CHAPTER 24. California Tomato Commission
Chapter 24 added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 210, Sec. 1.
§§ 78601–78725 · 99 sections
ARTICLE 1. Declaration and General Provisions §§ 78601–78611 · 11 sections
- § 78601 The production and marketing of tomatoes constitutes an important industry of this state that provides substantial and necessary revenues for the state and…
- § 78602 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…
- § 78603 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,…
- § 78604 The establishment of the commission is necessary for the efficient creation and management of a research program to develop improved varieties of tomatoes, an…
- § 78605 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…
- § 78606 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…
- § 78607 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…
- § 78608 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…
- § 78609 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…
- § 78610 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…
- § 78611 The commission form of administration created by this chapter is uniquely situated to provide those engaged in the production of tomatoes the opportunity to…
ARTICLE 2. Definitions §§ 78620–78636 · 17 sections
- § 78620 Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.
- § 78621 “Books and records” means books, records, contracts, documents, memoranda, papers, correspondence, or other written data pertaining to matters relating to the…
- § 78622 “Commission” means the California Tomato Commission.
- § 78623 “Districts” shall consist of the following: (a) District 1 consists of Imperial and Riverside Counties. (b) District 2 consists of Los Angeles, Orange, San…
- § 78624 “Ex officio member” means a nonvoting member of the commission.
- § 78625 “Fresh” means tomatoes, in any form, which have not been subject to heat processing.
- § 78626 “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…
- § 78627 “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.
- § 78628 “Market” or “marketing” means to sell or otherwise distribute tomatoes into commercial channels or trade resulting in the sale of tomatoes.
- § 78629 “Marketing research” means any research relating to the sale of tomatoes.
- § 78630 “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…
- § 78631 “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, firm, company, or other entity doing business in California.
- § 78632 “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…
- § 78633 “Production research” means any research relating to the production, harvest, and post harvest handling of tomatoes.
- § 78634 “Secretary” means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
- § 78635 “Ship” and “shipping” are synonymous terms and mean the operations of receiving, grading, cleaning, transporting, distributing, or otherwise preparing for…
- § 78636 (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…
ARTICLE 3. The California Tomato Commission §§ 78640–78657 · 18 sections
- § 78640 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…
- § 78641 (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…
- § 78642 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…
- § 78643 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…
- § 78644 The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities pursuant to…
- § 78645 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…
- § 78646 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…
- § 78647 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…
- § 78648 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…
- § 78649 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…
- § 78650 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,…
- § 78651 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…
- § 78652 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,…
- § 78653 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…
- § 78654 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.…
- § 78655 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.…
- § 78656 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…
- § 78657 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…
ARTICLE 4. Powers and Duties of the Commission §§ 78660–78682 · 23 sections
- § 78660 The powers and duties of the commission shall include, but are not limited to, all of those contained in this article.
- § 78661 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…
- § 78662 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…
- § 78663 The commission may appoint its own officers, including a chairperson, one or more vice chairpersons, and such other officers as it deems necessary. The…
- § 78664 The commission may employ a person to serve at the pleasure of the commission as president and chief executive officer of the commission, and other personnel,…
- § 78665 The commission may fix the compensation for all employees of the commission.
- § 78666 The commission may appoint committees composed of both members and nonmembers of the commission to advise the commission in carrying out this chapter.
- § 78667 The commission may establish offices and incur expenses, enter into any and all contracts and agreements, create liabilities, and borrow funds in advance of…
- § 78668 The commission shall keep accurate books, records, and accounts of all of its dealings, which shall be subject to an annual audit by an auditing firm selected…
- § 78669 The commission may present facts to, and negotiate with, state, federal, and foreign agencies on matters that affect the tomato industry.
- § 78670 The commission may promote the sale of tomatoes by advertising and any other promotional means, including cost-sharing advertising, for the purpose of…
- § 78671 The commission may educate and instruct the wholesale and retail trade with respect to proper methods of handling and selling tomatoes, and conduct market…
- § 78672 The commission may conduct, and contract with others to conduct, scientific research, including the study, analysis, dissemination, and accumulation of…
- § 78673 The commission may make in its name, contracts to receive and render services in formulating and conducting plans and programs and other contracts or…
- § 78674 The commission may solicit and accept contributions of, or match private, state, or federal funds, and employ or make contributions of funds to other persons…
- § 78675 The commission may collect information, including, but not limited to, industry crop statistics, and publish and distribute without charge, a bulletin or other…
- § 78676 The commission shall establish an assessment rate to defray operating costs of the commission.
