Article 1. Short Title And Definitions of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 21. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 1.

This chapter shall be known as the Agricultural Producers Marketing Law.

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

"Commodity" means any horticultural, viticultural, or vegetable product of the soil, aquacultural, livestock and livestock products, and poultry and poultry products. It does not, however, include milk or milk products.

"Dealer" means any distributor or retailer.

"Distributor" means any person, except a retailer, that acquires and distributes any commodity at wholesale or retail.

"Handler" means any person that receives any commodity from the producer for the purpose of marketing it.

"Marketing program" means any program which contains provisions which are authorized by Article 8 (commencing with Section 59801) of this chapter.

"Primary channel of trade" means that transaction in which the producer or a cooperative marketing association of producers transfers physical possession of the commodity to another person in the current of commercial trade.

"Producer" means any person that is engaged in the business of growing or producing any commodity for commercial use.

"Processor" means any person that buys, or otherwise takes title to or possession of, any commodity for the purpose of processing or manufacturing it or selling, reselling, or redelivering it in dried, canned, extracted, fermented, distilled, or other preserved form. It also includes all of the following:
  (a) Any person or exchange that conducts such business.
  (b) Any person or exchange that buys any commodity from the producer of the commodity for the purpose of reselling it to any person or exchange that conducts such business.

"Proration" means the application of allocated quantities or percentages under a uniform rule to the production, or merchantable production, of all producers that are affected, for the purpose of regulating the quantity of any commodity which may be harvested, prepared for market, or marketed in primary channels of trade during any specified period.

"Proration zone" means any district for which a marketing program is proposed or has been instituted.

"Retailer" means any person that is engaged in the business of making retail sales direct to the general public.