Florida oranges

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a referendum on proposed amendments to the federal marketing order regulating the handling of fresh citrus produced in Florida.

According to the department, the referendum will be held from 14 September to 5 October, to determine support for the amendments. To be eligible to vote, a grower must have produced oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, or tangelos in Florida during the representative period of 1 August 2014, through 31 July 2015.

The proposed amendments submitted by the Citrus Administrative Committee, which administers the order locally, include:

• Authorise the regulation of new varieties and hybrids of citrus fruit;
• Authorise the regulation of intrastate shipments of fruit;
• Revise the process for redistricting the production area;
• Change the term of office and tenure requirements for committee members;
• Authorise mail balloting procedures for committee membership nominations;
• Increase the capacity of financial reserve funds;
• Authorise pack and container requirements for domestic shipments and authorise different regulations for different markets;
• Eliminate the use of separate acceptance statements in the nomination process; and,
• Require handlers to register with the committee.
The proposed amendments would become effective only if approved by either two-thirds of the growers voting in the referendum, or by those representing at least two-thirds of the volume of fresh citrus grown by those voting in the referendum.

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