Article 1. Declarations And Legislative Intent of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.

The production and processing of rice constitutes an important industry of this state that provides substantial and necessary revenues for the state and employment for its citizens. The California rice industry 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 domestic and foreign consumers aware of the nutritional value of rice, the high quality of the rice produced and processed in the state, the many varieties of rice produced and processed in the state, the intricacies of rice culture, and the versatility of rice as a part of a well balanced diet.

The program established pursuant to this chapter is essential to ensuring the consistently high quality of the rice produced, processed, or handled in the state by informing consumers, maintaining consumer confidence, and enhancing and protecting the reputation of California's rice industry throughout the nation and around the world.

This chapter is intended to allow the rice industry to work cooperatively to maintain consumer confidence and the acceptance of rice produced, processed, and handled in the state.

There is a growing need to maintain the identity of various types of rice to satisfy increasing consumer demand for specialty rices. This demand requires providing the industry with the ability to establish the terms and conditions for the production, processing, and handling of rice in order to achieve the goal of preventing the potential for the commingling of various types of rice, and in order to prevent commingling where reconditioning is infeasible or impossible.