Article 6. Assessments And Records of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 22. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 11. >> Article 6.

(a) The assessment on navel oranges for fresh consumption shall be established by the commission prior to the beginning of each marketing season and shall not exceed seven cents ($0.07) per carton during the 1983-84 marketing season. Thereafter, the assessment for each marketing season shall not exceed 5 percent of the industry average F.O.B. price of a packed carton reported by the federal Navel Orange Administrative Committee for the preceding three marketing seasons and shall be assessed on a cents-per-carton basis.
  (b) If the Navel Orange Administrative Committee ceases to exist, the commission shall determine the average F.O.B. price of a packed carton using information from public and private sources as it deems appropriate.

Any producer who pays an assessment to a cooperative handler or independent handler, and that producer markets his or her navel oranges and conducts an approved navel orange brand advertising program, shall receive a brand credit, thereby allowing the producer to deduct the amount of the credit from any payments otherwise owed to the commission as provided for under this chapter.

Identified commission administrative expenses in an amount not to exceed 10 percent of the assessment owed by any producer prior to deducting the brand credit, and commission institutional expenses in an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the assessment owed by any producer prior to deducting the brand credit, are not entitled to brand credit. In no case shall the brand credit result in any producer paying an assessment to the commission of less than two cents ($0.02) per carton. For purposes of this section, institutional expenses are defined as those expenses incurred in informing food editors for newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, and informing consumer departments for schools, retailers and other related businesses, regarding produce supply, usage suggestions, and nutritional facts about navel oranges.

(a) At least 60 percent of the commission's total expenditures shall be expended for consumer communication.
  (b) In order to qualify for brand credit, as provided in subdivision (d) of Section 73254 any person or entity subject to this chapter is required to spend at least 60 percent of its navel orange funds on consumer communications.

Any direct consumer communication purchases qualifies for brand credit when determined by the commission to be in accordance with the following criteria:
  (a) As defined by the commission, direct consumer communication purchases shall prominently display, or otherwise state, the words "California Navel Oranges" in the advertisement. A cooperative handler or independent handler who markets navel oranges from California and Arizona and funds its brand advertising program through funds collected from all producers, and who prominently displays or otherwise states the words "California-Arizona Navel Oranges" in the advertisement, is entitled to brand credit.
  (b) Except for the County of Ventura, subdivision (a) does not apply to outdoor media advertising located in counties with more than 1,000 acres of bearing navel oranges in commercial production. In that county, an amount not to exceed 10 percent of a consumer communications expenditure shall be entitled to brand credit.
  (c) Direct consumer communications qualifies for brand credit when depicting more than one variety or type of citrus fruit so long as the credit is calculated on a prorated basis giving credit only for that portion of the program which promotes navel oranges in accordance with this section.
  (d) To qualify for brand credit, the person or entity applying for brand credit shall submit a plan indicating the general size and scope of the activities for which brand credit will be claimed. However, information regarding the timing and location of the activities shall be considered confidential and need not be submitted. Upon presentation of the plan, the commission shall indicate within 30 days whether the program complies with this chapter and is therefore entitled to brand credit as provided for in this chapter. If all, or any portion, of a program does not comply, as determined by the commission, the commission shall advise the applicant for brand credit, in writing, the reasons for its decision. Any such decision is appealable under Section 73302.
  (e) Any producer or handler, on behalf of a producer member, who requests brand credit shall furnish documents and records in support of the request at a time and in a manner prescribed by the commission.

Unless otherwise prohibited in this chapter, and in addition to the provisions of Section 73254, a person or entity that is qualified to receive brand credit shall qualify for brand credit for any activity that is also engaged in by the commission.

The activities of advertising in trade publications and participating in conferences or conventions are not eligible for application of brand credit.

This chapter does not apply to navel oranges produced only for the producer's home use or where the navel oranges are used only for ornamental purposes. However, the producer shall file an affidavit with the commission stating that his or her navel oranges are not produced for commercial purposes. In any event, no production of navel oranges for fresh shipment is exempt from the assessment under this article when it is marketed.

Every handler shall keep a complete and accurate record of all navel oranges handled by him or her with the name of the producer whose navel oranges were handled. These records shall be in the form, and contain the information, as prescribed by the commission. The records shall be kept by the handler for a period of five years and shall be submitted for inspection at any reasonable time upon written demand of the commission or its duly authorized agent.

All proprietary information obtained by the commission or the director from producers or handlers, and all lists of producers or handlers in the possession of the commission or the director, are confidential and shall not be disclosed except when required in a judicial proceeding involving this chapter. Information on volume shipments, crop value, and any other related information which is required for reports to governmental agencies; financial reports to the commission or aggregate sales and inventory information; and any other information which the commission requires that gives only totals, but excludes individual handler information, may be disclosed by the commission.

Assessments shall be levied upon the producer. The first handler of navel oranges being assessed shall deduct the assessment from amounts paid by him or her to the producer and shall be a trustee of the funds until they are paid to the commission at the time and in the manner prescribed by the commission.

Every handler is personally liable for the payment of the collected assessments, and failure of the handler to collect the assessment from any producer does not exempt the handler from this liability.

Any assessment which is levied pursuant to in this chapter is a personal debt of the producer so assessed. Failure of a handler to make payment of the collected assessment to the commission does not relieve the producer of this obligation.

Any producer or handler 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 the amount of the assessment determined to be due and, in addition, 2 percent interest per month on the unpaid balance.