46029
. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
producer, handler, processor, or retailer of product sold as organic
shall immediately make available for inspection by, and shall upon
request, within 72 hours of the request, provide a copy to, the
secretary, the Attorney General, any prosecuting attorney, any
governmental agency responsible for enforcing laws related to the
production or handling of products sold as organic, of any record
required to be kept under this section for purposes of carrying out
this act. Records acquired pursuant to this act shall not be public
records as that term is defined in Section 6252 of the Government
Code and shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
(b) Upon written request of any person that establishes cause for
the request, the secretary shall obtain and provide to the requesting
party within 10 working days of the request a copy of any of the
following records required to be kept under this act that pertain to
a specific product sold or offered for sale, and that identify
substances applied, administered, or added to that product, except
that financial information about an operation or transaction,
information regarding the quantity of a substance administered or
applied, the date of each administration or application, information
regarding the identity of suppliers or customers, and the quantity or
price of supplies purchased or products sold shall be removed before
disclosure and shall not be released to any person other than
persons and agencies authorized to acquire records under subdivision
(a):
(1) Records of a producer, as described in Section 46028.
(2) Records of a handler, as described in Section 46028, records
of previous handlers, if any, and producers as described in Section
46028 without identifying the previous handlers or producers, and, if
applicable, records obtained as required in this act.
(3) (A) Records of a retailer, as described in Section 46028,
records of previous handlers, if any, and producers as described in
Section 46028 without identifying the previous processors, handlers,
or producers, and, if applicable, records obtained as required in
subdivision (d). This subdivision shall be the exclusive means of
public access to records required to be kept by producers,
processors, handlers, and retailers under this act.
(B) A person required to provide records pursuant to a request
under this subdivision, may petition the secretary to deny the
request based on a finding that the request is of a frivolous or
harassing nature. The secretary may, upon the issuance of this
finding, waive the information production requirements of this
subdivision for the specific request for information that was the
subject of the petition.
(c) Information specified in subdivision (b) that is required to
be released upon request shall not be considered a "trade secret"
under Section 110165, Section 1060 of the Evidence Code, or the
Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Title 5 (commencing with Section 3426) of
Part 1 of Division 4 of the Civil Code).
(d) The secretary may charge the person requesting records a
reasonable fee to reimburse himself or herself or the source of the
records for the cost of reproducing the records requested.
(e) The secretary shall not be required to obtain records not in
his or her possession in response to a subpoena. Prior to releasing
records required to be kept pursuant to this act in response to a
subpoena, the secretary shall delete any information regarding the
identity of suppliers or customers and the quantity or price of
supplies purchased or products sold.