Article 9. Assents To Marketing Programs of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 21. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 9.

Upon the issuance of a marketing program for the written assent of producers, the director shall submit a copy of the marketing program in full to each of the producers of the commodity which is to be affected, or their duly authorized agent, within the proposed proration zone as shown by the lists of producers which are compiled in accordance with this chapter, accompanied by a printed, typewritten, or mimeographed form upon which the producer can record his assent to the marketing program.

A nonprofit cooperative association may assent on behalf of any of its members only if it is authorized so to do by an instrument in writing which is signed by the member. Such authority may be revoked as to him by any such member by an instrument in writing which is filed with the director and with such association. The revocation shall become effective three days after its receipt by the director. A copy of any written authorization, or any revocation of such authority, of a producer to the nonprofit cooperative association of which he is a member shall be forwarded to the director by the association.

The director may at the time of mailing to producers a marketing program or amendments to it for written assent, establish a closing date after which assents will not be counted. If he does so, the closing date upon which assents are required to be postmarked in order to be counted shall be shown on the assent form and be announced by a press release for general dissemination which is issued by the director.

If the closing date is not established at the time assent forms are mailed to producers, and the director subsequently finds that because of the oncoming harvesting season or because of any other relevant reason it is desirable to fix a closing date for filing assents, he may do so by publishing a notice pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code in the capital of the state and in such other localities as the director may prescribe not less than 10 days prior to the closing date. The closing date shall also be announced by a press release for general dissemination which is issued by the director at least 10 days prior to the closing date.

If the director finds that the marketing program has been assented to in writing by one of the following, he shall make the marketing program effective:
  (a) Not less than 65 percent of the producers in the proration zone that produced for market not less than 51 percent of the quantity of the commodity which was produced in the proration zone in the next preceding season.
  (b) Not less than 51 percent of the producers that produced for market not less than 65 percent of the quantity of such commodity which was produced in the proration zone in the next preceding season.

If the director makes a marketing program effective, he shall publish a notice of the effective date pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code in the capital of the state and in such other localities as the director may prescribe, not less than five days prior to the effective date.

A member of the marketing program committee, or the proration zone agent, shall not unduly influence producers in their choice either for or against the institution of a marketing program, or for or against the termination of such a marketing program.