Committee advances package on dairy, eggs and food-safety fees; amendment restores lower inspection fee
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Summary
The House Agriculture Committee approved a set of bills covering raw milk labeling and sales, Grade A milk regulation and inspection-fee changes, and the sale of ungraded eggs; a committee amendment reduced an inspection fee increase from 2¢ to 1¢ and small-producer minimum fees were clarified.
The House Agriculture Committee moved several food-safety and agricultural sales measures forward in a single session, approving bills that would allow labeled sales of raw milk, align Grade A milk rules with federal standards and permit off-farm sales of ungraded eggs.
Representative Harden summarized SB 2028, which would authorize sale and serving of unpasteurized milk and require containers to be labeled as unpasteurized. "Basically, that that is the bill," Harden said when members asked for clarification about labeling and scope.
Representative Newton explained a bill to align state Grade A milk regulations with federal requirements to maintain interstate transport eligibility and to cover inspection costs with a fee increase. Newton described current Oklahoma production and fee examples for tankers, and Scott Yates, director of food safety at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, told members that there is a $100 minimum annual fee for small producers to cover travel and inspection costs.
After committee discussion about the fee increase, Representative Harden asked for and won a committee amendment to revert the proposed increase from 2¢ back to 1¢ per 100 pounds; that amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The amended milk-fee bill later passed the committee 8-1.
Representative Worthen presented SB 2110 to allow sale of ungraded eggs off-farm, including at farmers markets and direct-to-consumer sales; Worthen confirmed that the measure covers ungraded and possibly unwashed eggs. The committee approved the eggs bill 9-0.
Outcome: SB 2028 (raw milk labeling) passed 8-0; the Grade A milk measure (as amended to 1¢) passed 8-1; SB 2110 (ungraded eggs) passed 9-0. Committee testimony included an explanation from Scott Yates about existing fee floors and examples of fee calculations for tanker loads.
Provenance: Passage and debate are recorded in committee transcript segments describing SB 2028, the Grade A milk presentation and amendment, and the SB 2110 discussion and votes.
