New state agriculture laws aim to protect local coffee and macadamia nut farmers and consumers, and possibly do away with paper declaration forms required for arriving passengers.

Gov. Josh Green signed a dozen agriculture-related bills on Wednesday. The most notable are House Bills 2298 and 2278, which address deceptive labeling of coffee and macadamia nut products marketed as having local origins.

Currently, it is easy for companies to sell and label products as being locally grown or processed, even if that’s untrue.

This allows coffee blenders to use Hawaiʻi's geographic branding while using foreign and cheaper imports, which local agriculture advocates say hurts farmers, consumers and the Hawaiʻi brand.

But HB 2298 says companies can’t do that for a package of coffee — unless at least 51% of the coffee is from Hawaiʻi. The new law goes into effect in July 2027, replacing the current law that only requires 10% of the coffee to have local origins.

“ To this day, we are still one of the only regions in the world that allows foreign beans into our coffee and allows our valued Hawaiian names to share the label with foreign products,” said Suzanne Shriner, president of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association.

“There's still work to do for coffee and for all our crops, but I am very happy to say that this bill tilts the economic benefits back towards those who steward the brand and seek its best interests,” she added.

HB 2278 also addresses package labeling for macadamia nuts. Starting January 2026, labels must disclose if any of the macadamia nuts were grown outside the state.

The new law notably excludes products with multiple ingredients, including the popular chocolate macadamia nuts.

Local sales for macadamia nuts have been falling in recent years, possibly because of a lack of processing facilities in the state, which is an issue lawmakers want to focus on next.

But the state Department of Agriculture, which has to enforce the labeling laws, doesn’t have the staffing for enforcement.

There are three inspectors statewide to do that work, and they are currently operating under a “complaint-driven” process that depends on public submissions.

Chair Sharon Hurd reiterated the department’s call for the public to help.

“More help could be needed, but it's more education. We have to tell the public what the law is so they can comply. They can complain to us … so we can enforce. More inspectors would be great, but the public needs to help us,” Hurd said.

Green also signed Senate Bill 2079 on Wednesday, allowing plant and animal declaration forms to be distributed electronically.

Those entering Hawaiʻi must declare any foreign plants and animals they are carrying. The biosecurity measure is meant to monitor imported species and allows inspectors to stop passengers who might be introducing an invasive species or pest.

Paper forms are currently handed out to passengers — and usually at the end of flights.

The new law is meant to modernize the process and increase participation rates. The electronic forms would be sent to passengers before their flights, and money previously spent on paper forms could be redirected elsewhere.

The bill goes into effect immediately, though the agriculture department would not commit to a timeline for making the electronic forms available to passengers. The department is currently working on a pilot project to test the forms.