Title FAC — California Food & Agric. Code

(a) Notwithstanding Section 52351, the secretary may require any entity that conducts noncommercial seed sharing activity to provide notification of its activity on a form created by the secretary. The notification form shall only include the entity’s name and address and the con…

Each application for an annual registration shall be accompanied by the payment of a fee in the amount of forty dollars ($40) for each fiscal year or portion of a fiscal year beginning July 1.

If a registration is not renewed within one calendar month after the beginning of the fiscal year, a penalty of 20 percent of the annual registration fee due shall be added to the fee.

Each person who is required to be registered pursuant to Section 52351 shall pay an assessment annually to the secretary in an amount not to exceed forty cents ($0.40) per one hundred dollars ($100) gross annual dollar volume sales of agricultural or vegetable seed, or both, in t…

The director shall fix the annual assessment established pursuant to Section 52354 in an amount that will provide sufficient funds to carry out this chapter, and the date and method of collecting the assessment. The board shall make a recommendation regarding the level of assessm…

If the assessment established pursuant to Section 52354 and fixed by the director pursuant to Section 52354.5 is not paid within one calendar month after the end of the fiscal year for which the assessment is made, a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the assessment shall be …

Any registrant who packages or labels seed, or both, with the name and address of the person who only retails the seed within the state shall, at the time of sale to such person, collect from the person whose name and address appears on the label, the assessment due based upon th…

Total expenditures from funds derived from registration fees and dollar volume assessments under this chapter shall not exceed the department’s cost of carrying out this chapter.

The secretary, each commissioner, and any qualified representative of the commissioner, shall sample and inspect any agricultural or vegetable seed that is subject to this chapter at the time and place and to the extent as he or she may deem necessary to determine whether the agr…

For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, any officer who is required to enforce this chapter may enter upon any public or private premises during regular business hours in order to have access to any seed which is subject to this chapter and the regulations…

(a) Any sample which is taken by an enforcement officer in accordance with the regulations which are adopted pursuant to this chapter for the taking of official samples is prima facie evidence of the true condition of the entire lot from which the sample was taken. The presumptio…

The secretary or the commissioner and any qualified representative of the commissioner may issue and enforce a written or printed “stop-sale” order to the owner or custodian of any lot of agricultural or vegetable seed that he or she finds is in violation of any provision of this…

It is unlawful for any person to move or otherwise dispose of any lot of seed which is held under a “stop-sale” order except under written permission of an enforcing officer or under his specific direction and for the purposes which are specified. (Enacted by Stats. 1967, Ch. 15.…

The owner or custodian of seed which is held under a “stop sale” order shall, upon demand, have the right to a hearing before the director or the commissioner as to the justification of any such order, and may appeal to the director from any order of the commissioner made under t…

This article does not limit the right of the enforcement officer to proceed as authorized by other sections of this chapter. (Enacted by Stats. 1967, Ch. 15.)

Any decision of the director pursuant to this article is subject to review by any court of competent jurisdiction. (Enacted by Stats. 1967, Ch. 15.)

The secretary shall, by regulation, establish a list of seed-certifying agencies that the secretary finds qualified to certify as to the variety, purity, quality, type, strain, or other genetic character of agricultural or vegetable seed. The secretary shall consult with the dire…

A seed-certifying agency may conduct or fund research projects that the agency, in its sole discretion, deems beneficial to the seed industry.

Each seed-certifying agency shall establish a schedule of fees, in its discretion with input from the seed industry, for certification services provided and research conducted pursuant to this article.

Notwithstanding Section 52321, fees collected pursuant to this article shall be paid directly to the seed-certifying agency and shall be expended only for a purpose authorized by this chapter.

A seed-certifying agency, pursuant to procedures adopted by the seed-certifying agency, may impose a late charge on any person who fails to pay any fee required by this article within the time required by the seed-certifying agency.

In addition to any late charge, a seed-certifying agency, pursuant to procedures adopted by the seed-certifying agency, may suspend certification services to any person who fails to timely pay any fee or late charge required by this article.

The director and the commissioner of each county acting under the supervision of the director may do all of the following: (a) Cooperate with seed-certifying agencies which are officially recognized under the provisions of this chapter. (b) Supervise the harvesting, cleaning, and…

The director, or any commissioner with the approval of the director, may annually enter into a cooperative agreement with a qualified seed certification agency for the services that they are authorized to perform, based upon the approximate cost of the services. The approximate c…

This article does not apply to any of the following: (a) Seed or grain that is not intended for sowing purposes. (b) Seed that is in storage in, or consigned to, a seed cleaning or conditioning establishment for cleaning or conditioning. (c) Seed or grain that is transported with…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 52454, each container of agricultural seed that is for sale or sold within this state for sowing purposes shall bear upon it or have attached to it in a conspicuous place a plainly written or printed label or tag in the English language…

