New law escalates fight against invasive species

Legislation to fight invasive species in Hawaii by strengthening agricultural inspection laws was signed into law by Gov. Linda Lingle on June 24. Senate Bill 2523, now titled Act 173, imposes fines for failure to pay inspection fees and expands pest inspection, quarantine and eradication. The act also repeals the permit revolving fund and micro-organism import certification revolving fund.

The new law, however, exempts aggregate bulk freight, cement bulk freight, coal bulk freight and liquid bulk freight from pest inspection, quarantine and eradication service fees.

“SB 2523 was one of the most important bills for the agriculture industry in the 2010 legislative session,” said Rep. Clift Tsuji, chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. “This new law gives the Department of Agriculture greater resources to focus on agriculture inspection and bio-security. The Legislature is greatly concerned about the impact of invasive species on agriculture and our natural environment.”