RES 501 Draft 02 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHEREAS, nowhere on the labels of 10%Hawai`i coffee blends are consumers advised that 90%of the coffee in the packages is imported, foreign-grown coffee or may be a mixture of multiple Hawaiian regions and foreign-grown coffee; and WHEREAS, not identifying the origin of the 90%portion of a coffee blend is inherently deceptive to consumers who are often erroneously led to believe that the entire amount of coffee in the package is a coffee blend of many Kona farms' or another Hawaiian region's coffee; and WHEREAS, the Hawai`i State Legislature has not protected the regional coffees grown in the state of Hawai`i; and WHEREAS, Hawai`i is the only region anywhere in the world that authorizes by law the use of its geographic names ("Kona", "Ka'u", "Hamakua") on labels of its specialty agriculture products with only 10% genuine contents; and WHEREAS, it is essential that the Hawai`i State Legislature act immediately to stop the consumer fraud, deception, and confusion that continues due to existing labeling requirements for Hawai`i-grown coffees of any region or district; and WHEREAS, the blenders currently gain immense excess profits from using cheaper commodity coffees from other areas of the world (Viet Nam, Mexico, Panama, Africa, Brazil, etc.) to fill 90% of the coffee blend, and those excess profits benefit the Mainland corporate owners of Hawai`i blending companies and do not benefit Hawai`i coffee farmers; and WHEREAS, to protect the consumers by providing genuine "truth-in-labeling" and "full-disclosure", the Hawai`i Revised Statutes §486-120.6 (b) needs to be amended as indicated in Exhibit A, attached; and WHEREAS, only disclosing the 10% portion on the label of blended coffee is deceptive. For consumer protection and information, the majority portion of the package should be listed on the front label first followed by the next largest portion of the contents and its percentage followed by the next lowest portion, et cetera in the same font size required for the identity statement in HRS 486-120-6(a)(3). For example: "51% Ka'u Coffee, 49% Vietnamese Coffee (This could also be stated as "Foreign-grown" coffee.)" Or "51% Hamakua Coffee, 45% Mexican Coffee, 4% other Hawai`i-Grown Coffees"; and WHEREAS, immediate legislative action is necessary to protect the reputation of Hawai`i- grown coffees as premier, specialty coffees from further degradation; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the Hawai`i State Legislature is requested to schedule committee hearings, give floor consideration, and adopt into law provisions for truth-in-labeling for Hawai`i-grown coffees providing: 3