H.B. 1350 Summary

• Appropriates funds to the Department of Agriculture to establish and implement a GroupGAP food safety training and certification program for fiscal years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.

• Addresses Hawaii's reliance on imported food (approximately 92% of food supply) by supporting local farm certification through the USDA GroupGAP program, which reduces food safety certification costs by spreading them among participating farms.

• Recognizes that Act 136 (Session Laws of Hawaii 2022) appropriated funds directed entirely to the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, which does not operate a USDA GroupGAP program.

• Aims to support local food production goals including farm-to-school programs, state agency food purchasing benchmarks, and food hub development while building agricultural economic growth and supply-chain resilience.