| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to citrus fruit; amending s. 573.112, |
| 3 | F.S.; providing that the Citrus Research and Development |
| 4 | Foundation shall provide advice to the Department of |
| 5 | Agriculture and Consumer Services with respect to citrus |
| 6 | research marketing orders, conduct citrus research, and |
| 7 | perform other duties assigned by the department; amending |
| 8 | s. 573.118, F.S.; providing for the deposit of certain |
| 9 | agricultural assessments; revising the assessment rate on |
| 10 | citrus fruit; amending s. 581.031, F.S.; expanding the |
| 11 | type of research projects that may be conducted by the |
| 12 | department; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Subsection (7) is added to section 573.112, |
| 17 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 18 | 573.112 Advisory council.- |
| 19 | (7) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the |
| 20 | Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Inc., a direct- |
| 21 | support organization of the University of Florida established |
| 22 | pursuant to s. 1004.28, shall serve as the advisory council for |
| 23 | a citrus research marketing order, provide the department with |
| 24 | advice on administering the order, and, in accordance with the |
| 25 | order, conduct citrus research and perform other duties assigned |
| 26 | by the department. Notwithstanding s. 1004.28(3), the |
| 27 | foundation's board of directors shall be composed of 13 members, |
| 28 | including 10 citrus growers, 2 representatives of the |
| 29 | university's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and 1 |
| 30 | member appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture. |
| 31 | Section 2. Subsections (1) and (6) of section 573.118, |
| 32 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 33 | 573.118 Assessment; funds; audit; loans.- |
| 34 | (1) To provide funds to defray the necessary expenses |
| 35 | incurred by the department in the formulation, issuance, |
| 36 | administration, and enforcement of any marketing order, every |
| 37 | person engaged in the production, distributing, or handling of |
| 38 | agricultural commodities within this state, and directly |
| 39 | affected by any marketing order, shall pay to the department, at |
| 40 | such times and in such installments as the department may |
| 41 | prescribe, such person's pro rata share of necessary expenses. |
| 42 | Each person's share of expenses shall be that proportion which |
| 43 | the total volume of agricultural commodities produced, |
| 44 | distributed, or handled by the person during the current |
| 45 | marketing season, or part thereof covered by such marketing |
| 46 | order, is of the total volume of the commodities produced, |
| 47 | distributed, or handled by all such persons during the same |
| 48 | current marketing season or part thereof. The department, after |
| 49 | receiving the recommendations of the advisory council, shall fix |
| 50 | the rate of assessment on the volume of agricultural commodities |
| 51 | sold or some other equitable basis. For convenience of |
| 52 | collection, upon request of the department, handlers of the |
| 53 | commodities shall pay any producer assessments. Handlers paying |
| 54 | assessments for and on behalf of any producers may shall, at |
| 55 | their discretion, collect the producer assessments from any |
| 56 | moneys owed by the handlers to the producers. The collected |
| 57 | assessments shall be deposited into the appropriate General |
| 58 | Inspection trust fund and shall be used for the sole purpose of |
| 59 | implementing the marketing order for which the assessment was |
| 60 | collected. The department is not subject to the procedures found |
| 61 | in s. 287.057 in the expenditure of these funds. However, the |
| 62 | director of the Division of Marketing and Development shall file |
| 63 | with the internal auditor of the department a certification of |
| 64 | conditions and circumstances justifying each contract or |
| 65 | agreement entered into without competitive bidding. |
| 66 | (6) An Any assessment levied upon citrus fruit under this |
| 67 | section may not exceed the rate established in the marketing |
| 68 | order and shall be at a rate not to exceed 1 cent per standard- |
| 69 | packed box of citrus fruit grown and placed into the primary |
| 70 | channel of trade in this state. All revenues from such |
| 71 | assessment collected by the department shall be deposited into |
| 72 | the Citrus Inspection Trust Fund. |
| 73 | Section 3. Subsection (32) of section 581.031, Florida |
| 74 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 75 | 581.031 Department; powers and duties.-The department has |
| 76 | the following powers and duties: |
| 77 | (32) To The Department of Agriculture and Consumer |
| 78 | Services shall conduct or cause to be conducted those research |
| 79 | projects on citrus diseases, including, but not limited to, |
| 80 | citrus canker and citrus greening, which are recommended by the |
| 81 | Florida Citrus Production Research Advisory Council, within the |
| 82 | limits of appropriations made specifically for such purpose. |
| 83 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |