Committee advances bill to ease donation of wild game meat to charities

The House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems advanced HB 1334 on Jan. 31, 2025 to clarify exemptions that would allow donated wild game meat — including axis deer and feral pigs — to be delivered to charitable, religious or nonprofit organizations for distribution to needy persons without some inspection and transportation constraints.

DLNR and the Department of Agriculture both testified in support and stood on written testimony. Producer and nonprofit witnesses, including the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Maui Adaptation Project and the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council, said the bill would help reduce invasive ungulate populations while providing protein to communities in need. Testimony described existing barriers that can reduce donations: federal inspection requirements do not mandate inspection of donated meat, but state-level inspection and transportation rules and the cost of hiring an inspector have discouraged donations and increased food waste.

Witnesses cited Act 54 (2003) and a 2023 meat processing task force established by prior legislation; supporters asked the committee to focus this bill narrowly on donation exemptions and not conflate it with the separate issue of increasing meat-processing capacity. At decision making the committee adopted technical edits, deferred the bill’s effective date to July 1, 3000, and moved the bill forward for further refinement to implement the intent of prior donation measures.

The committee said it would strengthen statutory language to fully effectuate the 2023 law that created the meat-processing task force and to clarify inspection and liability questions raised during testimony.