3-491

3-491. Exemption from fruit or vegetable
standardization; definitions

A. The supervisor shall exempt any fruit or vegetable commodity from all rules
established pursuant to section 3-487, subsection B, paragraphs 1 through 5 and shall
exempt the collection of assessments for the commodity subject to this article if the
exemption is supported by at least fifty-one per cent of the producers who produce at
least fifty-one per cent of the total quantity of that particular fruit or vegetable
commodity that was marketed during the preceding year and all of the other requirements
of this section have been met. For the purposes of this subsection, "quantity" means the
percentage of ownership interest a producer has in the marketed cartons.

B. To initiate the exemption process, a producer or shipper shall present to the
supervisor a petition signed by producers, under penalty of perjury, who represent at
least one-third of the cartons of the commodity produced in the previous year. The
petition shall be submitted on a form prescribed and furnished by the supervisor. On
receiving the petition, the supervisor shall negotiate with the petitioner a fee for the
estimated costs of the notification, balloting and certification process under this
section. The petitioner is responsible for all costs associated with this process and
shall pay to the supervisor at least one-half of the fee before proceeding with the
petition process.

C. Within ten days after receiving the fee payment under subsection B of this
section, the supervisor shall send a notice and a ballot to each shipper of the commodity
by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall include a statement that
the shipper shall notify each producer the shipper represents of the exemption petition
and of the producer's right to support or oppose the exemption.

D. Within sixty days after receiving the notice from the supervisor, each shipper
shall return the ballot to the supervisor, filed under penalty of perjury, containing the
following information:

1. The name of each producer of the particular commodity that the shipper deals
with.

2. The total number of cartons produced in the preceding year by each producer
based on the percentage of ownership.

3. The vote of each producer based on the percentage of ownership of cartons.

E. If a shipper fails to return the ballot as prescribed by subsection D of this
section, the supervisor may audit the shipper to ensure compliance with this article.

F. Within ninety days after receiving the ballots issued under this section, the
supervisor shall review the ballots and determine the results. On payment of the full
amount of the costs of the petition process as determined under subsection B of this
section, the supervisor shall certify and issue the results of the ballots. If the
supervisor certifies that the ballots meet the requirements of this section, the
supervisor shall provide public notice of the date the exemption becomes effective, which
shall be within ninety days after the supervisor certifies and issues the results of the
balloting.

G. Information provided by shippers to the supervisor for purposes of this section
is confidential and is not a public record, and the supervisor shall not disclose the
information for any purpose except for the purpose of an appeal under subsection H of
this section.

H. The petitioner and any producer or shipper of the commodity for which exemption
is being sought has the right to appeal to the director on any of the following issues:

1. The validity of the petition submitted under subsection B of this section.

2. The notice requirements of this section.

3. The sufficiency of the submitted ballots.

4. The costs of the petition process.

I. All monies collected by the supervisor pursuant to this section shall be
deposited in the citrus, fruit and vegetable revolving fund established by section 3-447.

J. The procedures prescribed by this section also apply for producers and shippers
to rescind an exemption that was previously granted under this section. The rescission
becomes effective on July 1 of a year as determined by the supervisor. No rescission may
take effect until the exemption has been in effect for at least two years.

K. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Producer" means a single legal entity that has a percentage ownership interest
in the marketed commodity.

2. "Year" means July 1 through June 30.