Title FAC — California Food & Agric. Code

(a) Prior to the secretary holding the referendum pursuant to this article, the proponents of the commission shall deposit with the secretary any amounts that the secretary determines necessary to defray the expenses of preparing the necessary lists and information and conducting…

(a) The commission, prior to the beginning of each marketing year, or as soon thereafter as possible, shall establish the assessment for the following marketing season, which shall not exceed five dollars ($5) per hundredweight for dates handled. (b) An assessment greater than th…

This chapter does not apply to any person who handles less than 25,000 pounds of dates per year. However, any such person shall file an affidavit with the commission establishing that he or she is exempt from this chapter. The commission shall determine whether to approve the aff…

(a) Every person who handles dates in any quantity shall keep a complete and accurate record of all dates handled. The records shall be in simple form and contain any information that the commission prescribes. (b) The records shall be retained by the handler for a period of thre…

(a) All proprietary information obtained by the commission or the secretary from handlers is confidential and shall not be disclosed except when required by a court order after a hearing in a judicial proceeding involving this chapter. (b) Information on volume shipments, crop va…

The assessments shall be levied upon and paid by the handler pursuant to this chapter.

Any assessment that is levied pursuant to this chapter is a personal debt of every handler so assessed.

Any handler who fails to file a return or pay any assessment within the time required by the commission shall pay the commission a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the assessment determined to be due and, in addition, pay 11/2 percent interest per month on the unpaid balanc…

In addition to any other penalty imposed, the commission may require any person who fails to pay assessments or related charges pursuant to this article to furnish and maintain a surety bond in a form and amount and for a period of time specified by the commission as assurance th…

It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following: (a) Fail to render or furnish a report, statement, or record required by the commission. (b) Willfully render or furnish a false report, statement, or record required by the commission. (c) Secrete, destroy, or alter recor…

The commission shall adopt procedures to grant individuals aggrieved by its actions or determinations an informal hearing before the commission or before a committee of the commission designated for this purpose. Appeals from decisions of the commission may be made to the secreta…

(a) The commission may commence civil actions and utilize all remedies provided in law or equity for the collection of assessments and civil penalties and for obtaining injunctive relief or specific performance regarding this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this c…

Any action by the commission for any violation of this chapter shall be commenced within two years from the date of discovery of the alleged violation. Any action against the commission by any person shall be commenced within two years from the date of the act of which the person…

The suspension or termination of this chapter does not affect or waive any right, duty, obligation, or liability that has arisen or that may thereafter arise in connection with this chapter, release or extinguish any violation of this chapter, or affect or impair any right or rem…

(a) Every six years, beginning in the 2001–02 marketing year, the secretary shall hold a hearing to determine whether the operation of this chapter should be continued. If the secretary finds after the hearing that a substantial question exists among handlers assessed under this …

If a referendum is conducted as the result of a petition pursuant to Section 77883, the hearing pursuant to Section 77881 shall be conducted every sixth year following the industry petitioned referendum.

(a) Upon a finding by a 2/3 vote of the membership of the commission that the operation of this chapter has not tended to effectuate its declared purposes, the commission may recommend to the secretary that the operation of this chapter be suspended. However, any suspension shall…

After the effective date of suspension, the operation of the commission shall be concluded and any and all funds remaining held by the commission and not required to defray the expenses of concluding and terminating operations of the commission shall be returned on a pro rata bas…

Upon suspension of the operation of this chapter, the commission shall mail a copy of the notice of suspension to all handlers whose names and addresses are on file with the commission and to the appropriate policy committees in both the Assembly and Senate.

The production and marketing of cut flowers and cut greens products constitute an important industry of this state which not only provides substantial and necessary revenues for the state and employment for its citizens, but also furnish cut flowers and cut greens products to the…

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

The production and marketing of cut flowers and cut greens produced in this state are hereby declared to be affected with a public interest. This chapter is enacted in the exercise of the police power of this state for the purpose of protecting the health, peace, safety, and gene…

No action taken by the commission, or by any individual in accordance with this chapter or with 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 Profession…

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

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

A commission form of administration created by this chapter is designed to deal with the broad field of production research, education, advertising, market research, promotion, and trade of flowers.

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

“Flower” means all types of cut flowers and cut greens grown in California for decorative purposes.

“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 Cut Flower Commission.

(a) “Districts” shall be based on the gross dollar value of the product grown in a geographical area as follows: (1) District 1 consists of the Counties of Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Marin,…

“Market” or “marketing” means to sell flowers.

“Production research” means any cultural and biological research relating to field production of flowers.

“Marketing year” means the period beginning January 1 of any year and extending through the last day of December of that year.

(a) “Producer” means any person in this state who grows flowers for market and who, upon request, provides proof of commodity sale. “Producer” does not include any person who has grown less than a gross value of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of flowers in the prec…

“Market analysis” means any marketing, sales, promotion, health, and social research relating to the marketing of flowers in this state and nationally and internationally.

“Market development” means trade promotion, public information, dissemination of information on health and social issues and other matters, and activities related to the production of flowers in this state and nationally and internationally.

“Market research” means any investigation, development, analysis, or use of information relating to the marketing, sales, or promotion of flower products in this state and nationally and internationally, including, but not limited to, trade practices, consumer trends, promotion, …

“Shipping research, analysis, and development” means the investigation, development, analysis, or use of information relating to the shipping of flower products and the development of shipping opportunities, practices, and methods in this state, nationally, and internationally.

“Ship” means to transport flowers.

“Advertising and sales promotion” means, in addition to its ordinarily accepted meaning, trade promotion and activities for the prevention, modification, or removal of trade barriers which restrict the free flow of flowers to market, including the presentation of facts to, and ne…

(a) There is in the state government the California Cut Flower Commission. The commission shall be composed of nine members. (b) Eight producers, two each from Districts 1 to 4, inclusive, shall be elected by and from producers within the respective districts. (c) One member shal…

(a) The director may require the commission to correct or cease any activity or function which is determined by the director not to be in the public interest or which is in violation of this chapter. (b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease these activities or functions or…

The commission or the director may bring an action for judicial relief from the director’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, per…

When the director is required to concur in a decision of the commission, the director shall concur, refuse to concur, or request additional information from the commission within 15 working days from the date the director receives notification of the decision.

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

An alternate member to each member of the commission, except the ex officio members, shall be elected in the same manner and for the same term as the member. Except as provided in Section 77937, an alternate member shall, in the absence of the member for whom he or she is an alte…

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of any person elected to or serving on the commission as a member or alternate member to continue in his or her position due to a change in his or her status, thereby making the person ineligible to serve, or due to death, re…

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of the public member or his or her alternate member to continue in his or her position due to a change in his or her status, thereby making the member or alternate ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, resignation, o…

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