Except as otherwise provided in Section 52454, each container of vegetable seed that is for sale or sold within this state for sowing purposes shall bear upon it, or have attached to it, in a conspicuous place, a plainly written or printed label or tag in the English language, th…

Any lot of more than one container of seed which is transported to a dealer for resale, or any lot of more than five containers of seed which is sold to a consumer, is exempt from the requirements which are prescribed by Section 52452 or 52453 if both of the following requirement…

In addition to the labeling requirements of this article, all seed at the time of sale by a retail merchant for nonfarm usage, shall conspicuously bear upon the labeling of the seed a viability assurance statement. (a) The statement shall be “SELL BY (month) (year),” or “USE BEFO…

In addition to the labeling requirements of this article, all seed, except seed at the time of sale by a retail merchant for nonfarm use, shall conspicuously bear upon the label adequate notice of the requirement to follow the conciliation, mediation, or arbitration procedures go…

Except as otherwise provided in this section or in Section 52486, it is unlawful for any person to ship, deliver, transport, or sell any agricultural or vegetable seed within this state, other than the seed that is described in Section 52451, unless the test to determine the perc…

Except as otherwise provided in Section 52486, it is unlawful for any person to ship, deliver, transport, or sell any agricultural or vegetable seed within this state that is within any of the following classes: (a) Is not labeled in accordance with the provisions of this chapter…

It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following: (a) Detach, alter, deface, or destroy any label, warning tag, or notice that is provided for in this chapter or in the regulations that are adopted pursuant to it, or alter or substitute seed, in a manner that may defeat t…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 52486, it is unlawful for any person to ship, deliver, transport, or sell agricultural or vegetable seed that is treated after harvest with any substance that is likely to be poisonous or toxic to human beings or animals unless there is…

It is unlawful for any person to sell or divert for use or for processing, either for human or animal consumption, any grain or other crop seed which is treated after harvest with any substance that is likely to be poisonous or toxic to human beings or animals, unless there is an…

Sections 52481, 52482, and 52484 of this article do not apply to any common carrier in respect to any seed which is transported or delivered for transportation in the ordinary course of its business as a carrier if such carrier is not engaged in conditioning or merchandising seed…

A violation of this chapter for having shipped, delivered, transported, or sold agricultural or vegetable seed that has false or misleading labeling shall be construed to have been committed at the time of discovery of the violation, and a complaint charging the violation shall b…

It is unlawful to violate any provisions of this chapter or any regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter.

It is unlawful for any person to violate the provisions of the United States Plant Variety Protection Act contained in Part J (commencing with Section 2531), Part K (commencing with Section 2541), or Part L (commencing with Section 2561) of Subchapter III of Chapter 57 of Title 7…

Any lot of agricultural or vegetable seed that does not comply with this chapter is a public nuisance and is subject to seizure on complaint of the secretary or the commissioner or any enforcing officer of this chapter to a court of competent jurisdiction in the area in which the…

The district attorney of the county in which any such nuisance is found, on the relation of the director or the commissioner or any enforcing officer of this chapter, shall maintain, in the name of the people of the State of California, a civil action to abate and prevent such nu…

If the owner fails to comply with the order of the court within the time which is specified in the order, the court may order disposal of the seed and containers, or their sale, under those terms and conditions as the court may prescribe, by the director or the commissioner or an…

A proceeding pursuant to this article if the value of the property seized amounts to thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) or less is a limited civil case.

The director may, after hearing, refuse to issue or renew, or may suspend or revoke a registration for any violation of this chapter or any regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter. Proceedings under this section shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with…

As used in this chapter, “cooperative bargaining association” means a farmer association which is organized and functioning pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 54001) of this division, for the purpose of group bargaining between its producer members and the first handl…

It is the public policy of the state to establish and support the right of any farmer to join voluntarily, belong to and freely participate in cooperative bargaining associations. Interference with producer rights set forth in this chapter, including the obligation of processors …

For the purpose of enforcing this chapter, the director may receive complaints from producers against any processor, handler, distributor, or any agent of these persons, or from processors, handlers, distributors, or any agent of these persons against a cooperative bargaining ass…

If, upon the investigation conducted under Section 54404, the director has reasonable cause to believe that the person charged has violated Section 54431, the director shall issue and cause to be served upon the person so charged a complaint stating the charges. The complaint sha…

At the hearing called pursuant to Section 54404.1, the director may do all the following: (a) Administer oaths and take testimony. (b) Issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses before him or her, together with any books, memoranda, papers, and other documents, article…

The procedure for holding the hearing pursuant to Section 54404.2 is identical to hearings held pursuant to Article 13 (commencing with Section 55781) of Chapter 6.