Hawaii Act 165 Moves Import Permit Administration to Animal Industry Division
Act 165 (SB 177, CD 1), signed June 26 and effective July 1, 2026, directs the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s division of animal industry to build a science-based, risk-based framework for authorizing the import and transport of aquatic livestock in Hawaiʻi — one that categorizes species by the probability and consequence of establishing a feral or invasive population, and that requires pre-arrival disease testing, entry-point inspection, and post-arrival monitoring, with mandatory quarantine, remediation, or depopulation of animals found to pose a biological aquatic risk. It also requires the state to develop biocontainment standards setting minimum physical design and operational performance requirements for aquatic livestock facilities.