Committee hears bill to align Kansas poultry law with federal NPIP, authorize participation and testing fees

The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources opened a hearing on Senate Bill 89 to consider amendments to the State Poultry Disease Control Act that would align Kansas requirements with the federal National Poultry Improvement Program (NPIP) and authorize new fees.

The bill would prohibit the shipment of poultry into Kansas unless the birds meet NPIP requirements and would authorize the state animal health commissioner to adopt rules establishing fees. Tamara Lawrence, reviser of statutes, told the committee the measure updates definitions, allows rulemaking for fees, and would take effect July 1 after publication in the statute book. Lawrence also said the proposal is similar, but not identical, to House Bill 2608 from the previous year.

Deputy Secretary Kelsey Olsen of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, who spoke in support, said the NPIP is a cooperative federal-state program begun in the 1930s to reduce a hatchery disease that can cause high chick mortality and be transmitted through hatching eggs. "NPIP is a cooperative agreement between federal and states, where the…