Title FAC — California Food & Agric. Code

The production and marketing of tomatoes constitutes an important industry of this state that provides substantial and necessary revenues for the state and employment for its citizens.

The maintenance of the tomato industry of California is necessary to assure the public of a continuous supply of this vital product and the maintenance of needed levels of income for those engaged in the tomato industry.

The production of tomatoes in California has the potential to be one of the leading segments of the state’s agricultural industry. To realize this potential, there is a need to make consumers aware of the nutritional value of tomatoes, the high quality of tomatoes produced by the…

The establishment of the commission is necessary for the efficient creation and management of a research program to develop improved varieties of tomatoes, an integrated approach to control pests and diseases common to tomatoes, and more efficient cultural practices. In addition,…

The successes that the tomato industry of California have enjoyed have come in part through a commitment to industry funded production research that has led to significant improvements in the quality and variety of the tomatoes available to consumers. It has also led to tomatoes …

The production and marketing of tomatoes in this state is hereby declared to be affected with a public interest. The provisions of this chapter are enacted in the exercise of the police power of this state for the purposes of protecting the health, peace, safety, and general welf…

No action taken by the commission, or by any individual in accordance with this chapter or with the regulations adopted under this chapter, is a violation of the so-called Cartwright Act (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 16700) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Profes…

This chapter shall be liberally construed. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter that can be given effect without the invalid prov…

It is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination that commission members and alternates are intended to represent and further the interest of a particular industry concerned and that this representation and furtherance is intended to serve the public interest. Accor…

Opportunity exists for continued growth and expansion of the tomato industry by creating new markets in major portions of this country. The success of such an expansion program is uniquely dependent upon effective advertising, promotion, and research, since the creation of new ma…

The commission form of administration created by this chapter is uniquely situated to provide those engaged in the production of tomatoes the opportunity to avail themselves of the benefits of collective action of the broad fields of development, maintenance, and expansion of mar…

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

“Books and records” means books, records, contracts, documents, memoranda, papers, correspondence, or other written data pertaining to matters relating to the activities subject to this chapter.

“Commission” means the California Tomato Commission.

“Districts” shall consist of the following: (a) District 1 consists of Imperial and Riverside Counties. (b) District 2 consists of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. (c) District 3 consists of Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare Coun…

“Ex officio member” means a nonvoting member of the commission.

“Fresh” means tomatoes, in any form, which have not been subject to heat processing.

“Handle” means to engage in the operation of selling, marketing, or distributing fresh market tomatoes that have been produced, or purchased or acquired from a producer, or which are marketed on behalf of a producer, whether as owner, agent, employee, broker, or otherwise, but sh…

“Handler” or “shipper” means any person, other than a common carrier, who handles a quantity of 250,000 pounds or more of tomatoes during a marketing season.

“Market” or “marketing” means to sell or otherwise distribute tomatoes into commercial channels or trade resulting in the sale of tomatoes.

“Marketing research” means any research relating to the sale of tomatoes.

“Marketing season” or “fiscal year” are synonymous terms and mean the period beginning March 1 of any year and extending through the last day of February of the following year.

“Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, firm, company, or other entity doing business in California.

“Producer” and “grower” are synonymous terms and mean any person who produces, or causes to be produced, tomatoes in a quantity of 250,000 pounds or more delivered to handlers during the marketing season.

“Production research” means any research relating to the production, harvest, and post harvest handling of tomatoes.

“Secretary” means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.

“Ship” and “shipping” are synonymous terms and mean the operations of receiving, grading, cleaning, transporting, distributing, or otherwise preparing for market or marketing, tomatoes for fresh consumption.

(a) “Tomatoes” means all tomatoes that are produced for commercial purposes and are handled within the state in fresh form, except cherry tomatoes and tomatoes grown in a greenhouse. (b) For purposes of this section, “tomatoes grown in a greenhouse” means tomatoes grown in a fixe…

There is in the state government the California Tomato Commission. The commission shall be composed of 10 producers, seven handlers, and may include one public member, at the discretion of the commission. (a) Producers within the respective districts shall elect one producer from…

(a) The secretary may require the commission to correct or cease any existing activity or function that is determined by the secretary not to be in the public interest or that is in violation of this chapter. (b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease those activities or fun…

The commission or the secretary may bring an action for judicial relief from the secretary’s written notice, or from noncompliance by the commission with the written notice, as the case may be, in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may issue a temporary restraining order, p…

When the secretary is required to concur in a decision of the commission, the secretary shall give his or her response to the commission within 15 working days from notification of the decision. The secretary’s response may be a requirement that additional information be provided…

The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities pursuant to this chapter. However, a court may, if it finds that the secretary acted arbitrarily or capriciously in restricting the a…

Except for ex officio members, an alternate for each member shall be elected in the same manner as the member. An alternate shall, in the absence of the member for whom he or she is an alternate, serve in place of the member and shall have and be able to exercise all the rights, …

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal or resignation, shall be filled by …

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of the public member to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, resignation, or disqualification, shall be filled by another eligible person f…

Any producer member and his or her alternate on the commission shall be an individual producer or an employee or representative of a producer who has a financial interest in producing or causing to be produced, tomatoes for market. Qualifications of producer members and their alt…

Any handler member and his or her alternate on the commission shall be an individual handler or an employee or representative of a handler who has a financial interest in handling tomatoes for market. Qualifications of handler members and their alternates shall be maintained duri…

The public member and his or her alternate member on the commission shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member or alternate, respectively, on the commission. The public member and his or her alternate member shall not have any financial interest in the …

The term of office of all members and alternates on the commission, except ex officio members, shall be two years from the beginning of the marketing season in the year of their election and until qualified successors are elected.

The commission shall be, and is hereby declared and created, a corporate body. It shall have the power to sue and be sued, to contract and be contracted with, and to have and possess all of the powers of a corporation. It may adopt a corporate seal. Copies of its proceedings, rec…

A quorum of the commission shall be six voting producer members and four voting handler members. Except as provided in Section 78723, the vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute the act of the commission.

The secretary or his or her representatives shall be notified and may attend each meeting of the commission and any committee meetings of the commission. However, the secretary or his or her representative is not entitled to attend an executive session of the commission or a comm…

No member or alternate of the commission or member of a committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission shall receive a salary. Each member of the commission and each alternate serving in place of a member, except ex officio members who are officers o…

All funds received by any person from the assessments levied under this chapter or otherwise received by the commission shall be deposited in banks that the commission may designate and shall be disbursed by order of the commission through an agent or agents as it may designate f…

The state is not liable for the acts of the commission or its contracts. Payments of all claims arising by reason of the administration of this chapter or acts of the commission are limited to the funds collected by the commission. No member or alternate of the commission, or any…

The powers and duties of the commission shall include, but are not limited to, all of those contained in this article.

The commission may adopt and from time to time alter, rescind, modify, and amend all proper and necessary bylaws, rules, regulations, and orders in accordance with commission procedures for purposes of carrying out this chapter, including rules for appeals from any bylaw, rule, r…

The commission may administer and enforce this chapter and do and perform all acts and exercise all powers incidental to, or in connection with, or deemed reasonably necessary, to promote and maintain the tomato industry.

The commission may appoint its own officers, including a chairperson, one or more vice chairpersons, and such other officers as it deems necessary. The officers shall have the powers and duties delegated to them by the commission.