The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Enhancing global business and trade is in the economic interest of the state.
(b) Domestic and foreign country quarantine and product quality requirements must be met to allow for the trade of many agricultural products.
(c) Currently, to be acceptable to other states and foreign governments, phytosanitary and product quality certification and supporting analyses, diagnostics, and other testing of that type must be performed by an impartial, third-party governmental agency.
(d) As a result of its regulatory responsibilities, the department has the technical capacity and expertise to meet current domestic and foreign government requirements for impartial, third-party governmental analytical, certification, diagnostic, inspection, quality assurance, and testing services and, as accreditation becomes acceptable to states and foreign governments, to accredit private entities to perform these kinds of services.
(e) Nonregulatory activities are services for which the entities that receive the benefits should pay the costs. However, the department is not authorized or funded to establish a program to perform nonregulatory accreditation, analytical, certification, diagnostic, inspection, quality assurance, or testing work, nor is it authorized to establish a schedule of charges to recover its costs for those services.
(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 436, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1999.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018