol, cider, baked goods, or other value-added products for sale or distribution in the State, provided that the final, value-added products are pasteurized or otherwise appropriately prepared or treated, as may be necessary to destroy microorganisms that might cause disease, spoilage, or undesirable fermentation. The bill would further authorize a farmer or other person to sell or distribute ground-harvested fruit to another person for use in the production or processing of food or other value-added products, which third-party use is to comport with the bill's provisions regarding pasteurization of, or other appropriate destruction of microorganisms in, the final product.
The bill defines "value-added product" to mean an agricultural commodity or product that: has undergone a change in physical state, was produced in a manner that enhances its value, as demonstrated through a business plan showing the enhanced value, is physically segregated in a manner that enhances its value, or is aggregated and marketed as a locally produced agricultural food product, and which, as a result of such change in physical state or such manner of production, marketing, or segregation, results in an expanded customer base for the agricultural commodity or product and enables the producer to retain a greater portion of the revenue derived from the marketing, processing, or physical segregation of the agricultural commodity or product.
Under the bill's provisions, if a value-added product containing ground-harvested fruit is sold or distributed, offered for sale or distribution, or possessed for the purposes of sale or distribution as a food product in this State and has not been pasteurized or otherwise appropriately prepared or treated, as required by the bill, the product will be subject to confiscation, condemnation, and destruction or disposal by the Department of Health, in accordance with the provisions of existing law pertaining to the seizure and condemnation of adulterated foods.
