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HAWAII COFFEE ASSOCIATION
Wednesday, February 5 ,2003
HARC Building
Aiea, (Oahu), Hi.
9 AM – 1 PM

Members Present
L. Schooler, R. Emery, D. Petersen, F. Kiger, D. Gridley, J. Wayman, T. Martin, M. Abrams, R. Kaiwi, J. Eddins, T. Greenwell, C. Sheppard, B. Barbata, H. Yamasaki, P. Mann, C. Barbata, J. Stiles, B. Shiroma, J. Ferguson

Attendees Present
W. Pierpont, C. Nagai, H. Bittenbender, S. Camp, C. Okada, S. Slocum, W. Mitsui

Meeting called to order at 9:03 a.m. by David Gridley, President

Introductions and Welcome by David Gridley

Minutes of last meeting - Brian Shiroma
Motion to accept as submitted. Motion seconded and approved.

Treasurers Report - Dick Emery and Leta Schooler
$24,991 in General fund plus $23,067 from USDOA grant. Will be submitting for reimbursements of about $16,000. Presently there is $25,000 in matching funds for 2003.
Motion to accept the treasurers report was seconded and approved.

Committee Reports
Legislative – Dick Petersen, Howard Yamasaki
Funding request from DOA was reduced from original request due to changes in SCAA display and decision not to purse an ad in Hana Hou magazine.

Marketing – Jim Wayman
2 page brochure and poster art was finalized and prepared for printing. Mailing and e-mailing campaign will start and everything will be ready for maling on schedule prior to SCAA Conference.

Finance – Dick Emery, Leta Schooler
No report

By-Laws – Howard Yamasaki
Comments received and by-laws will be given to all board members. Any further comments should be submitted to Howard. It will then be posted on the website for review and any further comments. Howard will add a statement on policy making for the HCA.

Education – David Gridley, Mike Abrams
Still planning coffee course at MCC on July 19. Looking for volunteers to teach on growing and processing coffee. Possibility to bring over experts from the mainland to teach on sensory and roasting aspects. The query is whether the HCA should take part in sharing the travel expenses if these people come over. Concern to see if we should try and utilize Hawaii based personnel more for the seminar.

Conferences – Jeff Ferguson, Dick Petersen
See old business below

Communications/Web Site – Brian Shiroma, David Gridley
No report

Membership/ Nominating – John Eddins, Christine Sheppard
No report

Research & Development – S. Bittenbender
Chifumi will be leading a tour on breeding program. A proposal is being written for shade grown coffee. GMO forum will be on Saturday in Kona.

Industry Relations – Frank Kiger
Discussions continue on coffee quality initiative.

Roasted Coffee Certification Mark Committee – John Langenstein, Gus Brocksen
No report

Old Business

Update 2003 HCA Convention on Molokai.
Conference fee will be $195, booths are $400-$600. Table tops are $200. Within 30 days information will be posted on website.
Update 2003 SCAA Convention in Boston
Booth configuration is being cut from 16 to 8. There is one corner slot open. Discussion about costs to those participating and costs to be paid out of HCA general funds took place.
Update 2003 HCA/DOA Matching Funds Contract
See Legislative above

New Business

Discussion of two bills pertaining to coffee sponsored by the Kona Coffee Council and introduced by Rep Bob Herkes. (Bills # HB 99 pertaining to GMO, and Bill # HB 477 pertaining to banning the importation of unroasted coffee beans to the State of Hawaii.)
Carol Okada discussed current regulations on importation of green coffee. So far no pests have been found in fumigated coffee. The only problems have been with containers that have been returned because they were not fumigated. The biggest loophole is the green coffee coming in through the mail cannot be inspected unless labled as agricultural. Ideas to better educate on mail imports is to have letters sent to the original importers of coffee to pass on when they resell coffee. Another is to send a letter to the companies that do mail orders of green coffee to inform them of the Hawaii regulations. Skip Bittenbender spoke on methyl bromide and ozone treatment. Ozone treatments have been shown to work on coffee berry borer with no negative taste effects. Still need to test on effectiveness of ozone on coffee rust. Comments from the board members: Concern is that the bigger risk is from disease coming in through Central American pickers than green coffee and that issue hasn't been addressed. A motion was made stating that, "The Hawaii Coffee Association does not support house bill HB 477 - Banning the importation of green coffee into Hawaii, as we feel the current fumigation procedures are effective. We do not support any importation of green coffee currently outside the present department of agriculture rules; but we do support continuing research on alternative methods to treat imported coffee and the development of programs to monitor coffee pest and disease entry through unfumigated sources.” Motion seconded and approved (with dissenting votes). Motion to change the HCA position to "The Hawaii Coffee Association does not support house bill HB 477 - Banning the importation of green coffee into Hawaii, as we feel the current fumigation procedures are effective. We do not support any changes to the current rules regarding the importation of green coffee. We do support continuing research on alternative methods to treat imported coffee and the development of programs to monitor coffee pest and disease entry through unfumigated sources.” Motion was seconded and defeated. Motion to change HCA positon to "The Hawaii Coffee Association does not support house bill HB 477 - Banning the importation of green coffee into Hawaii, as we feel the current fumigation procedures are effective. We do not support any changes to the current statutes and rules regarding the importation of green coffee. We do support continuing research on alternative methods to treat imported coffee and the development of programs to monitor coffee pest and disease entry through unfumigated sources. The motion was seconded and approved.

Discussion on HB99
Chifumi Nagai shared on the progress of genetically modified research on nematode resistant coffee trees. John Stiles shared he feels the bill is a duplicate of regulations already in existence. Comments were made from members of the board. Motion was made that HCA is opposed to HB 99. Motion was seconded and approved (with dissent).
Proposal to obtain a membership in “Agriculture Hawaii” magazine
Cost is $2000 (eligible for matching funds). Benefit is an article in each issue in their magazine (bimonthly/quarterly?) on coffee. This will be brought up at next meeting.

Announcements

Those interested in getting in touch with Donald Lees from Jacob Ingwats Associates out of England to display their products in Europe should contact David Gridley.
Congressman Ed Case will be holding talk story sessions on each of the islands to get input on agriculture.
ASIC Meeting - program will be posted on the ASIC website (asic-cafe.org). There are 9 coffee breaks open for sponsorship. Details to follow.
Dick Petersen wrote a letter in support of funding for HARC
Seal of Quality program rules are currently being written. Suggestion that the HCA should submit some input into the process. Contact person is Jerry Linville at goblue@hula.net or 808.227.8229
Mar. 12 - At HARC

Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.