- § 78677 The commission shall establish an annual budget according to generally accepted accounting practices. The budget shall be concurred in by the secretary prior…
- § 78678 The commission shall submit to the secretary for his or her concurrence an annual statement of contemplated activities authorized pursuant to this chapter.
- § 78679 The commission and the secretary shall keep confidential and shall not disclose, except when required by court order after a hearing in a judicial proceeding,…
- § 78680 The commission may investigate and prosecute civil violations of this chapter and file complaints with appropriate law enforcement agencies or officers for…
- § 78681 (a) In order to prevent unfair trade practices that are detrimental to California’s tomato industry, including, but not limited to, deception and…
- § 78682 The commission may administer any government program that is engaged in the activities authorized by this chapter and that directly and exclusively affects the…
ARTICLE 5. Implementation and Voting Procedures §§ 78690–78698 · 9 sections
- § 78690 (a) Within 15 days of the effective date of this chapter, the secretary shall establish a list of producers and handlers eligible to vote on implementation of…
- § 78691 This chapter, except as necessary to conduct an implementation referendum vote, shall not become operative until the secretary finds the following in a…
- § 78692 In finding whether the commission is approved pursuant to this article, the vote of any nonprofit agricultural cooperative marketing association that is…
- § 78693 The secretary shall establish a period in which to conduct the referendum, which shall not be less than 10 days or more than 60 days in duration, and may…
- § 78694 Nonreceipt of a ballot by an eligible person shall not invalidate a referendum.
- § 78695 If the secretary finds that a favorable vote has been given as provided in Section 78691, the secretary shall certify and give notice of the favorable vote to…
- § 78696 If the secretary finds that a favorable vote has not been given as provided in Section 78691, the secretary shall certify and declare all provisions of this…
- § 78697 Upon certification of the commission, the members and alternates of any entity operating pursuant to an existing state marketing order affecting the same…
- § 78698 (a) Prior to the referendum vote conducted by the secretary pursuant to this article, the proponents of the commission shall deposit with the secretary the…
ARTICLE 6. Assessments and Records §§ 78700–78714 · 15 sections
- § 78700 (a) The commission shall establish the assessment for the marketing season not later than March 1 of each year or as soon thereafter as is possible. The…
- § 78701 This chapter does not apply to tomatoes produced only for a producer’s home use or tomatoes that are used only for ornamental purposes.
- § 78702 Any person requesting an exemption from this chapter shall file an affidavit with the commission attesting that he or she is not an eligible producer or…
- § 78703 Every person who handles tomatoes in any quantity shall keep a complete and accurate record of all transactions involving the purchase or sale of tomatoes. The…
- § 78704 (a) All proprietary information obtained by the commission or the secretary from any source, including, but not limited to, the names and addresses of…
- § 78705 Any assessment that is levied as provided for in this chapter is a personal debt of every person assessed.
- § 78706 The first handler of tomatoes being assessed shall deduct the assessment from amounts paid by him or her to the producer, and shall be a trustee of these…
- § 78707 When the producer or handler is a corporation, all of the directors and officers of the corporation in their capacity as individuals shall be included, and any…
- § 78708 Any person who fails to file a return or pay any assessment within the time required by the commission shall pay to the commission a penalty of 10 percent of…
- § 78709 In addition to any other penalty imposed, the commission may require any person who fails to pay an assessment or related charge pursuant to this article to…
- § 78710 It is a misdemeanor for any person to do any of the following: (a) Willfully render or furnish a false report, statement, or record required by the commission,…
- § 78711 The commission shall establish procedures for the purpose of according individuals aggrieved by its actions or determinations an informal hearing before the…
- § 78712 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 the…
- § 78713 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…
- § 78714 The termination of this chapter shall not affect or waive any right, duty, obligation, or liability that has arisen or that may thereafter arise in connection…
ARTICLE 7. Continuation or Suspension and Termination §§ 78720–78725 · 6 sections
- § 78720 Every five years, commencing with the 2001–02 marketing season, the secretary shall hold a hearing to determine whether the operation of this chapter should be…
- § 78721 If the secretary finds after conducting a hearing that no substantial question exists or that a favorable vote has been given, the secretary shall so certify…
- § 78722 Following a hearing, a favorable referendum if required, conducted prior to the last day of February 2002, the process specified in Section 78720 shall be…
- § 78723 (a) Upon a finding by a two-thirds vote of the membership of the commission that the operation of this chapter has not tended to effectuate its declared…
- § 78724 After the effective date of suspension of this chapter, the operation of the commission shall be concluded and all moneys held by the commission not required…
- § 78725 Upon suspension of the operation of this chapter, the commission shall mail a copy of the notice of suspension to all eligible persons affected by the…