110845
. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
producer, handler, processor, or retailer of products 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
director, the Attorney General, any prosecuting attorney, any
governmental agency responsible for enforcing laws related to the
production or handling of products sold as organic, or the secretary
of any record required to be kept under this section for purposes of
carrying out this article and Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
46000) of Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code. Records
acquired pursuant to this subdivision 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 director and 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
article 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 handler, as described in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (a) of Section 110840, records of previous handlers, if
any, without identifying the previous handlers or producers, and, if
applicable, records obtained as required in subdivision (b).
(2) Records of a retailer, as described in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (b) of Section 110840, records of previous handlers, if
any, as described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of, Section
110840, without identifying the previous handlers, and, if
applicable, records obtained as required in subdivision (b).
This subdivision shall be the exclusive means of public access to
records required to be kept by handlers and retailers under this
article.
A person required to provide records pursuant to a request under
this subdivision, may petition the director or the secretary to deny
the request based on a finding that the request is of a frivolous or
harassing nature. The secretary or director 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 director or the secretary may charge the person requesting
records a reasonable fee to reimburse him or her self or the source
of the records for the cost of reproducing the records requested.
(e) Any person who first imports into this state, for resale,
products sold as organic shall obtain and provide to the enforcement
authority, upon request, proof that the products being sold have been
certified by an accredited certifying organization or have otherwise
been produced in compliance with this article.
(f) The director 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 chapter in response to a
subpoena, the director shall delete any information regarding the
identity of suppliers or customers and the quantity or price of
supplies purchased or products sold.