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rr or BOB JACOBSON ~ 333 Kilauea Avenue, Second Floor Councilmember Ben Franklin Building, Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Chair, Environmental Management Committee Mailing Address: 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 200 .t ' Phone: (808) 961-8263 Vice-Chair, Finance Committee R~01~"'' Fax: (808)961-8912 E-Mail: jjaco@co.hawan.hi.us r--. HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawaii September 20, 2007 Pete Hoffmann, Chair And Members of the Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: HSAC legislative priorities Aloha Pete, By maarts of this letter I am forwazding suggested legislation for inclusion in the HSAC legislative priorities packet. L,would also like to ask that this matter be waived from the Public Works & Intergovernmental Relations Committee and be placed on the agenda of the Oct. 3, 2007 Council meeting for consideration of the full Council. • Legislation relating to product labeling. In the interest of protecting the good name and reputation of Hawaiian grown products, this legislation would mandate labeling of percentages and countries of origin for "other" than Hawaiian grown products. For example, most Kona Coffee sold here is a blend of about 75% local and 25% Columbian. This legislation could address 3 related issues: • Protect Hawai`i's agricultural industry and products by requiring that honey, macadamia nuts, coffee, and vanilla that has any information or name indicating "Hawal`i" or a region of Hawaii be identified on the front label with the country of origin and percentage of each country's portion of that product in letters equal in size to the largest font on the label. • Increase the minimum percentage of Kona-grown coffee from 10% to 75% for any coffee blend using the label, "Kona Coffee Blend", and require the front label to reflect the country of origin for remainder of the coffee blend in letters as large as the largest font for any other information or company name. • Establish a minimum of 100% Hawaii-grown product for a label to say "100% Hawaii-Grown (product)", "Hawaii-Grown (product)", "100% Hawaiian (product)", or "Hawaiian (product)", "100% Hawaii-Made (product)", "Hawai`i-Made (product)", or "Hawaiian-Made". [Spices added to a product should be exempted unless spice is the major portion of the product.] • Legislation relating to Agricultural Products. In the interest of protecting our important agricultural resources, this legislation would support federal "Country of Origin Labeling" (C.O.O.L.) for honey, Comrn: Na District 6 -Upper Puna, Ka't7, and South Kona pgf. Td Hawaii County /s An Equal Opportunity Provider And Employe/- ~t9 SEQ 21200a Ref.